This week, SWAC faculty members Peter Neff and Heidi Roop led a National Science Foundation (NSF) funded workshop on internet infrastructure in Antarctica. This virtual event was a collaboration with the Polar Geospatial Center at UMN and digital networking leaders at the University of Hawai'i including university president David Lassner.
According to the workshop organizers, “the NSF is interested in understanding the value of a submarine fiber optic telecommunications cable from New Zealand to McMurdo Station,” the primary US logistics hub and largest research station in Antarctica.
Much of the world is connected by fiber optic cables that span oceans; satellites add additional coverage, but carry much less data, and more slowly. Currently, there are no cables connecting Antarctica to any other continent.
Several Antarctic research stations have access to the internet via satellites, but at slower speeds and with limited bandwidth. The bandwidth is managed to prioritize essential functions and science goals; personal and “morale” use occur only when there is bandwidth leftover. McMurdo Station currently has a satellite internet connection that is a little slower than that of a typical rural household in the United States, but shared among 800 to 1,000 people during the austral summer research season. Both Neff and Roop have conducted research in Antarctica and have first hand experience of the remote nature of the continent.
In addition to the telecommunication features, “the cable infrastructure can also serve as a scientific platform with capability to monitor ocean conditions and seismic activity.”
The science community is optimistic about the political climate being amenable to make investments in science, technology, and infrastructure: "Both President Biden & the NSF director have prioritized transformative technology, partnering, & increasing diversity & inclusivity as part of their broad strategic pillars" says Mike Jackson, Acting Section Head of the NSF Office of Polar Programs.
In the next month, the team plans to write a report “outlining the science advances and impacts that would be enabled by massive improvements in digital connectivity to Antarctica.”