Mr. ANDRES BARBOSA* National Museum of Natural Sciences
Wind, wind and more wind, wind continuously, Antarctica is the windiest continent in the planet with peaks of up to mi (300 km) / h, and an average speed of around mi (40 km) / h. And that’s what it’s all about, taking advantage of this circumstance and using it for transport that produces zero toxic emissions. This is what the WindSled concept is, a hinged platform that serves simultaneously to navigate and where life and work is based . This transportation means can be an innovation of great significance in polar research. While it will not involve the replacement of other means of transport currently used on the Antarctic continent, it can be an excellent alternative and complement to certain situations.
The WindSled design contains a number of advantages that make it particularly suitable for the realization of small polar expeditions as well as mid distance crossings where uncertainty of wind conditions have less impact . The main advantage, as I mentioned above, is the absence of polluting emissions.
Currently one of the biggest concerns of scientific activity in Antarctica is the reconciliation of work and environmental protection. Minimize the impact of the activity is one of the goals of any research project.
Not surprisingly, each project is subjected to a rigorous environmental impact assessment, and only those whose result is less than minor or transitory impact, as indicated by the Antarctic Treaty, are those that can be performed. From this point of view, new proposals, as the WindSled, are great news for fulfillment of this objective, reducing to zero the impact of any displacement.
Another advantage is the simplicity of the design itself that impinges on environmental protection by reducing the amount of material and weight to be transported to the Antarctic.
The economy is the third benefit derived from that simplicity and of course the use of free energy resources such as wind power. This same energy in combination with solar energy, where possible, can also be harnessed to power necessary equipment for the development of scientific projects and where resulting impact of all activities would be greatly reduced.
The use of the WindSled as a support platform for polar investigation, may be useful in any kind of research to be developed on the Antarctic Plateau.
While the bulk of research activity in Antarctica is conducted in the maritime-coastal region, a number of projects could be carried out in remote central areas of the continent. Examples of these may be: meteorite search, presence of microorganisms research, contaminants, atmospheric measurements, geological investigations, collecting ice cores for studies into the past, geophysical and astronomical studies, validation and calibration of satellite instrumental measurements, among others.
In the near future I am convinced that the pristine white landscape of Antarctica will be dotted with the bright colors of kites that will be dragging WindSleds, definitely widening the horizons of science, the activity to which this magnificent continent is dedicated to.
*Mr. Andres Barbosa is a researcher, expert in penguin populations, and Deputy Director of Research at the National Museum of Natural Sciences (Higher Council for Scientific Research, CSIC).
