Abstract:

The Arctic sea ice undergoes a melting period from May to September each year, but there is currently a lack of refined real-time monitoring techniques. To address this issue, this study designed and developed an ice-based buoy equipped with a quadcopter to overcome the limitations of traditional monitoring methods in terms of spatiotemporal resolution, environmental adaptability, and operational efficiency. The ice-based buoy was equipped with an Real-Time Kinematic (RTK) base station and a contact charging system, providing the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) with centimeter-level positioning correction and charging support in low-temperature environments.The UAV was equipped with a gimbal camera that enabled it to capture the surface features of sea ice within a 4 km radius of the buoy. Additionally, by leveraging iridium communication and telemetry, the system established a three-tier network from domestic monitoring platforms to the buoy and UAV to enable task command uploads and real-time data retrieval. Results from the 2024 Arctic field test demonstrated that the system achieved the expected performance in monitoring task execution and data collection, validating its practicality and reliability in polar sea ice monitoring. This test identified directions for further refining the system in the future have been identified. Improvements in endurance, image quality, and environmental adaptability will be pursued to continuously enhance its performance to provide more efficient and reliable support for polar scientific research.

Key words: quadcopter, ice-based buoy, RTK positioning technology, battery charging, polar autonomous monitoring