Abstract:
NSF OPP Grants 0443556 and 0443391
Collaborative Research: Science Opportunities for a Multidisciplinary
Long-Range Aircraft for Antarctic Research
The polar regions play a critical role in Earth's climatic and geodynamic
systems. Although located far from the main centers of human civilization, the
polar atmosphere and oceans have strong global
... connections and therefore
directly affect global weather, climate, and the world's population. Over
geologic time scales, Antarctic geodynamic processes are a major influence on
ice-sheet dynamics and global environmental change, which affects current and
long-term, large-scale sea level changes.
Currently, we have a physically based, conceptual understanding of many of the
significant interactions that impact climate and the Antarctic environment. To
transform this conceptual understanding into quantitative knowledge, it is
necessary to acquire geographically diverse sets of fundamental observations at
a range of spatial and temporal resolutions. Satellite data provide needed
continent-wide coverage, but they often have limited spatial resolution and
provide virtually no sub-surface information. They also require extensive
calibration and validation, which can be difficult or impossible to obtain in
the Antarctic. Data collected from remote field camps, seagoing vessels, and
small aircraft provide only point sources of information on a continental
scale. The mobile research platforms currently in use lack the capability to
sample rapidly enough to include the daily to weekly time scale of atmospheric
and oceanic processes over continent-wide scales. The spatial scale gap and
temporal-scale gap in data collection can best be filled by a long-range,
ski-equipped aircraft dedicated to Antarctic research.
To address these data gaps, the Antarctic solid Earth, glaciology, atmospheric
science, and oceanographic communities came together at a workshop in September
2004 in Herndon, Virginia. At the workshop, they formulated a scientific
justification for a long-range research aviation facility and identified key
scientific questions that need to be addressed. Target areas extend over both
continental and oceanic regions. Different survey designs and sensor
configurations are required to address each key question. Workshop participants
defined several generic mission profiles that would achieve most scientific
goals.
Common to all mission profiles is the need for an aircraft capable of carrying
an integrated payload of remote-sensing and in situ instrumentation over long
distances. Almost all mission profiles require data acquisition in regions more
than a thousand nautical miles from existing landing sites for wheeled aircraft
in Antarctica. To get to the target area and be able to survey for several
hours requires aircraft endurance of at least 10 hours or the ability to refuel
in remote locations. Flights that maintain altitudes from a few hundred meters
to at least 7 km are required. Atmospheric physics and chemistry research
require a long-range aircraft with significant load-carrying capability.
Payload requirements range from 2,500 lbs for solid Earth and glaciology
missions to 12,000 lbs for atmospheric chemistry missions.
The range of instrumentation that needs to be supported, and the wide variety
of data that will be collected, by a multidisciplinary, instrumented,
long-range research aircraft creates operational complexity, which requires a
central management and operations facility. Existing research aviation
facilities generally do not cover the broad range of disciplines represented at
the workshop and do not support the variety of sensors envisioned for the
long-range Antarctic research aviation facility. The development and operation
of such a facility would be a unique undertaking.
The full report is available at:
http://www.geo-prose.com/ 
