Pilotless drone to collect climate data in Antarctica

STORY: This pilotless drone is collecting climate data in remote Antarctica.

Scientists are testing these new aerial vehicles as they look for more efficient ways to study the frozen continent.

The unmanned Windracers drone has already flown hundreds of miles capturing information that could help us understand how Antarctica is being affected by climate change.

"Using airborne platforms is a really, really efficient way to collect data because you can cover large areas, you don't actually have to go on to the ground.”

Tom Jordan is an aero-geophysicist with the British Antarctic Survey.

He says the new technology can be incorporated with research on the ground.

“By bringing those two things, those ground observations and the airborne survey together, you can get the full picture of what you need to understand the environment and the ecosystem down here."

The Windracers ULTRA UAV, or unmanned aerial vehicle, is designed for extreme environments like Antarctica.

So what can this aircraft do?

Tom Jordan explains:

“Specifically we've got camera systems on for environmental sensing, so we can take photographs and hyperspectral imagery to study the ecology of some of the islands and the bay behind me. Then we've got gravity and magnetic sensors and we use these to look at the geology of rocks underneath the water and underneath the ice, and that's really important for understanding how the ice might flow in the future. And then finally, we've got a radar system that we're going to be testing and this will let us see through the ice so we can study the shape of the landscape buried beneath the ice."

The Windracers drone was developed as part of a pilot program, aimed at demonstrating how advanced drone technology can be used to gather environmental data in Antarctica.

Scientists hope it can provide more knowledge on how humans are affecting nature.

"We are studying the environment. We are trying to understand how it's changing and how humans are impacting the environment and therefore we have this real understanding of how we're impacting the environment. We are very definitely always trying to minimize our impact and we have a lot of rules and processes in place to ensure that our environmental impact is absolutely minimal."