WCRP-FPA2 Polar Challenge The concept in a nutshell Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, dear colleagues, Thank you very much for the opportunity to provide you with a brief overview of a new initiative of the World Climate Research Programme: the WCRP Polar Challenge www.wcrp-climate.org/polarchallenge

The concept A Prize money awarded to the first team completing a 2000 km continuous mission with an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) under the sea-ice Bonus demonstration 1 (optional): regular observations of sea ice thickness or draft   Bonus demonstration 2 (optional): successful under-ice transmission of position and environmental data The overall idea is to award a money prize to the the first team completing a 2000 km continuous mission with an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) under the sea-ice with also 2 bonus demos respectively 1) for regular obs of sea-ice thickness or draft and 2) successful under-ice transmission of position and environmental data

The vision and mission A new paradigm for long-term under-ice observations A cost-effective, autonomous and scalable ocean monitoring network for the Polar regions Analogy to ARGO but for sea-ice covered regions The vision and mission of this effort are to contribute to 1) A new paradigm for long-term under-ice observations and 2) A cost-effective, autonomous and scalable ocean monitoring network for the Polar regions There is a clear analogy with the network of ARGO floats but the concept is being transposed to sea-ice covered regions

AUV/Glider technology Typical observations: Temperature Salinity Currents pH Chlorophyll etc AUVs of different kinds are already used in an operational context around the world in ice-free zones They surface on a regular basis to get a GPS fix and to transmit environmental data in near real-time. They are able to collect crucial and high quality oceanographic observations (such as temperature, salinity, chlorophyll, pH, etc) at lower cost compared to conventional observing systems. … at a fraction of the cost of conventional (ship-based) observing systems

The Challenge Ice-covered ocean regions: Innovations required: AUV/glider range limitation No GPS fix No real-time data transmissions Innovations required: Endurance Positioning and navigation Communications Under the sea-ice, the operating range, positioning and data transmission represent major challenges for current underwater vehicles. The WCRP would like to stimulate technological innovation (endurance, positioning and navigation, data collection and communications) to expand significantly the range of applications of such vehicles

The long-term benefits for the public and private sector Energy Environment Safety Transport/shipping Insurance Climate research and services Weather forecasts … The long-term benefits of such endeavour for various public and private sectors could prove invaluable, as outlined here

Would you like to help developing the Polar observing network of the future? - would you like to compete for the Prize? - would you like to become a co-sponsor of the Prize? We are hereby inviting all stakeholders to join this challenge and to become co-sponsors of this initiative (with commensurate sponsor benefit package)

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