Follow Sriharsha Bhat and Elias Strandell Erstorp on their field course at the Svalbard Glaciers
At the end of July, SMaRC Doctoral Students Sriharsha Bhat and Elias Strandell Erstorp will start their journey to Svalbard, to participate in a one-month-long field course at the University Centre in Svalbard. During the trip, you can follow the happenings on the SMaRC blog.
This year, Longyearbyen, the main settlement in Svalbard, will be the home for Sriharsha and Elias during the month of August. Other than the SMaRC-team, students and researchers from around the world will be participating in courses and expeditions at the site. Sriharsa and Elias will study the course Arctic Marine Measurement Techniques, Operations and Transport. It is about using autonomous systems to conduct environmental measurements and surveys in the Arctic and includes fieldwork on using underwater robots for data collection.
We will try to use what we learn within our research. In particular, I want to explore the problem of tracking a calving glacier with an autonomous underwater vehicle. It is a very difficult and extreme operation, so it will be great to get some real-world insight. I want to use this real-world polar experience to design better control algorithms and simulation models, Sriharsa explains.
He continues by developing his thoughts on how the new knowledge could be useful: I hope to learn about the challenges and intricacies of collecting data in polar regions. I also want to better understand real-world operating conditions so that we can design better solutions that are effective in such extreme scenarios. It is crucial to gather reliable climate data from the poles, and it would be valuable to understand how it is done today. I want to develop new algorithms that enable robots to be robust in such environments, gathering useful scientific data and providing crucial insights.
Both Sriharsha and Elias are excited to go: We want to learn, get our feet wet, and explore the edge of the world! Hopefully, we will be seeing icebergs and setting foot on glaciers… maybe seeing one or two polar bears at a safe distance…
Do you want to know more..?
From the beginning of Augusti, the blog can be found on the SMaRC webpage.