Exploring Arctic clues to secure future

Sandia manages two facilities at sites on the North Slope of Alaska as part of the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) program, a national scientific user facility funded through the Department of Energy’s Office of Science. Sandia also manages two areas of controlled airspace from the Alaska north coast toward the North Pole on behalf of the Department of Energy, which provides opportunities for scientific testing and technology evaluation over the Arctic Ocean. The University of Alaska Fairbanks, a public university, does extensive research on such Arctic issues as permafrost, coastal erosion, sea ice, search and rescue operations, glaciers, remote energy systems and more. The university’s Geophysical Institute contains the Alaska Center for Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration, a research center that develops, tests and ultimately exploits emerging unmanned aircraft technology and its uses, with a special emphasis on the Arctic and sub-Arctic regions.

“We have a shared interest in the Arctic and Arctic science,” said Nettie LaBelle-Hamer, a University of Alaska Fairbanks researcher. “It’s part of our DNA here at UAF. Arctic-related science and infrastructure collaboration on the researcher level have been pretty successful between Sandia and UAF over the years, and this CRADA is helping us grow that. We have a lot in common, and as projects move forward, we’ll be better together.”

The partnership is in early stages, but work has already begun on a variety of projects:

· Comprehensive Arctic research facility: Many agencies have Arctic research facilities that focus on their specific needs and operations, but there is no collaborative research facility that addresses complex, overarching Arctic issues and brings together private and public agencies. Sandia and the University of Alaska Fairbanks are working with other organizations to plan and build support for a joint facility, similar in concept to existing stations in the Antarctic.

· Arctic resilience: Climate change, permafrost thaw, melting sea ice, ice jams, earthquakes, tsunamis and harsh conditions all pose a threat to remote Arctic communities, industry and infrastructure. The university is leading a project to develop an Arctic computer modeling, simulation and analysis program similar to the National Infrastructure Simulation and Analysis Center that includes Sandia. The center studies infrastructure and models how it responds to natural disasters and other threats to help make remote systems and communities more resilient.

· Energy research: Sandia and the university are researching how emerging renewable energy and grid-integration technologies perform in remote parts of Alaska that experience harsh arctic conditions, including wide temperature cycles, grid power-quality issues and geomagnetic disturbances. Sandia photovoltaic systems manager Abraham Ellis said, “Access to affordable and resilient electricity is a challenge for many Alaska communities, and that harsh environment provides a really useful proving ground for new energy technologies, such as advanced power electronics and resilient systems, that will eventually have to be applied to the rest of the grid.” The university has also been active in this area with the Alaska Center for Energy and Power.

The new partnership between Sandia and the University of Alaska Fairbanks will be discussed at Alaska National Lab Day 30-31 May in Fairbanks. The event will feature a variety of speakers from the Department of Energy’s national laboratories, plus Alaska academia and industry. The event will highlight partnerships and opportunity for collaboration on national security, science and energy research.