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Polar Technology Conferences

The Polar Technology Conferences bring together Polar Scientists and Technology Developers in a forum to exchange information on research system operational needs and technology solutions that have been successful in polar environments. This exchange of knowledge helps to address issues of design, implementation, and deployment for systems that are to achieve their research goals in the Polar Regions.

Past participants have come from the private sector, state and federal agencies, non-governmental organizations, and academia. Presentations typically cover system requirements for proposed research along with descriptions of systems and approaches that have been proven in polar deployments. Typical hardware topics include weather stations, robotics, power systems, telemetry, remote communications. Informal breaks allow for opportunities for networking and information exchange amongst the attendees.

More information is available at http://www.polartechnologyconference.org/

2012 Presentations
3-5 April 2012
Hosts: Dartmouth College Institute of Arctic Sciences & Ice Drilling Program Office
The Lake Morey Resort, Fairlee, Vermont, USA

Name	Affiliation	Topic
Tuesday, 3 April 2012
Roy Stehle	Steering Committee	Welcome and Introductions
Jennifer Mercer	Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL)	Engineering and Technology Solutions for Operational Challenges in Polar Environments - An Overview of CRREL's EPOLAR Program
Dan Breton	Dartmouth College	Photonic Measurements of Firn and Ice Structure
Seth White	UNAVCO	Remote Instrumentation Stations: Progress in the last year
Todd Valentic	SRI International	You Ought to Be in Pictures: Experiences deploying low-cost camera systems in the Arctic
Ben Aspholm Nathan Kren Rhyan Lange Dan Rhodes	U.S. Naval Academy U.S. Naval Academy U.S. Naval Academy U.S. Naval Academy	IceGoat1 - USNA Polar Science Program
Bob Bruninga	U.S. Naval Academy	Amateur Satellite and APRS Data Links
Alberto Behar	NASA / JPL / ASU	Micro Subglacial Lake Exploration Device (MSLED)
Louis Whitcomb	Johns Hopkins University	Development of a Remotely Operated Underwater Vehicle for Oceanographic Access Under Ice
Mary Albert	Dartmouth / IDPO	Innovations from Ice Drilling Program Office / Ice Drilling Design & Operations
Wednesday, 4 April 2012
Andy Stillenger	New Jersey Institute of Technology	Update of Automatic Geophysical Observatory (AGO) power system status and new equipment
Frank Heid	SFC Energy Inc.	EFOY fuel cell operation in Arctic environments
Roy Stehle	SRI International	Update: GPS Trackers
Alberto Behar	ASA / JPL / ASU	Technology for autonomous monitoring and investigations of polar environments
Ngoc Hoang	NAL Research	New Iridium SBD and Full Data Modems
Gil Jeffer	New Jersey Institute of Technology	AGO Station Monitoring: Environmental and Instrumentation Parameters in "Real-Time" / Iridium Direct-IP SBD Feed
Tracy Dahl	CH2M Hill Polar Services (CPS)	2012 SAE Clean Snowmobile Challenge
Owen Roberts	NREL	USAP, AntNZ, Meridian Energy, Powercorp, RPSC, DOE-NSF Collaboration & The Ross Island Wind Project
Paul Riley	University of New Hampshire	Autonomous Real Time Remote Observatory (ARRO)
Steering Committee Renee Crain* Pat Haggerty* Alex Isern* Vladimir Papitashvili All Attendees	- National Science Foundation National Science Foundation National Science Foundation National Science Foundation -	Open discussion on the goals and roles of the Polar Technology Conference and it's future content, format, venue(s), and operations. PTC History * Via telecon
Thursday, 5 April 2012
Sally Shoop	ERDC - CREL	Evaluation of a Snow Miller/Paver
Chuck Ryerson	ERDC - CRREL	Atmospheric Icing: How It Forms and How to Treat It
Kenneth Rancourt	Mount Washington Observatory	Mount Washington's Observatory's Capabilities and Lessons Learned
David Blake	British Antarctic Survey	Halley VI The Development of a Hot Water Drill to Access Subglacial Lake Ellsworth
Dick Armstrong John Rand	Richard S. Armstrong, PE, LLC CRREL	USAP Proof of Concept Projects
Jennifer Mercer	Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory	Using High-Resolution Satellite Imagery and Ground Penetrating Radar to Avoid Crevasses Along the Greenland Inland Traverse (GrIT) Route
Rebecca Williams	Dartmouth College	Autonomous Crevasse Detection using a Robotic Ground Penetrating Radar System
Jay Burnside	Polar Field Services	Greenland Inland Traverse (GrIT)
Paul Thur	Lockheed Martin	Traversing in the Antarctic
Jason Weale	Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory	High-Efficiency Polar Heavy Traverses
Jack Dibb Bob Hawley Tracy Dahl	ESRC University of New Hampshire Dartmouth College CH2M Hill Polar Services	Open discussion on plans for Summit / APEX in Greenland Presentation Audio record

