EAGER: A low-cost, long-endurance observational platform for the Arctic atmospheric boundary layer

EAGER：低成本、长航时的北极大气边界层观测平台

• 批准号: 2413498
• 负责人: Gianluca Meneghello
• 金额: $ 29.96万
• 依托单位: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-11-15 至 2024-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2413498&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: EAGER; low; cost; long; endurance

The Arctic is the fastest-changing environment on the planet. Temperatures in the region have risen by more than 3°C since the 1970s, three times faster than the global average. Over the past few decades, the Arctic has taken the role of a canary in the coal mine for climate change, but our ability to monitor the atmosphere in this harsh and remote region is still very limited, and often relies on very expensive manned flights and research cruises. This is in contrast with the situation in the ocean, where autonomous platforms have provided a wealth of observations. The resulting paucity of observations is hindering our understanding of the Arctic evolution, and of its relationship to lower latitude weather and the global climate. This project focuses on overcoming current challenges in monitoring the Arctic atmosphere by designing, developing, and testing a novel observational platform aimed at providing autonomous, continuous access to the central Arctic throughout all seasons.This EAGER project supports the design, testing and implementation of an autonomous Arctic atmospheric observing system using a novel design of balloons capable of making multiple soundings for each deployment. The platform’s mission requirements include the ability to: i) fly across the Arctic basin carried by the prevailing winds while performing four, 1 km soundings per day over three weeks; ii) operate within a temperature range between -50°C and +20°C; and iii) survive precipitation and icing. By performing a series of bench tests and two field campaigns, the project will focus on verifying three hypotheses. First, that the proposed mechanical-compression balloon design will provide sufficient maneuverability and robustness to survive the impact of inclement weather. Second, that recent advancements in sensors, satellite modems, and high-specific-energy batteries, will provide sufficient savings in weight and energy consumption to achieve the target three-week flight time. Third, that a control algorithm can be designed to autonomously fly several platforms across the Arctic in an energy efficient way. The project will also support education and public outreach through demonstration events using scaled-down balloon deployments.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

北极是地球上改变最快的环境。自1970年代以来，该地区的温度增长了3°C以上，比全球平均水平快三倍。在过去的几十年中，北极在气候变化中扮演了金丝雀在煤矿中的角色，但是我们监视这个苛刻和偏远地区气氛的能力仍然非常有限，并且通常依靠非常昂贵的载人飞行和研究巡游。这与海洋的情况形成鲜明对比，在海洋中，自主平台提供了大量观察。产生的观察不足是阻碍了我们对北极进化的理解及其与较低的纬度天气和全球气候的关系。该项目的重点是克服当前在监视北极气氛中的挑战，通过设计，开发和测试一个新型的观察平台，旨在在所有季节中提供自主，继续访问北极中心的北极。该急切的项目支持设计，测试和实施一种自动北极大气观察系统，该设计使用各种能够执行多种声音设计的全新设计。该平台的任务要求包括以下能力：i）在盛行的风中飞过北极盆地，同时每天在三周内每天进行四，1公里的声音； ii）在-50°C和 +20°C之间的温度范围内运行； iii）在降水和结冰中生存。通过执行一系列基准测试和两个现场活动，该项目将着重于验证三个假设。首先，所提出的机械压缩气球设计将提供足够的机动性和鲁棒性，以使天气的影响能够生存。其次，最新的传感器，卫星模式和高特异性电池的进步将提供足够的节省重量和能源消耗，以实现目标三周的飞行时间。第三，可以设计一种控制算法以自主在北极的自动飞行以节能的方式飞行。该项目还将通过使用缩放的气球部署来支持教育和公众推广活动。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并通过使用基金会的知识分子优点和更广泛的影响审查标准来评估，被认为是珍贵的支持。