THE GREENLAND MELT PONDS

FROM: NASA
Each spring and summer, as the air warms up and the sunlight beats down on the Greenland ice sheet, sapphire-colored ponds spring up like swimming pools. As snow and ice melt atop the glaciers, the water flows in channels and streams and collects in depressions on the surface that are sometimes visible from space. These melt ponds and lakes sometimes disappear quickly - a phenomenon that scientists have observed firsthand in recent years.The natural-color image above was acquired on July 4, 2010, by the Advanced Land Imager on NASA’s Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) satellite. This glacial ice field lies in southwestern Greenland, not far from Disko Bay (Disko Bugt in Danish) and Davis Strait. The center of the image is 68.91° North latitude and 48.54° West longitude. › Read MoreImage Credit: NASA

A ROBOT ICE-CREVASS HUNTER NAMED YETI

James Lever, U.S. Army's Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory

FROM: NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION, YETI ANTARTIC ROBOT, ICE-COVERED CREVASSES, GREENLAND
In Greenland and Antarctic Tests, Yeti Helps Conquer Some "Abominable" Polar Hazards

A century after Western explorers first crossed the dangerous landscapes of the Arctic and Antarctic, researchers funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) have successfully deployed a self-guided robot that uses ground-penetrating radar to map deadly crevasses hidden in ice-covered terrains.

Deployment of the robot--dubbed Yeti--could make Arctic and Antarctic explorations safer by revealing unseen fissures buried beneath ice and snow that could potentially claim human lives and expensive equipment.

Researchers say Yeti opens the door to making polar travel safer for crews that supply remote scientific research stations. Attempts have been made by researchers in the polar regions to use robots for tasks such as searching for meteorites in Antarctica. However, researchers who have worked with Yeti say it is probably the first robot to successfully deploy in the field that is able to identify hazards lurking under the thin cover of snow.

These findings are based on deployments of Yeti in Greenland's Inland Traverse, an over-ice supply train from Thule in the north of Greenland to NSF's Summit Station on the ice cap, and in NSF's South Pole Traverse, a 1,031-mile, over-ice trek from McMurdo Station in Antarctica to the South Pole.

A team of researchers from the U.S. Army's Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL) and the Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth College, along with a student at Stanford University's neuroscience program, recently published their findings in the Journal of Field Robotics.

"Polar exploration is not unlike space missions; we put people into the field where it is expensive and it is dangerous to do science," said CRREL's James Lever.

Using Yeti--and potential follow-on devices that Lever expects may be developed in the future by improving on the Yeti template--has value not only in reducing some of the danger to human beings working in polar environments. Deploying Yeti and machines like it also plays to the strength of robots, which are well suited for learning and performing repetitive tasks more efficiently than humans.

Lever added that robots like Yeti not only improve safety; they also have the potential to reduce the costs of logistical support of science in the remote polar regions and extend the capabilities of researchers.

Yeti was developed with funding from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Students of Lever and Laura Ray, at Dartmouth, also a principal investigator on the Yeti project and a co-author of the paper, designed and created a predecessor to Yeti--called Cool Robot-- that was funded by NSF's Division of Polar Programs to conduct work in Antartica.

Under a separate NSF grant, researchers plan to deploy Cool Robot this summer to circumnavigate NSF's Summit Station on the Greenland ice sheet, taking atmospheric samples as it goes. The solar-powered, four-wheel-drive Cool Robot led to Yeti's success, while helping the researchers meet NSF's goal of integrating research and education.

"Our focus with Yeti is on improving operational efficiency," Lever said. "But more generally, robotics has the potential to produce more science with more spatial and temporal coverage for less money. We're not gong to replace the scientists. But what we can do is extend their reach and add to the science mission."

Yeti is an 81-kilogram (180-pound) battery powered, four-wheel drive vehicle, about a meter across, that is capable of operating in temperatures as low as -30 Celsius (-20 Fahrenheit). Yeti uses Global Positioning System coordinates to navigate and to plot the position of under-ice hazards.

That work--and the accompanying risks--in the past has fallen exclusively to human crews using ground-penetrating radar to map the under-ice features.

Crevasses often can span widths of 9 meters (30 feet) or more and reach depths of up to 60 meters (200 feet). Snow often accumulates in such a way that it forms unstable bridges over the crevasse, obscuring them from view.

Prior to the development of Yeti, a vehicle pushing a GPR unit would move ahead of a traverse to attempt to detect crevasses. Although the radar was pushed ahead of the vehicle, giving some margin of advanced warning and safety, the system is none-the-less dangerous and stressful for the crews, especially when traversing long distances.

In addition to having the potential to greatly reduce the danger to humans, the Yeti project also has helped advance research into how robots learn, as the research team uses the data gathered by Yeti during hundreds of crevasse encounters to refine algorithms that will allow machines in future to automatically map and avoid crevasses on their own.

Yeti has also proven itself adept at tasks that were not originally envisioned for it.

During the 2012-13 Antarctic research season, Yeti was used to map ice caves on the slopes of Mount Erebus, the world's southernmost active volcano.

The ice caves are attracting increasingly more scientific attention. Volcanologists are interested in the volcano's chemical outgassing through fissures on its flanks, and biologists are interested in what sort of microbial life might exist in these discrete environments, which are much warmer and far more humid than the frigid, wind-sculpted surface.

