Southampton Uni scientists use drones to airlift sensors onto glaciers and measure global warming

Researchers from the University of Southampton flew out to Iceland recently equipped with a new device to measure the real-time effects of climate change.

The sensors needed to be deployed on glaciers which would normally be inaccessible to humans, so instead they were airlifted by drones capable of flying several miles across land.

Now safely in place, they’ll be used to assess melting ice and its contribution to rising sea levels.

Professor Kirk Martinez is among the Southampton scientists responsible for developing the tech – the first of its kind to examine the precise movement of glaciers.

“These sensors are lightweight enough to be delivered by drone, giving us access to places which are usually unreachable manually”, he said.

“We’ve already begun receiving data daily which shows changes in the glacier’s behaviour and its fluctuations in velocity.”

Jane K Hart, Professor of Geography at the University of Southampton, also shared plans to deploy the tech elsewhere in the world.

“Glaciers are like canaries, as they provide us with a warning sign for climate change”, she added.

“The sensors we’re landing on the glaciers provide a new way of observing their behaviour.”

• southampton.ac.uk