Real-time physical data acquisition through a remote sensing platform on a polar lake

Abstract

We describe the design and installation of environmental monitoring equipment on a large freshwater Antarctic lake (Crooked Lake, 68°37′S, 78°23′E). The system recorded ice thickness and photosynthetically active radiation (PAR), ultraviolet (UVB) radiation, and temperature at a range of depths in the water column. The data were accessed remotely at Davis Station (15 km distant) by telemetry. The remote sensing platform produced continuous quasi real-time data, enabling the development of accurate detailed models, e.g., ice heat budget models during seasonal melt out. The prototype system has the capacity for the addition of further instrumentation, for example, fluorimeters. Here we present an illustrative preliminary data set derived during the summer immediately prior to ice-cover break up and after winter redeployment of the platform.