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Sandia Technology logo A quarterly research and development magazine

Summer 2007
Volume 9, No. 2

SANDIA TECHNOLOGY MAGAZINE

snow vehicle






Summer in Antarctica

hole in ice
In one of the coldest parts of the world, four Sandia researchers took advantage of what is considered to be one of the warmest times of the year in Antarctica late last year.

At peak temperatures of 35 degrees outside with the sun shining continuously, the researchers worked diligently on a highly planned project. There was no room for error or equipment failure because there is no overnight express to Antarctica.

The goal of the mission was to test a Sandia-modified miniaturized synthetic aperture radar (MiniSAR) prototype sensor that could detect buried crevasses for the New York Air National Guard. Flying for the National Science Foundation, the Air Guard must land planes safely in remote areas of Antarctica. The use of the Sandia sensor would augment or replace the present method of manually finding the crevasses.

snow vehicle
Sandia researchers Jeff Bradley and Jeff Bach unload survey equipment from a snow vehicle.
“We were highly successful in demonstrating our ability to detect snow-covered crevasses in Antarctica using Sandia’s MiniSAR crevasse detection radar,” says Tim Mirabal, project manager. The team left on Thanksgiving Day 2006 and stayed on Planet Earth’s southernmost continent for nearly three weeks.

Technical homework

Sandia began working on the crevasse detection radar early in 2006 with funding from the Air National Guard to create a system using Sandia’s existing MiniSAR technology.

The first step was to change the normal KU-band frequency to X-band. KU-band frequency is 12 to 18 GHz and X-band frequency is 8 to 12 GHz. The lower frequency was needed to penetrate the snow. Snow in Antarctica is unique in the world as it is very dry; whether the radar would perform as well in other climates would need to be investigated, says Mirabal.

The team built an external X-band converter and changed the front-end components. New engineering had to be done to accommodate the X-band frequency. A gimbal arm and electronics were redesigned to allow free movement and antenna balance. The design had to allow for easy assembly and disassembly, says team leader Grant Sander.

In addition, the team developed specifications for data formats, mechanical and electrical components for installation on the plane (a de Havilland Twin Otter), and software tools to review the data.