Antarctica Examined: Part III

Antarctica Connection III: Information Flows

Pressing Challenge:
Today's installment of GSI's Antarctica series looks at the challenge of transmitting information to and from the polar ice caps. Situated over 2000 miles away from the closest communications hub in New Zealand, the main American base at McMurdo Station appears to be completely cut off from civilization. Disconnected from an extensive undersea system of submarine communication cables, Antarctica faces tremendous infrastructure challenges. Traditionally, these underwater fiber optic cables serve as the primary link across the high seas. They have transformed the global economy, decentralizing educational, commercial, and cultural transactions. However, Antarctica’s harsh environmental conditions and constantly shifting ice floes prevent the implementation of traditional information networks. Submarine cables are clearly not an effective pathway of communication in the arctic.

Therefore, how does the frozen continent preserve its link to the outside world? In a word: innovation.

Strategic Response:
Because of the difficulty transmitting information below the 60th parallel, Antarctica provides a catalyst for technological advancement and forward-thinking approaches to information flows. Instead of relying on submarine cables, scientists and civilians on the surface of the southernmost continent use an extensive network of satellites to connect to the outside world.

As the British Antarctica Survey notes: "In Antarctica adequate communications can be a matter of life and death." This is why Antarctic has served as a laboratory for new forms of communication. These include VSAT data links and Iridium satellite phones which connect Antarctica to the mainland via a constellation of orbiting satellites (almost 500 miles above the earth’s surface!).

This complex system allows emergency communications and scientific information to pass from one of side of the world to the other in seconds. For instance, the British Antarctica Survey maintains a direct link between their research projects in Antarctica and their home base at Cambridge, England. Besides scientific data, other information flows across these satellite networks, including medical advice. Today, doctors can consult their patients in Antarctica via satphone! The continent offers a unique example of progressive, innovative human engineering in action. Information flows are now able to reach every corner of the earth. By 2025 this capacity is bound to increase exponentially.

Keep following the series on Monday when we examine the fourth Antarctica connection, technology.