UAV Surveys Sea Ice to Help Fuel Tanker in Nome

IARC researcher Jessica Cherry recently visited Nome, Alaska to survey sea ice between a Russian fuel tanker, the Renda (led by a US Coast Guard icebreaker Healy, which cleared a path for the tanker), and the harbor it needed to reach. It was critical that the tanker reached the harbor quickly, as the town expected to run out of heating fuel by spring after enduring record breaking low temperatures. Cherry joined a team of researchers from the University of Alaska Fairbanks, including unmanned aircraft program manager Greg Walker, to help find a safe path through the ice using an unmanned aerial vehicle. The UAV was used to capture bird's-eye images from above, giving the team a glimpse of otherwise inaccessible regions of the sea ice.

Cherry spoke to Nome's radio station, KNOM, with details. Listen to this story starting at about 2:18 into this newscast: http://www.knom.org/news/update-news/2012/01/10/index.html

Jessica Cherry uses a map-based touch-screen interface to guide the UAV over areas of interest. Photo by Greg Walker.

The Aeryon Scout UAV returns after surveying the sea ice between the Renda and the harbor. Photo by Jessica Cherry.