The Cryologger Ice-Tracking Beacon (ITB) and Automated Weather Station (AWS) are based on the open-source Arduino platform (www.arduino.cc) and built using low-cost, do-it-yourself electronics that can be easily modified to meet the needs of the end-user. Code was written using the Arduino Integrated Development Environment (IDE) and benefits from the availability of community-generated libraries.
Planned for extended deployments in harsh Arctic conditions, the Cryologger can provide long-term measurements of GPS position, temperature, pressure, pitch, roll, tilt-compensated heading and battery voltage and measure external instruments such as anemometers, temperature and humidity sensors, pyranometers, ultrasonic sensor and more! Data are transmitted over the Iridium satellite network at specified intervals and can be remotely updated based on the desired sampling frequency.
Overall the electronics in our designs have proven to be fairly reliable, although we do get a lot of animal damage (especially by polar bears), which we are working on addressing. We are also actively working on our next generation of AWS, which will be far more capable than our first iteration and we have developed training resources for field deployment and maintenance of our stations.
Funding:
Cryologger has benefited from multiple funders and partners. We are grateful for the support of our major funders: ArcticNet, a Network of Centres of Excellence of Canada, Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated. We have also received valuable logistics support from the Polar Continental Shelf Program, Natural Resources Canada and Amundsen Science as well as our community partners in Nunavut.
WIRL Contributors:
The core team at the Water and Ice Research Lab have worked to develop and test our technology, create real-time data displays and training resources so that Cryologger equipment can be a success.
- Adam Garbo
- Ada Loewen
- Erik Wagenaar
- Ehsan Adel Rastkhiz
- Krish Dhirubhai Gondaliya
- John Foster
- Salma Shnur
- Anna Brownlee
- Tim Brown
Partners:
We have partnered with a wide range of people and organizations over the years and are grateful for these interactions:
- Luke Copland, University of Ottawa, including Abigail Dalton, Benoit Lauzon, Pénélope Gervais and Adam Garbo
- Adrienne Tivy and Tom Zagon at the Canadian Ice Service
- Anna Crawford at the University of Stirling, Scotland
- Andrew Arreak, Trevor Bell, Katherine Wilson, Adrienne Mike-Qaunaq and Olivia Qamanirq of SmartICE as well as Sikumiut (the SmartICE management committee in Pond Inlet) and Tuvaliriji (the SmartICE management committee in Arctic Bay)
- Chris Mitchell, Mark Lewandowski, Colin Tilley, Jesse Olayuk, Ben Issuqangituq, Camille Lavallee, Kimball Qamanirq, Hosia Kadloo, Tony Akoomallik, and Veronica Ipilie at Arctic Bay Adventures
- Sheena Shappa, and board members at Ikajutit Hunters and Trappers Association
- Donald Ittsuksardjuat, Travis Qaunaq, Patrick-John Attagutaluk, Daniel Attagutaluk, Susan Qaunaq, Thaddeus Attagutaluk, George Qaunaq and Ruby Paniaq of the Municipality of Igloolik
- Tommy Issigaitok, Hall Beach Hunters and Trappers Association
- David Didier, Université du Québec à Rimouski, Andrew Hamilton, University of Alberta plus Joseph Shoapik, Silas Pijamini and Terry Noah, Ausuittuq Adventures, Grise Fiord
- Daniel Taukie and Isaac Wilman of Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated
- Jason Carpenter of the Climate Change Secretariat, Government of Nunavut
- Sean Qappik and Jamal Shirley of the Nunavut Research Institute
- Chantelle Verhey, formerly at Polar Data Catalogue, and now at the Geomatics and Cartographic Research Centre, Carleton University
- Gita Ljubicic, McMaster University along with Natalie Carter and Faith Rahman