Professor braves South Pole in the name of science
A University of Bath professor has just returned from the South Pole, setting up a network of radio equipment at one of the coldest places on Earth for a research project that will improve the accuracy of techniques used by climate scientists to measure Antarctica’s ice-thickness from space.
(Media-Newswire.com) - A University of Bath professor has just returned from the South Pole, setting up a network of radio equipment at one of the coldest places on Earth for a research project that will improve the accuracy of techniques used by climate scientists to measure Antarctica’s ice-thickness from space.
Professor Cathryn Mitchell, of the University’s Department of Electronic & Electrical Engineering, was part of a team of researchers and engineers from Bath and the British Antarctic Survey ( BAS ) who visited BAS research stations Rothera and Halley, before using a small aircraft to visit several remote locations in Antarctica to set up the equipment.
The team spent some of the month-long trip camping while deploying equipment close to the Shackleton Mountains, one of the most remote locations in the Antarctic continent.
The network of specialist equipment will be used to monitor changes in a part of the Earth’s atmosphere called the ionosphere.
Professor Mitchell is a Royal Society-Wolfson Research Merit Award holder and Director of Invert, the centre for imaging science based at the University.
She explained: “The ionosphere distorts radio signals that pass through it, making it harder to receive satellite signals in some regions of the Earth.
“This project will measure the satellite signals received on Earth across the Antarctic over the course of a year so we can create a profile or map of the ionosphere.
“We can use this map to make corrections for satellite radio signals making the measurements more accurate.
“There are lots of radio signals that are affected by the ionosphere: for example GPS signals are slowed down as they pass through it and this causes an error on the position. Other signals such as those from satellite-based radars also are affected.
“We intend that our maps of the ionosphere will help to correct for future radar signals that will be used to measure the ice thickness across the Antarctic continent.”
The ionosphere is particularly complex at both Polar Regions, due to the orientation of geomagnetic field in these areas, which also causes the ‘Northern Lights’.
Whilst scientists have previously taken measurements from relatively accessible fringes of the polar regions, this is the first time that such measurements have been taken from the South Pole.
Whilst the UK has been experiencing unusually cold weather, Professor Mitchell is glad to be back home in a warmer climate.
She said: “This has been a chance to blend engineering, science and polar exploration all together in one project – a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see the least-explored regions of our planet.
“It has been a great privilege to work in a team with the British Antarctic Survey and the US National Science Foundation. And, yes, it was indeed rather cold out there!”
The four year research project is funded by the National Environmental Research Council ( NERC ).
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