Proposed fiber optic cable could make it easier for scientists to transmit important climate data

Located at the southern tip of Ross Island, just off the coast of Antarctica, it is one of the most remote towns in the world. McMurdo Station is the main U.S. outpost in Antarctica, built on a rugged volcanic outcrop.

There are no permanent residents at McMurdo Station—just a revolving door for visiting scientists and temporary personnel, some of whom lived there for a year at a time. When the population is at its highest, usually in the summer, it can hold about 1,000 people.

Their only connection to the outside world is through a satellite system, which provides limited and fragile Internet access. This means that hundreds of people share slow and intermittent Internet connections.

Now, scientists hope to bring Antarctica into the 21st century. They are pushing fiber optic cables-the fastest form of Internet technology-from New Zealand or Australia all the way to McMurdo Station.

According to Peter Neff, a glaciologist at the University of Minnesota, this idea has been circulating for many years. But it has recently begun to receive attention.

The National Science Foundation sponsored a three-day seminar last month to study the value this cable can bring to Antarctica. Speakers at the seminar came from research institutions across the United States, as well as New Zealand and Australia.

Workshop organizers, including Neff, are preparing a summary report, which they hope to submit to NSF later this month. At the same time, the agency plans to start its own "desktop research" as early as next month-compiling research and data on the conditions needed to make cables a reality.

This is not the first time NSF has explored this idea. It appeared in the past, but lost its momentum. But interest has rekindled recently, partly because the series of cable projects currently underway in New Zealand may make it easier for the United States to start its own cable construction work in the near future.

At the same time, there has been unprecedented interest in improving scientific capabilities in Antarctica, where climate change has had a profound impact.

In an interview with E&E News, Neff said: "Now there seems to be an opportunity to really light the flame under NSF." "If they can do this, now is the time."

In a typical summer, McMurdo Station will host a series of events. Scientists of all types—biologists, meteorologists, oceanographers, and glaciologists—all come to the station’s facilities or nearby field camps to carry out research projects.

These efforts become more and more important every year. Climate change is rapidly reshaping the Antarctic ice sheet in a way that may have a profound impact on human society around the world. Antarctica currently loses hundreds of billions of tons of ice every year, causing global sea levels to rise in the process.

"We do know that sea levels will continue to rise at a faster rate in the future," said Helen Fricker, a glaciologist at the University of California. The Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego speaks at the NSF seminar. "But our forecast is conservative, because we really don't understand the process that causes quality loss across Antarctica."

A full understanding of the driving factors of Antarctica's ice loss is the key to better predicting sea level rise. This means more data is needed.

However, the large amount of data poses a challenge to McMurdo's scientists. The limited bandwidth means that the materials they can transmit back to the United States are limited. Often, researchers cannot fully analyze their data until they bring the data back to the hard drive in the laboratory.

This is a drag on the scientific process. This means that important discoveries may take months to be discovered. It may also cause problems for researchers in the field.

Antarctic research usually relies on measurements collected by sensitive scientific instruments. If something goes wrong—perhaps the instrument needs to be repaired or adjusted in some way—scientists may not realize it until they start processing their data. By the time they can transmit enough data to colleagues via satellite, and then wait to receive a response, it may be too late.

David Bromwich, a polar meteorologist at Ohio State University, said at the seminar: "The main message I want to leave you is that our community lacks bandwidth outside of Antarctica." The ability of data sets, and big data sets are the focus."

Experts say that fiber optic cables can change the research and daily life of McMurdo Station.

Non-scientists working at McMurdo usually have a lower priority on the Internet, but they can have better connections. Daily operations and network security work will be easier to carry out. Improved video streaming can open up opportunities for science education and outreach work.

Scientists can send and receive more data at a higher speed.

"We are operating a small town that exists to support our science," Patrick Smith, Manager of Technology Development and Polar Research Support at the National Science Foundation, said in an interview with E&E News. "It's like trying to run the International Space Station and paralyze it by not giving it the meaning of normal operation to support the scientific missions they are running on."

In addition to a better Internet, there are many opportunities. Optical cables can now be equipped with special sensors that can collect information about ocean temperature, salinity, and other scientific data. These measurements can provide scientists with more information about the warming of the Antarctic coastline.

"More observation is the key," Neff said. "We are becoming more and more aware that every time we think that some small details are not important for the future of Antarctica, it turns out to be so, and we always need a long time series to evaluate information: What are we? See today Really special, really unusual?"

500 miles from McMurdo Station, a small group of buildings stands as a lone sentry at the bottom of the world's geography. The Antarctic Station is a more remote outpost than McMurdo, with only about 150 people in a typical summer and dozens of people in the cold season. From February to November, the Antarctic winter is almost inaccessible to outsiders-even by plane.

