Articles | Volume 14, issue 1
https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-14-29-2025
https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-14-29-2025
Research article
 | 
05 Mar 2025
Research article |  | 05 Mar 2025

A steerable system for the RECoverable Autonomous Sonde (RECAS) to access and study subglacial lakes

Mikhail A. Sysoev, Pavel G. Talalay, Xiaopeng Fan, Nan Zhang, Da Gong, Yang Yang, Ting Wang, and Zhipeng Deng

Related authors

Research into mechanical modeling based on characteristics of the fracture mechanics of ice cutting for scientific drilling in polar regions
Xinyu Lv, Zhihao Cui, Ting Wang, Yumin Wen, An Liu, and Rusheng Wang
The Cryosphere, 18, 3351–3362, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-3351-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-3351-2024, 2024
Short summary
Design and performance of the Hotrod melt-tip ice-drilling system
William Colgan, Christopher Shields, Pavel Talalay, Xiaopeng Fan, Austin P. Lines, Joshua Elliott, Harihar Rajaram, Kenneth Mankoff, Morten Jensen, Mira Backes, Yunchen Liu, Xianzhe Wei, Nanna B. Karlsson, Henrik Spanggård, and Allan Ø. Pedersen
Geosci. Instrum. Method. Data Syst., 12, 121–140, https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-12-121-2023,https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-12-121-2023, 2023
Short summary
Brief communication: New sonde to unravel the mystery of polar subglacial lakes
Youhong Sun, Bing Li, Xiaopeng Fan, Yuansheng Li, Guopin Li, Haibin Yu, Hongzhi Li, Dongliang Wang, Nan Zhang, Da Gong, Rusheng Wang, Yazhou Li, and Pavel G. Talalay
The Cryosphere, 17, 1089–1095, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-1089-2023,https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-1089-2023, 2023
Short summary
Geothermal heat flux from measured temperature profiles in deep ice boreholes in Antarctica
Pavel Talalay, Yazhou Li, Laurent Augustin, Gary D. Clow, Jialin Hong, Eric Lefebvre, Alexey Markov, Hideaki Motoyama, and Catherine Ritz
The Cryosphere, 14, 4021–4037, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-4021-2020,https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-4021-2020, 2020

Related subject area

Ground-based instruments
Distance of flight of cosmic-ray muons to study dynamics of the upper muosphere
Hiroyuki K. M. Tanaka
Geosci. Instrum. Method. Data Syst., 14, 1–11, https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-14-1-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-14-1-2025, 2025
Short summary
The Harwell TCCON observatory
Damien Weidmann, Richard Brownsword, and Stamatia Doniki
Geosci. Instrum. Method. Data Syst. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-2024-14,https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-2024-14, 2024
Revised manuscript accepted for GI
Short summary
Development of an internet-of-things-based controlled-source ultrasonic audio frequency electromagnetic receiver
Zucan Lin, Qisheng Zhang, Keyu Zhou, Xiyuan Zhang, Xinchang Wang, Hui Zhang, and Feng Liu
Geosci. Instrum. Method. Data Syst., 13, 325–336, https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-13-325-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-13-325-2024, 2024
Short summary
A tool for estimating ground-based InSAR acquisition characteristics prior to monitoring installation and survey and its differences from satellite InSAR
Charlotte Wolff, Marc-Henri Derron, Carlo Rivolta, and Michel Jaboyedoff
Geosci. Instrum. Method. Data Syst., 13, 225–248, https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-13-225-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-13-225-2024, 2024
Short summary
An underground drip water monitoring network to characterize rainfall recharge of groundwater at different geologies, environments, and climates across Australia
Andy Baker, Margaret Shanafield, Wendy Timms, Martin Sogaard Andersen, Stacey Priestley, and Marilu Melo Zurita
Geosci. Instrum. Method. Data Syst., 13, 117–129, https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-13-117-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-13-117-2024, 2024
Short summary

Cited articles

Ashmore, D. W. and Bingham, R. G.: Antarctic subglacial hydrology: current knowledge and future challenges, Antartic Sci., 26, 758–773, https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954102014000546, 2014.  
Bowling, J. S., Livingstone, S. J., Sole, A. J., and Chu, W.: Distribution and dynamics of Greenland subglacial lakes, Nat. Commun., 10, 2810, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-10821-w, 2019. 
Dachwald, B., Mikucki, J., Tulaczyk, S., Digel, I., Espe, C., Feldmann, M., Francke, G., Kowalski, J., and Xu, C.: IceMole: a maneuverable probe for clean in situ analysis and sampling of subsurface ice and subglacial aquatic ecosystems, Ann. Glaciol., 55, 14–22, https://doi.org/10.3189/2014AoG65A004, 2014. 
Heinen, D., Audehm, J., Becker, F., Boeck, G., Espe, C., Feldmann, M., Francke, G., Friend, P., Haberberger, N., Helbin, K., Nghe, C. T., Stelzig, M., Vossiek, M., Wiebusch, C., and Zierke, S.: The TRIPLE Melting Probe – an Electro-Thermal Drill with a Forefield Reconnaissance System to Access Subglacial Lakes and Oceans, in: OCEANS 2021: San Diego–Porto, 20–23 September 2021, San Diego, CA, USA, https://doi.org/10.23919/OCEANS44145.2021.9705999, 1–7, 2021. 
Kyurkchiev, N. and Markov, S.: Sigmoid Functions: Some Approximation and Modelling Aspects Some Moduli in Programming Environment MATHEMATICA, 1. edn., LAP LAMBERT Academic Publishing, Saarbrücken, 2015, ISBN: 978-3-659-76045-7, 2015. 
Download
Short summary
Our research introduces technology for exploring subglacial lakes while keeping them isolated from surface contamination. The RECoverable Autonomous Sonde (RECAS) can drill ice both downward and upward, allowing clean water sampling. In some cases, the sonde should drill at specific angles to follow a trajectory, maintain verticality, or bypass obstacles. This paper describes the general principles of steering the RECAS by adjusting the drill's heat distribution and the experimental results.
Share