Just below the thick ice that covers Lake Superior, a three-legged, autonomous robot locked into position. In the frigid, dark water off Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, its spindly legs – extending out nearly ten feet when deployed – attached themselves to the icy crust.
In newly-released photos this week, NASA shared the moment that the “Icenode” project, run by scientists at its Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), attached itself to the icy ceiling in winter 2022.
The project, running since 2019, is the agency’s answer to some urgent and difficult questions. While scientists have long known that the climate crisis is melting our polar ice sheets, much remains unknown about melt rates and timelines for potentially catastrophic tipping points.
Using this underwater robot, and eventually others, scientists aim to determine the rate of melting in ice shelves - the long, floating glaciers making up the outer edges of ice sheets - and improve computer models that predict sea level rise.
Earlier this year, NASA brought the Icenode project tothe remote Beaufort Sea, just north of Alaska. The robot, about eight feet long and ten inches wide, was dropped through a drilled hole in the ice, into the sea. It can also be dropped into the sea from a boat.
The most recent test gave the engineers a chance to operate their prototype, although the robot was connected by a tether to the tripod that had lowered it through the hole.
The robot has the ability to float, and move itself higher or lower in the water.
From there, it will use novel software to determine the most ideal spot on the ice sheet to collect data. It might travel dozens of miles to reach its destination.
The robot will ride the sea’s current into the back of a cavity - a dangerous spot where the ice shelf meets the land and satellites can’t see - to attach itself to the shelf.
After that, the robot can rest - its next job is to sit and observe.
Its sensors measure how fast warm and salty ocean water circulates to melt the ice, and how colder and fresher meltwater sinks. The robot stays there for a year before detaching itself and using the same software to figure out how to reach a location where it can make satellite contact and transmit data back to Nasa.
In the future, Nasa hopes to deliver a fleet of the IceNode robots.
“These robots are a platform to bring science instruments to the hardest-to-reach locations on Earth,” Paul Glick, a JPL robotics engineer and IceNode’s principal investigator said. “It’s meant to be a safe, comparatively low-cost solution to a difficult problem.”
Glick told The Independent on Friday that more testing needs to be done and there’s currently no timeline for deployment “at scale.”
“But we’d ideally like it to be as soon as possible,” he said.
Unveiling the Mystery of Melting Ice Shelves
The IceNode project is a testament to NASA's commitment to tackling the climate crisis. The project aims to understand the crucial role of ice shelves in the melting process of the Antarctic ice sheet, which could significantly impact sea levels. The robots will be deployed in the treacherous grounding zone, where floating ice shelves meet the ocean and land. This region is inaccessible to humans and satellite imagery.
IceNode: A Technological Breakthrough
IceNode robots are designed to be autonomous, relying on software to navigate and position themselves in the challenging Antarctic environment. They will use ocean currents to reach their designated locations and then use their three-legged landing gear to attach themselves to the underside of ice shelves.
These robots are equipped with sensors to measure the rate of warm water circulation, which melts the ice, and the rate of cold meltwater sinking. They are designed to operate for a year, collecting continuous data on seasonal fluctuations before detaching, drifting back to the open ocean, and transmitting data via satellite.
The Significance of IceNode Data
The data collected by IceNode will provide valuable insights into the rate of melting in ice shelves. This information will be used to improve computer models that predict sea level rise, giving scientists a better understanding of the potential impact of climate change on coastal communities.
The Future of IceNode
The IceNode project is still in its early stages of development. However, the success of the recent tests in the Beaufort Sea and the previous deployments in Lake Superior and Monterey Bay demonstrates the potential of this technology. The deployment of the robot fleet in Antarctica is expected to provide critical data that will be vital for understanding the impact of climate change on our planet.
The Race Against Time
The melting of polar ice sheets is a serious threat to our planet, and the IceNode project is a crucial step in understanding this complex process. The robots will play a vital role in collecting data that will help us to predict and mitigate the effects of climate change. With the clock ticking, the need for data collection and scientific advancements is more urgent than ever. These robots might be the key to protecting our planet from the worst effects of climate change.