2011 Presentations
24-25 March 2010
Host: IRIS
Albuquerque Marriott, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA

Name Affiliation	Topic	Size (MB)
Dale Chayes Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University	Development and operation of an aircraft-based through-ice CTD Rosette	6.35
Satish Chetty Beyond 66	Ice Temperature Measurement using sealed temperature sensors	0.81
Kerry J. Claffey US Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboaratory	Thermographic Assessment of the Big House at Summit Station, Greenland	2.03
Aaron Curtis New Mexico Tech	Instrumenting the fumarolic ice caves of Erebus Volcano	2.98
Jason Flynn Klinge Corporation	Keeping Your Cargo Safe: Reliable Refrigeration Technology for Maintaining Critical Core Temperatures	2.39
Martin Grill SRI International	PakBus over Satellite	2.84
Frank Heid SFC Energy	EFOY Pro Fuel Cells: Reliable Off-grid Power for remote applications in cold climates	2.46
Neil Humphrey University of Wyoming	Simplicity and Low Power design to increase reliability of polar remote deployments	7.23
Neil Humphrey University of Wyoming
Laura Jones New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology	Observing the Dynamics of Mount Erebus using a Terrestrial‐Based LiDAR	5.92
Lars Kalnajs LASP / University of Colorado	Antarctic Long Duration Super Pressure Ballooning – Instruments and Applications	1.41
Lars Kalnajs LASP / University of Colorado
Shelley L. Knuth University of Colorado	Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Flights over Terra Nova Bay, Antarctica During September 2009	2.42
Craig Kulesa University of Alaska	High Elevation Antarctic Terahertz (HEAT) telescopes for the high plateau	5.31
Robert Melville New Jersey Institute of Technology	A new Telemetry System for the Automatic Geophysical Observatories using Iridium SBD Messaging	0.49
Stephen Musko University of Michigan	Adaptive Autonomous Low-Power Instrument Platform (AAL-PIP)	1.77
Kenneth Ratzlaff University of Kansa	Toward an Autonomously Powered Neutrino Observatory at the South Pole	1.27
Ted Scambos National Snow and Ice Data Center	LARISSA Glaciology and Early Results from the AMIGOS Stations	5.40
Hank Statscewich University of Alaska Fairbanks	An Autonomous Renewable Energy Platform for Scientific Applications in Remote Alaska	4.25
Roy Stehle SRI International	Winter Operation of a 65-Watt Methanol Fuel Cell at an Unattended Arctic Site	1.37
Andrew Stillinger University of Kansas	Wind Turbine Problems and Solutions at the Automatic Geophysical Observatories On the Antarctic Plateau	1.82
Tom Tessier Solara Remote Data Delivery Inc.	Solara Field Tracker Use in the Extreme Cold Environment for Iridium Satellite-based GPS Tracking, Messaging and	0.71
Jonathan Thom SSEC/University of Wisconsin-Madison	2010‐11 Antarctic Automatic Weather station field season and technical plans for the future	1.41
Todd Valentic SRI International	AMISR - The Advanced Modular Incoherent Scatter Radar	4.92
Seth White UNAVCO	Familiar problems in polar instrumentation: What we have learned. What we are trying to do about them	1.98

