Robots In The Danger Zones Of Arctic Science

SCIENCE / CLIMATE CHANGE

Writers: Euan Paterson, Finlo Cottier
Photographs: SAMS, Scottish Association for Marine Science

November 2021

Looking up from his boat at the towering block of ice, 60 metres high, Professor Mark Inall only feels safe from a distance of around 300 metres away – any closer would definitely be in the danger zone.

Prof Inall is at 79°N in the shadow of the majestic Kronebreen (Crown Glacier) in Kongsfjorden, Svalbard. As he takes in the crisp, clean air, the Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS) researcher is reminded, perhaps surprisingly - of home.

“It is like the west Highlands of Scotland, but with huge ice streams creeping slowly between the peaks,” he said.

“This is what Scotland looked like 10,000 years ago. The result is a landscape heavily indented with fjords or sea lochs; the influence of the ocean to the west is never far away – you feel a great affinity.”

Robots and subs are important tools for scientists to gather knowledge on the transfer of heat and water to help understand how climate change is impacting the stability of glaciers. JONAA©SAMS

Working within the threat of some 50,000 tonnes of ice

Working alongside Norwegian scientists and SAMS colleagues, Prof Inall and his team are on a 10-day mission is to measure the fresh run-off of meltwater from the glacier as it discharges into the fjord, and assess how it interacts with the saltier seawater that flows into the fjord from the North Atlantic. The team hopes these findings will answer long-held questions over the interaction between oceans and glaciers and how this influences the rate at which glaciers are retreating.

However, the threat of around 50,000 tonnes of ice falling from the glacier into the sea at any moment is a stark reminder to Prof Inall that he is a long way from home. The collapse of the heavily crevassed ice front would not only crush anything immediately below, but it would also set up large waves that radiate quickly away, posing a danger to any small vessel close by. The threat of a collapse is always there. The ice cracks with the sound of a rifle shot, the edge is always crumbling and occasionally vast columns of ice give way plunging into the fjord.

“The collapse of the heavily crevassed ice front would not only crush anything immediately below, but it would also set up large waves that radiate quickly away, posing a danger to any small vessel close by.”

The Kronebreen glacier and the Kongsvegen glacier of Kongsfjorden in Svalbard where the project took place. JONAA©UiT, Arctic University of Norway.

Fjords are key to understanding the connection

The data collected will be important in understanding how the ocean and the glaciers interact in the interconnected earth system and how this might alter as climate continues to change. The interaction the fieldwork team records could fill a data gap that hasn’t previously been included in climate models, says project leader Prof Finlo Cottier, also of SAMS.

“We know that the Arctic is changing rapidly. In my 20-year career, the Arctic has lost half of its sea ice,” he explains. “The ocean is also undergoing rapid changes – in this fjord, the water has been warming by one degree a decade.”

“Fjords are the connection between the warm ocean and our rapidly melting northern glaciers. So whilst fjords look very small on a map, the transfer of heat and water at these points, often just a few kilometres wide, are extremely important in understanding how climate change is impacting the stability of glaciers.

“However, as these areas are too dangerous to survey fully and too small to be picked up on global ocean models, the interactions between fjords and glaciers have not been sufficiently represented in ocean and climate predictions.

Dangers beneath the water surface

“While rising global temperatures increase glacial melt, glaciers are also breaking up below the surface of the water.

“We need to know much more about the freshwater coming into the ocean: How much is there? Where does it end up? How does it change fjord circulation? And we need to know how enhanced fjord circulation can bring warm Atlantic waters to the glacier face and accelerate melting.

“It would simply be too dangerous to go into such a hostile and remote environment with a boat. That is where the robotic systems come into their own, working at the front line of Arctic science.”

In a process known as sub-glacial discharge, meltwater flows down through the glacier and out into the ocean. This water is fresher than the surrounding seawater, so starts to rise in the water column, creating a plume that pulls in warmer Atlantic water which increases the melt rate at the face of the glacier. This process undermines the wall of ice, causing huge chunks to collapse into the sea.

Dr Emily Venables, Marine Robotics Research Engineer at the University in Tromsø piloting the surface vehicle. JONAA©UiT, Arctic University of Norway.

The Scottish Association of Marine Sciences has in recent years made increasing use of robotic systems in their marine research project, allowing for information to be gathered further and deeper than humanly accessible. Above SAMS UHI PhD student James Coogan tests the ecoSUB by Scottish shores before operating it in the Arctic. JONAA©SAMS

SAMS ecoSUB in Kongsfjorden, Svalbard. JONAA©SAMS

Fundamental cooperation with Norwegian partners

The mission to Kongsfjorden also builds on a strong collaboration between Scottish and Norwegian scientists in the world’s most northerly sea. The project is funded through the Norwegian research centre, The Fram Centre, under the Coasts and Fjords flagship programme and involves SAMS, UiT Arctic University of Norway, the Norwegian Polar Institute and University Centre on Svalbard.

“The collaboration between SAMS and our Norwegian partners is fundamental for this type of research,” says Prof Cottier. “Each group brings their own skills, expertise and equipment which collectively gives us a more complete scientific appreciation of the important processes.

“Scotland has been promoting its connection to northern nations for some years now and the long-standing partnership we enjoy with Norwegian colleagues makes that connection very personal and very deep.” ▢

“Fjords are the connection between the warm ocean and our rapidly melting northern glaciers. So whilst fjords look very small on a map, the transfer of heat and water at these points, often just a few kilometres wide, are extremely important in understanding how climate change is impacting the stability of glaciers.”

As beautiful as it is potentially dangerous. The Crown glacier in Kongsfjorden, Svalbard, where **SAMS, UiT Arctic University of Norway, the Norwegian Polar Institute and University Centre on Svalbard collaborated on the project.** JONAA©SAMS

Euan Paterson is the communications and media officer at the Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS) in Oban, Scotland. A journalist to trade, he now helps SAMS to engage a variety of audiences and works with scientists to ensure their work has reach and impact. This article is written in media collaboration between SAMS and JONAA.

Prof Finlo Cottier is an interdisciplinary researcher at the Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS) linking high latitude physical oceanographic processes with diverse ecological responses. He has exploited the use of long-term, multi-parameter marine observatories to investigate coupled processes in Arctic waters and is now utilising robotic platforms that will transform marine research in the coming decades. At SAMS, he is co-leader of the Ocean Systems research area.