5 Top Cool Tools for a Modern Arctic Survey Expedition

Wouldn't it be cool to be on an expedition? One of my favorite expedition accounts was Shackleton's Incredible Voyage. You just can't beat that golden age of polar exploration.

This morning I was reading about a modern expedition that is currently working to reach the North Geographic pole. Trying to get a better understanding of the sea ice, this team will travel for over 90 days over drifting sea ice taking over 50 different types of measurements and samples.

While the herioic clash of man versus nature is a bit muted in the modern age we live in, it is still impressive. So what are their top tools?

1. Don't leave home without your SPRITE.

SPRITE comprises a robust and portable, ice-penetrating impulse radar. At just 4kg in weight mounted behind the survey’s sledge-boat effectively converting the traditional sledge into a small survey vessel

2. Hands Free Instant Communication 

Everyone wears a headset and all the communication signals are routed through the sledge. Basically anything they say is bounced off a sledge and a satellite and is heard back at their UK base and anything said in the UK base can be heard by all the ice team.

3. Artic-Proof Computer 

The custom-built, onboard sledge computer coupled to a multi-modem, Iridium data-uplink system was designed to withstand the deep cold and rough use in a polar environment. This equipment transmits all of the vital science, image, audio, video and bio-telemetry data back to the UK base.

4. Don't Just Guess on your Wellbeing


The team will also be wearing the Equivital™ physiological monitoring system, developed by the Cambridge-based company, Hidalgo. The Equivital™ units will continuously measure and record the physiological condition of the team and detailed physiological data, such as heart rate, respiration rate and effort, skin temperature and body orientation.

Team members will also ingest a ‘core pill’ which passes through the stomach into the intestines. This pill contains a miniature temperature sensor, battery and radio transmitter and communicates core body temperature readings to the Equivital™ unit.

5. An Ultralight CTD



This system consists of an ultra light weight winch system and a high resolution Conductivity Temperature Depth sensor package (CTD). After a small hole is made in the ice, this CTD sensor is lowered from just under the ice to a depth of 300m at about 0.5 m/s, and samples conductivity, temperature and depth 4 times a second, and records this within the package, allowing the data to be downloaded later to the onboard sledge computer.

You can follow the team here.