2010 Presentations
25-26 March 2010
Host: UNAVCO
Millennium Harvest House, Boulder, Colorado, USA

Name Affiliation	Topic	Size (MB)
Liz Bagshaw Bristol Glaciology Centre	The Challenges of In-Situ Monitoring of Biogeochemical Activity on Glaciers
Satish Chetty Beyond 66	Albedo Measurement from a Buoy	0.24
Tracy Dahl Polar Field Services/CH2M Hill Polar Services	2010 SAE Clean Snowmobile Challenge	12.3
Max Enders UNAVCO	The Earthscope Plate Boundary Observatory; Logistics and Maintenance Challenges in Alaska	5.90
Gary Ferentchak Raytheon Polar Services	Iridium Multi-Channel Technology & EMSS Access	1.69
Martin Grill SRI International	Data Transfer Options for Remote Campbell Scientific Dataloggers	0.10
Terry Haran National Snow and Ice Data Center	Automated Met-Ice-Geo Observation Systems (AMIGOS) Deployed to Larsen B Region	1.43
Ngoc Hoang NAL Research	Open Discussion on Iridium Issues	0.25
Ngoc Hoang NAL Research	Questions posed to Dr. Hoang	0.06
Nick Key University of Canterbury	Surface Observations on the Darwin & Hatherton Glaciers Antarctica	6.15
Matthew Lazarra University of Wisconsin-Madison	An Overview of Polar Satellite Imagery Composits Project	1.69
Matthew Lazarra University of Wisconsin-Madison	A Review of 2009-2010 Automatic Weather Station Field Season	3.13
Charlie Martin UCAR	The NCAR Driftsonde Sounding System	1.50
Frank Rack University of Nebraska-Lincoln	ANDRILL Coulman High Planning	2.04
Tom Sjogren Explorersweb Inc/HumanEdgeTech	Ultra-light Stand Alone Communications Solutions and Multichannel Updates Over Iridium	4.09
Roy Stehle SRI International	GPS Tracker and Iridium OpenPort	1.83
Guy Tytgat IRIS PASSCAL	AGAP Seismic Deployment upon the Antarctic Plateau - Logistical and Technical Challenges	1.15
Todd Valentic SRI International	OBuoy - An Autonomous Sea-Ice Tethered Instrument Platform	2.65
Seth White UNAVCO	Building Polar Instrumentation: Successes, Failures, and Lessons Learned	0.90
Bob Zook Moss Landing Marine Labs	Project SCINI. The Successful Development of a Through Ice Micro ROV	3.21
Roy Stehle, Todd Valentic, Gary Ferentchak & Seth White	Workshop - Iridium and Other Communications Systems	1.26
Seth White, Tim Parker, & Tracy Dahl	Workshop - Power and Deployment	0.45

2009 Presentations
16-17 April 2009
IceCube Research Center
University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, USA

Name Affiliation	Topic	Size (MB)
Brian Bonnett IRIS PASSCAL	Development, Testing, and Deployment of Xeos Iridium Communications Systems	2.06
Ethan Brodsky UW-Madison	University of Wisconsin-Madison Electric Snowmobile	2.68
Satish Chetty Beyond 66	Project PolarBot	0.99
Tracy Dahl Polar Field Services/CH2M Hill Polar Services	2009 SAE Clean Snowmobile Challenge	4.47
	Summit Station Wind Power Pilot Project	7.56
	Greenland Inland Traverse (GRIT)	14.80
Francis Halzen IceCube Research Center	Overview of the IceCube Project	4.73
Robert Melville New Jersey Instititute of Technology	Science & Engineering Aspects of the Automatic Geophysical Observatories	1.32
Karthik Soundarapandian IceCube Research Center	Operating a Data Center at the South Pole	8.53
Bill Spindler	Antarctic Science Support - A Historical Perspective	6.11
Roy Stehle SRI International	Experience with Iridium OpenPort in Greenland	0.74
Guy Tytgat IRIS PASSCAL	Power Management of Remote Instrumentation at Extreme Low Temperature	1.41
Todd Valentic SRI International	Designing a Robust, Low-Power, Embedded System for Data Acquisition and Communications	9.77
George A. Weidner Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences	The Challenges of Changing Technologies for the USAP AWS Program	3.55
Seth White UNAVCO	GPS / Seismic Remote Stations MRI Project - Status in Year 3	0.82

