A researcher from the Polytechnic of Turin will be a guest of the Brazilian base in Antarctica for the first time, to acquire atmospheric parameters through the observation of GPS and Galileo satellite signals, as part of the DemoGRAPE project - coordinated by the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology ( INGV), in collaboration with the Polytechnic of Turin and a research group of the Istituto Superiore "Mario Boella"
Physical preparation, training and specific training to face the Antarctic environment: these are some of the activities that Nicola Linty of the Department of Electronics and Telecommunications of the Polytechnic of Turin is undergoing, leaving for Antarctica together with an expedition of the National Program Research in Antarctica in which researchers of various nationalities will participate. The arrival at the Brazilian base "Comandante Ferraz" - EACF - in Antarctica is scheduled for the end of October, after about 4-5 days of travel between air travel and ice shedding.
The researcher's task will be to install and monitor sophisticated and innovative measuring devices, also created with the support of the Joint Research Center of the European Commission based in Ispra (VA), within the project "Demonstrator of GNSS Research and Application for Polar Environment” (DemoGRAPE), coordinated by the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV) in collaboration with the Turin Polytechnic and the “Mario Boella” Higher Institute.
The instrumentation will make it possible to process the signals with innovative algorithms that are not normally implemented on current commercial receivers and therefore to obtain atmospheric parameters useful for studying the phenomenon of ionospheric scintillation.
This phenomenon creates a disturbance on the signal transmitted by the satellites which can compromise both the satellite positioning and communication systems and the related applications such as, for example, the delicate operations of air navigation.
The disturbance originates as a result of anomalies that occur in the ionosphere and the phenomenon is often observed in the polar regions where electromagnetic interference - caused by solar storms - are more intense and frequent, as evidenced by the appearance of the northern or southern auroras (depending of the hemisphere in which they occur).
Having monitoring tools and developing forecasting models becomes crucial, as electromagnetic anomalies in the ionosphere appear first at high latitudes and then at other latitudes as well. The related problems, therefore, affect any continent, with impacts on applications. In fact, the models currently in use to predict or, at least, mitigate the disturbance effects on satellite signals are not considered sufficiently reliable when applied at high latitudes. In particular, Antarctica, being still poorly monitored, constitutes a real scientific and technological challenge for applications based on satellite navigation systems. The DemoGRAPE project aims to make a contribution to the sector, demonstrating the potential of the measurements acquired in Antarctica through a demonstrator that is developing the Advanced Computing and Electromagnetics Research Area of the Istituto Superiore Mario Boella on the Cloud platform. The demonstrator will result in a software tool available on the web for both public and private users interested in understanding the potential of the system, both in view of a future assistance service for technological applications and in order to support basic research.
The mission will also be an opportunity for the NavSAS research group of the Polytechnic to which Eng. Linty, to make use of the signal processing skills of the new European Galileo system, exploited for the first time in Antarctica.
The "adventure" can be followed on the Frozen Navsas blog, where, in addition to content on scientific activities, Nicola Linty will insert information on "living in Antarctica" and on her personal adventure, starting with training.
The project site is www.demographe.net