Q1. What methodology does Real Ice use to generate sea ice and achieve ice thickening?
Q2. That technology is Real Ice testing and developing for use in its ice thickening approach?
What data will Real Ice be collecting to test its methodology and technology throughout the R&D phase?
Q3. How does Real Ice ensure data quality and accuracy?​
Q1. What methodology does Real Ice use to generate sea ice and achieve ice thickening?
A. Our method is designed to achieve biomimicry [1] by encouraging the natural process of sea ice generation and thickening through seasonal cycles.
Early in the winter, seawater is pumped from beneath the ice to its surface, where it freezes and forms an additional layer of ice, while also saturating the snow layer, supporting faster ice growth.
We anticipate that most of the total season thickening will occur immediately after flooding of the sea ice surface. This approach also reinforces natural ice growth at the base of sea ice through congelation, where as the surface thickens, the ice-ocean interface becomes more insulated, reducing the heat flux from the ocean to the ice and encouraging further basal ice growth. We anticipate a small amount of additional ice accretion occurring below the sea ice throughout the remaining winter, typically of less than 5cm.
There remains the possibility that, at the end of winter, we could restore the protective snow layer on top of the sea ice to shield it from solar radiation and summer melt. If we can thicken sea ice above a minimum threshold, we can expect it to remain through the summer and persist into the following winter. Surviving ice can then be thickened again the next season, enabling a return to resilient multi-year sea ice.
[1] An approach to research design that aims to replicate natural biological processes and nature models to solve problems.
Q2. What technology is Real Ice testing and developing for use in its ice thickening approach?
A. The technology brought forward by Real Ice is a renewable energy powered system for pumping seawater on top of sea ice.
While water pumping technologies are already in use today, our innovation lies in combining it with advancements made in the renewables and clean energy sector, as well as in autonomous robotics to enable a zero-emission and scalable solution in the Arctic.
We plan to use primarily wind and solar energy throughout the year to generate green hydrogen or ammonia, which will be stored, transported and transformed to power electric underwater drones that will deliver our water pumping technology.
Our technology is still under development and liable to change as we refine our research into its engineering, assess performance in the Arctic during our fieldwork and validate its scalability for use over large geographic areas.
Q3. What data will Real Ice be collecting to test its methodology and technology throughout the R&D phase?
A. To track the inputs required to deliver our methodology, we collect data on energy used for powering our ice thickening pumps, time spent on pumping operations, estimated volume of seawater pumped and size of the flooded area with each pumping activity.
We take direct measurements of sea ice thickness throughout winter and spring by drilling boreholes through the ice at regular intervals throughout the research season, so we can estimate the quantity of additional sea ice created by ice thickening or as a side effect of it.
We also measure snow depth with a snow probe. We extract ice cores to measure salinity profiles through the ice, as well as luminance data collected via airborne drone surveys that serve as a proxy for relative surface brightness and therefore albedo.
Q4 . How does Real Ice ensure data quality and accuracy?
A. In addition to direct measurements, we use scientific tools called Snow and Ice Mass Balance Arrays (SIMBAs) to measure temperature along a thermistor string through the air, ice and ocean profile via a borehole.
We use the SIMBA data to derive ice thickness and snow depth estimates from the temperature changes at the air-snow-ice-ocean boundaries, which can be used to validate our direct measurements. We also use high-resolution satellite imagery to monitor changes during the spring melt season across the research site.
To provide the necessary context for interpreting our results, we use a climatology of air temperatures in Cambridge Bay from the ERA5 reanalysis, as well as ground measurements from the Cambridge Bay airport, to compare present conditions with historical temperature averages.
We also use a record of ice thickness measurements taken by Environment Canada in Cambridge Bay to provide valuable insight into the historic sea ice trends in the area. Real Ice has been guided by the teaching and validation from our scientific advisors over the past several years.