2008 Presentations
24-25 April 2008
Building G - Main Conference Room, SRI International
700 Laurel Street, Menlo Prk, CA, USA

Name Affiliation	Topic	Size (MB)
David Bogen IceCube Project - UW-Madison	IceCube Teleport System: Many-to-Many Communications Through Iridium's SBD	0.34
Brian Bonnett IRIS PASSCAL	Polar Seismic Stations, Issues with Cold Operation and Our Approch to the Solution	8.13
Gary Ferentchak Raytheon Polar Services Company	“Getting Data Off-Ice” - US Antarctic Program Satellite Communications	3.24
Robert Melville New Jersey Instititute of Technology	The Automatic Geophysical Observatories: Science and Implementation	1.64
Lynn J. Rothschild NASA Ames Research Center	BioLaunch: a novel Stanford faculty and student-run program in suborbital and small payloads	5.03
Roy Stehle SRI International	Power Systems	1.46
Todd Valentic SRI International	DOD Iridium RUDICS - First Deployment Experiences	0.82
Doug Stoup Ice Axe Foundation	Ice Axe Foundation - Creating Awareness Through Educations	17.96
Bob Vehorn SPAWAR	Antarctic Iridium Meteorological Messaging	0.05
Seth White UNAVCO	GPS / Seismic Remote Stations MRI Project	1.20

2007 Presentations
26-27 April 2007
Building G - Main Conference Room, SRI International
700 Laurel Street, Menlo Prk, CA, USA

Name Affiliation	Topic	Size (MB)
David Ainley H.T. Harvey & Associates	PenguinCam at Cape Royds, Ross Island	1.09
R. Allan Baker Raytheon Polar Services Company	The Use of Cutting Edge Technology for the Efficient Management of Liquid Helium at South Pole Station	0.34
Alberto Behar NASA JPL	Polar Technology Being Developed Using Simple Processors and Iridium Comms	8.13
Justin Harrison University of Canterbury, Christchurch, NZ	University of Canterbury Research in Antarctica	4.79
Ngoc Hoang NAL Research	Iridium Hardwaer, On-goin Iridium Efforts & Future Networks	3.24
William Rachelson UC Berkeley - Space Science Lab	The Automatic Geophysical Observatories (AGO)	1.64
Lynn J. Rothschild NASA Ames Research Center	BioLaunch	5.03
Tim Short SRI International	In Situ Mass Spectrometry: Underwater Measurements & Miniaturization	1.59
Roy Stehle SRI International	Comparison of Communications Equipment Power Consumption	1.46
Bob Vehorn SPAWAR	The Antarctic Internet Data Distribution (Antarctic-IDD) Project	0.51
Stefan W. Vogel Analytical Center for Environmental and Climatic Change	Technology Requirements for Subglacial Research	4.41
Seth White UNAVCO	Working on Polar Power and Comms…to help extend the reach of geophysical scientists’ tentacles deeper into the polar regions	0.94
Andrew Young SRI International	Iridium Remote Data Transmission System	1.04
Bob Zook Moss Landing Marine Lab	SCINI - A Small Diameter Under Ice ROV	1.64

2006 Papers

Polar Technology: Power & Communications Options, Roy Stehle, SRI International

2005 Papers

Polar Technology: Power & Communications Options, Roy Stehle, SRI International
Remote Data Retrieval Using The Data Transport Network, Todd Valentic, SRI International