Antarctica may soon have high-speed internet
This time of year, McMurdo Station, located on a volcanic rock just off the coast of Antarctica, is bustling with scientific study. The station, which is run by the US National Science Foundation, receives up to 1,000 visitors throughout the Antarctic summer, which runs from October to February, for study on issues ranging from climate to ocean science.
Despite its pivotal role in Antarctic research, McMurdo is missing something that most scientists working in modern facilities take for granted: high-speed internet.
The only continent without a high-speed fiber optic cable connection to the rest of the world is McMurdo. However, this might change in the near future.
The National Science Foundation (NSF) began seriously considering the prospect of laying a fiber optic connection from Antarctica to New Zealand or Australia earlier this year.
The concept was initially proposed a little more than a decade ago, but it fizzled out as other initiatives took precedence. Scientists say that if this newest attempt to update Antarctica’s internet succeeds, it will alter both research and daily life on the icy continent.
“It would affect the fundamental experience of living in Antarctica,” said Peter Neff, a glaciologist at the University of Minnesota and an assistant research professor.
To connect with the outside world, researchers operating in Antarctica now rely on low-bandwidth satellites. According to Patrick Smith, technology development manager at the National Science Foundation, the amount of bandwidth available per person at McMurdo is restricted when compared to a normal rural family.
Rather than exporting their data for real-time analysis by their colleagues, researchers frequently have to save it on hard drives to bring back home. This causes a bottleneck in scientific research, slowing it down.
The National Science Foundation (NSF) hosted a three-day workshop in late June that brought together US and international researchers to discuss the transformative potential of a fiber optic cable to Antarctica, including how it will affect research, education, and the well-being of those who work at McMurdo Station.
The workshop organizers produced a detailed report in October that outlined critical topics, prospective routes, and how the fiber optic connection may be used to collect more scientific data in this remote location.
Daily living and research at McMurdo Station, according to conference participants, would change in a variety of ways if a fiber optic link became accessible. Researchers could livestream daily operations rather than relying on archival recorders, weather forecasting could be improved, satellite images could be analyzed in real time, cybersecurity could be improved, and project participation could be expanded beyond that conducting field research.
In addition to allowing for more efficient data analysis, the cable’s physical presence may allow for the collection of new types of data. For example, using a new technique called “distributed acoustic sensing,” the cable’s fibers could be used to collect seismic data.
Sensors might be added to the cable to provide continuous temperature and pressure data in Antarctica’s Southern Ocean, a critical location for determining how swiftly climate change is happening.
According to Neff, the Southern Ocean is poorly monitored, and as temperatures increase, continuous real-time monitoring might considerably improve scientists’ understanding of it.
A quicker internet connection would make it simpler for station visitors to communicate with their families, coworkers outside of Antarctica, and the general public.
“Having that level of engagement helps people to visualize themselves in that setting and experience what that work is like on a day-to-day basis,” says Ariel Waldman, an Antarctic filmmaker.
Waldman flew to Antarctica for five weeks in 2018 as part of the National Science Foundation’s Antarctica Artist and Writers Program to capture life under the ice. Faster internet, according to Waldman, will make a significant impact in science communication since communicators will be able to communicate with people outside of Antarctica in real time.
Although a high-speed internet connection could have numerous advantages, some scientists are concerned about how such a change would affect McMurdo Station’s culture.
“How it would change the way the community functions is another important conversation,” Neff said. Because of their seclusion, Antarctic research stations are close-knit communities, according to Neff. Full connection might have a significant impact on how researchers engage with one another and how focused they are on fieldwork vs happenings at home.
A formal desktop and engineering design study, which NSF will perform with collaboration with the Department of Defense, will be the next stage in making Antarctica’s high-speed internet upgrades a reality. A significant milestone will be the completion of that research, which will entail pricing out the cable and accompanying equipment, analyzing the route, and setting a timeline for getting everything placed.
The NSF will next determine whether or not to proceed with the project. “Improving communications would alleviate certain difficulties, make it a lot simpler for [people] to deploy in the field, and extend the experience to individuals who couldn’t deploy,” Smith explained. “We see this as a transformational opportunity.”