In a deployment that coincided with the 100th anniversary of the arrival of the first explorers at the geographic South Pole in the 2011-2012 research season, Yeti repeatedly and uniformly executed closely spaced survey grids to find known, but inaccurately mapped, buried hazards.

The robot mapped out the long-abandoned original South Pole research station, built in the late 1950s and subsequently buried under the Antarctic ice sheet by years of snowfall and drift. A previous, less refined survey of the site by a human crew had only generally identified the outline of the major buildings. The Yeti-based survey generated a map detailed enough to allow crews to directly access the corners of structures near the ice surface in order to safely demolish them.

-NSF-

THE ARTIC DEFENDERS

THULE AIR BASE, Greenland -- Senior Airman David Light and Airmen 1st Class Caleb Coates and Matthew Yoder "stack up" before sweeping an area executing battle drills. Battle drills have allowed the Airmen to tailor training to a hands-on and mission specific approach to ready Airmen and heighten security measures. (U.S. Air Force photo)

FROM:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Battle drills the Arctic Defender way
by Staff Sgt. Adrian Cavazos
821st Air Base Group

2/25/2013 - THULE AIR BASE, Greenland -- Over the past several years, installation security has evolved from air base defense, to integrated base defense, to integrated defense. The Arctic Defenders of the 821st Security Forces Squadron at Thule Air Base have embedded integrated defense within our actions and everyday thinking.

As an installation, we grasp the concepts and functions of integrated defense and have taken continuous stringent practices to implement perfected procedures in the Arctic region. Through developed training methods, technology and base operations, we have applied advanced measures to deter, detect and defeat any potential threat by acting rather than reacting and thereby making the installation a harder target for potential terrorist threats.

The goal and standard of integrated defense training is to increase readiness and provide opportunities to better prepare us for worst-case scenarios. The 821st SFS has created realistic training scenarios that apply to our local threat and our facilities to better handle any situation we may be faced with and must overcome.

More specifically, we have initiated the use of battle drills. Battle drills are basically minimal orders from leaders applied to a small unit repetitively to ensure sequential actions become a trained response. Battle drills, most commonly utilized prior to combat operations in a deployed environment, provide standardized operating procedures and allow Airmen to train to "what if" scenarios. Additionally, Airmen train by the use of instinct and constant rehearsal which maximizes proficiency and minimizes exertion of force. Staff Sgt. Joseph Cull, 821st SFS flight sergeant, took the lead and volunteered to design the battle drills due to his extensive knowledge in security.

"Battle drills are a way to have a plan in advance for different security situations so everyone knows their role and the role of the defender next to them," Cull said. Battle drills have allowed the Airmen to tailor training to a hands-on and mission specific approach to ready Airmen and heighten security measures.

The battle drill concept was initiated using the crawl-walk-run system. The concept started at a flight sergeants meeting where potential scenarios were discussed and the concept of drills quickly took off. The scenarios included active shooter, duress, alarm response and unauthorized individual drills. The battle drills exercise any situation the responding patrols may encounter such as a downed defender, barricaded subject or downed communications. In the past, these types of responses were typically incorporated into quarterly Condor Crest, short sprint and flight level exercises. They have now become a daily part of operations. Whether it is a terrorist attack, an insider threat, or a large scale disaster, we are all susceptible. This battle drill approach provides junior Airmen an opportunity to learn invaluable leadership and communications skills in an environment that also hones their tactics, techniques and procedures.

Never content with current progress, Cull and the other flight sergeants continue to expand their efforts by integrating new scenarios into each facet of our integrated defense.


"The best thing about battle drills is that they can continue to be improved," Cull said. His enthusiasm is infectious and almost every day, he is approached by a fellow defender offering to assist with new ideas on how to respond to different incidents. He continues to improve established drills, to apply the validated upgrades, and to provide valuable training so all personnel remain technically proficient and stay on a constant paralleled regiment. These battle drills encourage constant innovation which enhances the entire team as we maintain an ever-present security footprint.

"It Takes the BEST...to Defend the REST" is the 821st SFS motto. It's an honor Defenders there truly believe and carry with them every day. Battle drills allow the Airmen to be the best and defend Thule Air Base as well as its host nation. Never being satisfied and continuing to find a better way of training, use of technology and implementing future base operations is crucial to defending the base.

The austere environment and conditions at Thule Air Base require its Airmen to be ready both as an individual and as a team. Challenges like these make readiness even more important. Battle drills keep the 821st SFS Airmen motivated, focused, trained and prepared for anything.

TAKING THE 'POLAR BEAR PLUNGE'

FROM:  U.S. AIR FORCE
09/4/2012 - THULE AIR BASE, Greenland – Icebergs float on the horizon as 821st Air Base Group Airmen hold a polar bear swim Aug. 4 and 26 at the Thule AB Tug Boat Beach. The air temperature was 51 degrees, while the water was a scant 41 degrees. "It was a really unique experience," said a chilled Staff Sgt. Neal Thompson, 821st Air Base Group Knowledge Operations Management. "It was definitely something that a lot of people are unable to do," he said referring to his newly-earned title of Polar Bear. Thule AB is one of the six installations operated by the 21st Space Wing, and is located 750 miles north of the Arctic Circle. (U.S. Air Force photo/ Staff Sgt. Laura Vargas)