Cryo-Egg: enabling wireless communications for a deep subglacial application

Many sub-surface environments currently feature as 'voids' in our understanding of the Earth's system, because inaccessibility and hostile conditions prevent the use of cabled measurement devices. The basal regions of glaciers and ice sheets are a prime example of such environments. Here, the presence of moving ice up to several kilometers in thickness means in situ measurements can often only be made by 'wireless' sensors (e.g. the fast-flowing outlet glaciers that discharge ice from Greenland and Antarctica to the ocean). These measurements are critical to improving the current understanding the future response of ice sheets to climate change and the role of 'sub-glacial' environments as habitats for microbial life. Currently, there are no wireless sensors for deep sub-glacial environments. This proposal aims to provide the first proof of concept evaluation of key wireless communications technologies for a deep (up to 4 km of ice) sub-glacial application via a combined laboratory/numerical modeling study. A wide range of technology challenges are present in this deep, icy environment making technology solutions widely applicable to other deep sub-surface situations where rock, water and/or ice are present (e.g. deep ocean, mines, rock boreholes, permafrost). Technologies developed will have numerous possibilities for future use by deep-ice sheet drilling science campaigns, to include, the Lake Ellsworth Exploration Programme (via project partner Siegert) and BEAMISH (via project partner Smith). The proposal has direct relevant for NERC strategic science areas of 'Climate system', 'Biodiversity' and 'Technologies' and cross-cuts many NERC science topics (e.g. Climate and Climate change, Glacial and Cryospheric Systems, Hydrological Processes and Technology for Environmental Application). Research conducted will provide a springboard for a subsequent NERC/EPSRC bid, aiming to develop the first autonomous sensing platform for a deep ice sheet deployment.