Greenland Inland Traverse (GrIT): 2010 Mobility Performance and Implications

The National Science Foundation initiated the Greenland Inland Traverse (GrIT) to resupply science stations at NEEM and Summit via over-snow transport. The inaugural traverse in 2008, while successful, encountered mobility problems owing to steep slopes along the first 60 miles, soft snow along much...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Lever, James H
Other Authors: COLD REGIONS RESEARCH AND ENGINEERING LAB HANOVER NH
Format: Text
Language:English
Published: 2011
Subjects:
Surface Transportation and Equipment
Test Facilities
Equipment and Methods
*BLADDERS
*HEATING
*SLEDS
*TRACTORS
BENEFITS
ELECTRIC HEATERS
FOUNDATIONS(STRUCTURES)
FRICTION
FUELS
GREENLAND
GRIT
GUIDANCE
ICE
INSTRUMENTATION
MELTING
MOBILITY
PLASTICS
SHEETS
SLOPE
SNOW
STEEL
THINNESS
TOWING
*PLASTIC SHEETS
*SLIDING FRICTION
*TWO DUAL-BLADDER SLEDS
DURA-BASE CARGO SLED
GRIT(GREENLAND INLAND TRAVERSE)
GRIT10 PERFORMANCE
OVER-SNOW TRANSPORT
SUMMIT STATION
TOWING FUEL BLADDERS
RUBBER-TRACK TRACTORS
Greenland
Online Access:http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA551375
http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA551375
Description
Summary:The National Science Foundation initiated the Greenland Inland Traverse (GrIT) to resupply science stations at NEEM and Summit via over-snow transport. The inaugural traverse in 2008, while successful, encountered mobility problems owing to steep slopes along the first 60 miles, soft snow along much of the route, and higher than expected towing resistance of the fuel sleds. With our guidance, GrIT implemented several changes to improve performance in 2010, and these changes were largely successful. Planned half-load shuttling reduced immobilizations on steep sections, omission of the steel fuel sled eliminated the worst-performing sled, and towing the fuel bladders two inline on long plastic sheets rather singly on separate sheets improved performance of the remaining fuel sleds. In addition, we instrumented the bladder sleds to quantify the expected dependence of towing resistance on sled-snow interface temperature. Sliding friction warms the sled and produces a thin meltwater layer that decreases towing resistance over cold snow. Furthermore, to assess benefits of artificially warming the sleds, one dual-bladder sled included electric heating blankets (optionally on or off) and the other included black wrappers to increase solar gain. This report summarizes GrIT10 performance, evaluates the changes implemented and assesses implications for future GrIT operations. DISCLAIMER:

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