In one of the harshest environments on earth, scientists are able to conduct research that is almost impossible to do anywhere else.

The Antarctic Atmosphere Research Observatory has one of the longest continuous meteorological data in the inland of Antarctica in the world. It monitors the atmospheric chemistry of some of the cleanest air in the world. At the same time, the unique atmosphere of Antarctica allows astrophysicists to detect elusive subatomic particles called neutrinos. This research can provide them with clues about the origin and future of the universe.

According to Nathan Whitehorn, a physicist at Michigan State University, these studies collect terabytes of data every day, and they continue to expand. He said that in a decade or so, Antarctic physicists may collect more data than the famous Large Hadron Collider at CERN, the world's most powerful particle accelerator.

But the satellite signal from the Antarctic station is more unstable than other places. Usually, it only receives burst signals for a few hours a day. Antarctic researchers can usually only transfer about 10% of the data home-the rest must be transported via hard drives.

Since the station is inaccessible for most of the year, scientists usually ship all their hard drives only once a year-when the plane can pass.

Whitehorn said: "You accumulate the data until November, post things on the plane, and keep a backup copy in case there is a problem with the cargo on the plane-and then it will return to the United States in about a month. "

Now, Antarctic researchers hope that the cable connecting McMurdo can help them solve their own data problems. If the two sites can be connected in some way—perhaps by laying a second cable on the ice—then Antarctic scientists can also transmit more data back to their home laboratory.

Whitehorn said that even without a second cable, it is easier to transmit data from Antarctica to McMurdo via satellite than from Antarctica to New Zealand or Australia. From there, data can be sent quickly over the cable.

Antarctic scientists are not the only ones with big dreams. Other Antarctic scientists imagined McMurdo as a kind of central data center for research sites along the Ross Sea, and possibly further afield in Antarctica.

At the seminar, Matthew Siegfried, a glaciologist at the Colorado School of Mines, said that this idea is especially important for ice experts. In order to truly understand what happened to the Antarctic ice sheet, scientists need to collect data from various locations across the continent.

The types of instruments used by glaciologists in this field can collect a large amount of data, some of which are on the order of gigabytes per minute. Siegfried suggested that in an ideal world, McMurdo could serve as a data center for more remote field sites.

This still leaves the question of how to connect these field sites to McMurdo. But McMurdo's reliable signal can at least open the door to other stations along the way.

Siegfried said that any future cable to McMurdo "really needs to be seen as part of a broader tool suite to help change our science."

According to Smith, NSF's technical development manager, the concept of McMurdo cables has been circulating in NSF for at least ten years. At the time, NSF commissioned a submarine cable consulting company to conduct a study that showed that "in theory this is possible-but you have to solve many, many details," Smith said.

Because other projects were prioritized, this idea lost its momentum. But last year when the Chilean government announced its own transoceanic cable project, which extended from South America to New Zealand and Australia, interest surfaced again. Recently, New Zealand announced plans to build its first ultra-large-scale data center on the tip of the country's South Island, where NSF had considered establishing its own cable landing site.

These types of projects may make it easier for the United States to start its cable work. If multiple parties are interested in building infrastructure for cable landing at the same location, it is usually economical for them to cooperate and share the cost.

As the idea of ​​cables regained popularity, NSF is quickly determining whether it is really feasible. The icy Antarctic coastline is not the easiest place to install fiber optic cables-a lot of research is still needed to understand how to achieve it and whether it is worth the cost.

Currently, the scientists participating in the recent seminar are busy preparing a report for the NSF outlining the impact on Antarctic research. At the same time, the NSF plans to commission a study of the engineering requirements that may be required for cables, possibly with the assistance of other federal agencies.

According to Smith, the research may begin as early as August. The result will determine whether NSF will continue to advance the project. If so, it may still take years to install the cables.

"It's all exploratory right now-we haven't made any promises because we don't know enough," Smith warned. "We will follow it and see where it will go."

But he is hopeful about the current dialogue, Smith added.

"We still have a lot of work to do," he said. "But at least the discussions at the seminar were very encouraging, I think-very exciting."

Reprinted from E&E News with permission of POLITICO, LLC. Copyright 2021. E&E News provides important news for energy and environmental professionals.

Chelsea Harvey is a reporter for E&E News.

Alyssa Haas, Kelsey Ellis and the United States in conversation

Thomas frank and electronic electrical news

Tess Joss, Beth Zayken, and Jane Christiansen

Discover the science that changes the world. Explore our digital archive dating back to 1845, including articles by more than 150 Nobel Prize winners.

© 2021 Scientific American, a division of Springer Nature America, Inc.

Thanks for reading Scientific American. Knowledge waits.

Already a subscriber? login.

Thanks for reading Scientific American. Create your free account or log in to continue.

Continue reading to subscribe to Scientific American.

You can cancel at any time.