Expressions of Intent for International Polar Year 2007-2008 Activities

Expression of Interest Details

PROPOSAL INFORMATION

Development of a Hybrid Electric Snowmobile for Oversnow Travel and a Hybrid Electric All Terrain Vehicle for use in Environmentally Sensitive Rock and Blue-Ice Regions  (Hybrid Electric Polar Vehicle (HEPV))

Outline
The current state of Polar transportation for field parties is commercial snowmobiles for oversnow travel or four-wheel All-Terrain Vehicles (ATV) for rock and blue-ice applications such as the Dry Valleys and in basecamps. Much of Antarctic and Arctic snowmobile and ATV use is at relatively low speeds, stop-and-go mode, high torque due to towing, and critically sensitive to fuel economy due to the logistic burden of transporting fuel. Commercial snowmobiles are poorly optimized for Polar work: older machines have high fuel use and are polluting. Newer machines are optimized for speed rather than towing and are not field-serviceable. We propose to develop a Hybrid Electric Snowmobile that will be designed for Polar field parties and will be environmentally and economically superior to commercial offerings. We will work with the logistics teams of the different national organizations, with interested field scientists, and with snowmobile manufacturers to optimize the design for the needs of scientific field parties. The key design criteria will be reliability, low-emissions (and possibly zero-emissions for specialized applications such as in Clean-Air Sites of Special Scientific Interest), ability to use renewable solar power. With a successful first-phase of snowmobile development, a second phase of Hybrid Electric ATV development will be considered for use in environmentally sensitive areas such as the Dry Valleys Long-Term Ecological Research site and for use in and around basecamps where station power can be used for recharging. This project will leave a significant LEGACY of technological development that will aid in the themes of investigating the CURRENT STATE of polar regions (by facilitating geological, glaciological, hydrological, and biological fieldwork) and aid in EXPLORATION by improving access to far regions.

What significant advance(s) in relation to the IPY themes and targets can be anticipated from this project?
The single largest part of the cargo delivered to the Antarctic and Arctic for field work is fuel. The tip of the pyramid of field work is individual researchers in field camps. A significant part of their fuel budget is transportation. By reducing their fuel consumption, there will be a ripple effect through the whole supply chain with reduced fuel needs and reduced pollution emissions overall. This will advance the theme of measuring the current state of the polar environment – glaciologists and geologists and biologists and other individuals measuring the state of the Polar regions will be able to do their work more easily and more cleanly.

What international collaboration is involved in this project?
All the national programs will benefit from this project. We propose to solicit input from many Polar operators and to incorporate them into our planning and development.

FIELD ACTIVITY DETAILS

Geographical location(s) for the proposed field activities:
Antarctic glacial field camps; geologic field camps; Dry Valleys; stations. We will form partnerships with interested scientists and national programs to test our vehicles. One of the leads on this proposal has funded field work in McMurdo station, in West Antarctica, as well as at Jakobshavn Glacier.

Approximate timeframe(s) for proposed field activities:
Arctic: May-Aug, 2007            
Antarctic: Dec 2007-Feb 2008            

Significant facilities will be required for this project:
Transportation to field camps, which we will share with (and collaborate with) other researchers.

Will the project leave a legacy of infrastructure?
The project will leave a legacy of high-efficiency, low-emissions vehicles, performance data, and open designs for use by others.

How is it envisaged that the required logistic support will be secured?
Own national polar operator
Another national polar operator

Has the project been "endorsed" at a national or international level?
No

PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND STRUCTURE

Is the project a short-term expansion (over the IPY 2007-2008 timeframe) of an existing plan, programme or initiative or is it a new autonomous proposal?
Yes

How will the project be organised and managed?
The project will be self-managed by the Principal Investigators. We will collaborate with other interested parties, but will be responsible to our funding agency (probably NSF and NASA) for accounting of funds and dissemination of results.

What are the initial plans of the project for addressing the education, outreach and communication issues outlined in the Framework document?
This project is being organized as a problem-based learning initiative for undergraduate students. We will form teams of students who will perform significant engineering of the vehicles. We will work with the field scientists who are deploying the vehicles to provide feedback to the students on the performance.

What are the initial plans of the project to address data management issues (as outlined in the Framework document?
The design of the vehicle will be Open and the plans made available to all our partners.

How is it proposed to fund the project?
We will apply for research funds from NSF, NASA and from snowmobile manufacturers.

Is there additional information you wish to provide?
None

PROPOSER DETAILS

Associate Professor Peter Stryker
Bucknell University
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Bucknell University Lewisburg, PA
17837
USA

Tel: 570 577 1229
Mobile: no
Fax: 570 577 7281
Email:

Other project members and their affiliation