Explorers to measure ice melt in Arctic

updated 10:53 a.m. ET Oct. 17, 2007

LONDON - Three explorers have announced plans to survey — by foot and "sledge boat" — the thickness of the Arctic ice during a 1,240-mile trek to the North Pole to gauge the effects of global warming.

The Vanco Arctic Survey will take millions of readings of the thickness and density of the ice and snow next year to try to provide the clearest picture of the polar ice cap and how long it will last.

Explorer Pen Hadow's three-member team will pull a sled-mounted, ground-penetrating radar from Point Barrow in Alaska to the North Pole between February and June. The sleds, or sledges, will also serve as small boats when needed.

The radar will measure the depth of the ice every eight inches, producing some 10 million readings in all.

The Arctic ice cap shrank to a record low this summer, opening up the Northwest Passage along Canada's fringe for the first time. Scientists say the ice is melting quickly, and have raised the possibility that the Arctic Ocean will be completely ice-free in summer by 2050.

Scientists point to the accelerating melting of the Arctic ice cap as a signal of global warming that is expected to change climate patterns worldwide. They warn that the disappearing Arctic sea ice, by altering the ecosystem, is endangering polar bears and probably other species.

Complementing subs, satellites
Submarines and satellites have already taken measurements of the polar ice using upward-facing sonars and infrared lasers fired from space. But submarine visits to the pole have been irregular and satellites cannot easily distinguish between ice and snow, said Joao Rodrigues, of Cambridge University's Polar Oceans Physics group.

Rodrigues said a ground-based survey remained the best way of gauging the exact thickness and density of the ice, which in turn could help scientists predict how the North Pole will look as global warming takes its toll.

The data gathered by Hadow will be fed into supercomputers at the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif., which will use it to model the life span of the Arctic ice. NASA's ICEsat satellite will also shadow the explorer at some point during his trip to see how its readings compare with his.

Hadow's survey follows in the footsteps of Arctic explorer Sir Wally Herbert, whose expedition took frequent ice core readings as it crossed the Arctic Ocean nearly four decades ago. Hadow said he hoped his new measurements could be compared with Herbert's to show how the region has changed.

3-4 month trek
The team will spend most of their time towing the sled across the ice on foot, and expect to take 100 to 120 days to reach the Pole. They will be resupplied by aircraft approximately every two weeks. They will also be equipped with special "LifeShirts," which will transmit their vital statistics back to base.

Sensors are woven into the shirts around the chest and stomach to measure heart rate, breathing, and body temperature.

Hadow — who in 2003 became the first person ever to walk to the North Pole, solo and without resupply — called the trek an urgent mission.

"The place I love and know the best is the Arctic ocean and the North Pole ice cap," he said, "and it's in deep crisis."

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