Alternative Communication Networking in Polar Regions

• Main Authors: Abdul Jabbar Mohammad, Ish Chalishazar, Victor Frost, Glenn Prescott
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 2004
• Subjects: Greenland; Antarc*; Antarctica; GRIP; Ice Sheet
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.4.4350; http://www.ittc.ku.edu/publications/documents/Mohammad2004_ISART_Mohammad.pdf

Research is being conducted in the Polar Regions that generates significant quantities of important scientific data. Real-time exchange of this information in the field and access to the Internet is crucial. This paper presents a reliable, truly mobile, lightweight, and relatively inexpensive integrated data communications system to provide wireless Internet access in remote regions. It describes the work done as part of the Polar Radar for Ice Sheet Measurements (PRISM) project to support data communication requirements of science expeditions in the harsh climactic and technologically challenged regions of Greenland and Antarctica. An inverse multiplexed, multi-channel Iridium based system integrated with a long-range 802.11b network is developed to provide wireless Internet access at moderate speeds. Results of field experiments conducted at the North GRIP site in Greenland to evaluate the overall performance of the system are presented. The system has an average throughput of 9.26 Kbps and efficiency greater than 90%. The average time interval between call drops is observed to be 100 minutes with modem uptimes as high as 95%, which means the system is suitable for autonomous operation.