Story: This pilotless drone collects climate data in a remote part of Antarctica.
Scientists are testing these new aircraft in search of more efficient ways to study the frozen continent.
Windracer's unmanned drones have already flown hundreds of miles, collecting information that could help understand how Antarctica is being affected by climate change.
“Using an airborne platform is a very efficient way to collect data because you don't have to actually go to the ground and you can cover a large area.”
Tom Jordan is an aeronautical geophysicist at the British Antarctic Survey.
He said the new technology can be incorporated into research in the field.
“By combining those two things, ground observations and aerial surveys, we can get a complete picture of what we need to understand the environment and ecosystem here.”
Windracers ULTRA UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) are designed for extreme environments like Antarctica.
So what can this plane do?
Tom Jordan explains:
“Specifically, we are equipped with a camera system for environmental sensing, so we can take photographs and hyperspectral images to study the ecology of some of the islands and the bay behind. We will use sensors and magnetic sensors to observe the geology of the rocks beneath the water and under the ice, which is critical to understanding how ice will flow in the future. And finally, We have a radar system that we will be testing that will allow us to see through the ice and study the shape of the terrain buried beneath the ice.”
The Windracers drone was developed as part of a pilot program aimed at demonstrating how advanced drone technology can be used to collect environmental data in Antarctica.
Scientists hope that they will learn more about how humans are affecting nature.
“We study the environment. We try to understand how the environment changes and how humans impact the environment. We truly understand our impact on the environment. We always strive to minimize our impact. To ensure we minimize our impact on the environment, we have a number of rules in place. and processes are in place.”