According to data provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Service Association, “The ocean produces over half of the world’s oxygen and absorbs 50 times more carbon dioxide than our atmosphere. Covering 70 percent of the Earth’s surface, the ocean transports heat from the equator to the poles, regulating our climate and weather patterns.” We depend greatly on the oceans of the world, yet we still know so little about them. One oceanic area that scientists have been keen on gathering more data has been the Antarctic Ocean in hopes of better understanding global warming and cooling. With progressing technology, being able to collect data from the unforgiving Antarctic ice shelf and the surrounding waters, scientists have been making breakthrough discoveries.

In 2010, a team of researchers from the Science Management Office at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) began working on a drone specifically made to handle the harsh conditions of the Antarctic ice shelf. The drone they built is called SCINI (Submersible Capable of under Ice Navigation and Imaging) and has proven to be a valuable research tool. Collaborating with ANDRILL (Antarctic Drilling Project) SCINI discovered a whole new species of anemones that went on to be named one of the top 10 species discovered in 2013 upon the study’s public release. The drone was sent into the water and was able to take pictures of the underside of the ice shelf. The newly discovered ice anemones were named in honor of the ANDRILL program, Edwardsiella andrillae. Frank Rack from UNL was on hand to make the discovery. He said, “When we looked up at the bottom of the ice shelf, there they were,” floating like flowers stuck to a ceiling.

Since that discovery, UNL researchers decided to give SCINI an upgrade to see what else it was capable of. The original remote-controlled drone was a 35lb, 1.5meter long cylinder equipped with 2 cameras. A forward and lateral mount of the cameras with fish-eye lenses provided a full view of the surrounding area with a maximum depth of 300 meters below the surface of the ice shelf. In 2013 UNL began working on Deep-SCINI that would be able to travel 1,981meters below the ice shelf. The new model weighs 60-80lbs and is 2 meters long. Along with the same camera system as the original, Deep-SCINI also has further maneuverability, more lights, and a means of collecting biological samples. Bob Zook, chief engineer on the project said, “By going deeper, we will be able to determine what kind of organisms live at these greater depths and distance from the ice shelf edge.”

To complete the redesign of the drill, the Deep-SCINI team joined forces with UNL’s WISSARD (Whillans Ice Stream Subglacial Access Research Drilling), who was set to begin using a new heat drill to bore into the ice shelf to collect data. Once again, under the helm of ANDRILL, UNL’s researchers made another remarkable discovery, microbial life. “The confirmation of microbial life existing in Subglacial Lake Whillans is a very exciting achievement,” said Rack. “The UNL Science Management Office and the UNL drill team are proud to have contributed to the exploration of this unique subglacial environment through the design, fabrication and operation of the hot water drill used to provide access to Subglacial Lake Whillans.”

Shortly after Deep-SCIN revealed “fish living under the ice shelf in this extremely hostile environment far from the front of the ice shelf,” as noted by Rack, the WISSARD program came to an end. However, after proving to be such a worthy endeavor, UNL geared up to once again begin a new program utilizing the hot water drill and drone in Antarctica. In 2018 the drill and the drone would be joining the SALSA (Subglacial Antarctic Lakes Scientific Access) project funded by the National Science Foundation. They would by drilling into the Mercer Subglacial Lake, 1,200 meters below West Antarctica’s Whillans Ice Plain, and using the drone to map and collect data from a region that has been isolated from oceanic and atmospheric changes for thousands of years.

The SALSA project was lead by UNL Earth and Atmospheric Sciences professor, David Harwood. “There have been multiple periods over the last 20 million years when the West Antarctica Ice Sheet was not in place and life bloomed in a marine sea that covered the area,” Harwood said in preparation of the mission. “Our goal now is to collect and interpret samples to gain a better understanding of how climate changes have impacted Antarctica’s history and will impact future changes as our world warms. The main science goal is to learn more about the extreme microbial ecosystems that thrive beneath the ice today.” Once again, Deep-SCINI didn’t fail to impress.

After collecting samples, the team set up a temporary laboratory to study the data. “I’m sitting there in our lab set up in a shipping container with this funny-looking field microscope and said something like, ‘Oh my, look at that,’” said Harwood. “I immediately had four people around me wanting to take a look.” What he found were remains from micro aquatic animals known as water bears. While Harwood was expecting to find fossil remains of single-celled diatoms, he was utterly surprised that they found not only multicellular tardigrades, but some were rather fresh looking. “These creatures certainly aren’t my specialty and I didn’t even know what some of them were,” Harwood said. “I’m happy to have found them and equally happy to pass them off for study by more qualified researchers.”

This next leg of the SALSA project will be undertaken by other researchers with the purpose of “Finding out how these creatures got there or if they might live in the lake is the next step,” Harwood said. But realizing that these discoveries are being made with a drone that was originally designed a decade ago is simply amazing. As the technology that supports drones like SCINI progress, the amount of data they can collect is massive. Hopefully, these drones can help scientists to uncover mysteries of the polar caps that can help preserve the planet.

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