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From Polar Ice to Portable Field Deployments: Common Sensor Platform Prototypes Take Shape

Tags: Common Sensor Platform

Over the past year, EarthScope’s Common Sensor Platform (CSP) project has moved from its design stage to implementation, with engineers working to prototype, test, and validate its core design and engineering workflows.

Two new prototype platforms—the Integrated Collaborative Enclosure for Arctic/Antarctic Geophysical Experiments (ICEAGE) and Roadrunner—are prime examples of the CSP’s goal of developing standardized station designs for geophysical instrumentation being brought to fruition.

These station designs are both integrated seismic and GNSS systems (with optional meteorology sensors) that can be deployed for the same scientific and research objectives. However, they have been developed for extremely different use cases based on the location and duration of deployment. Their design also represents the modular and scalable elements of a CSP station, with batteries and solar panels that can vary in type and quantity to ensure adequate power needs.

The ICEAGE platform is being developed as the baseline system for year-round deployment in polar regions. Geophysical stations in polar regions are subject to some of the most extreme environments, needing to withstand cold, wind, and long winter months without daylight. Engineers are currently at work constructing the first prototype ICEAGE station. The station will then be tested in one of the cold chambers at the EarthScope Primary Instrument Center (EPIC) to ensure its components can withstand the harsh polar chill. The following year, ICEAGE will be brought down to the ice for in situ cold testing and deployment at the Castle Rock site in Antarctica.

Schematic diagram showing components of ICEAGE system.
Laboratory room with two large blue test chambers, a desk, and an office chair.

Left: Schematic diagram of ICEAGE system components. Right: Cold chambers at the EPIC used to test polar equipment. (Photo: Scott Johnson/EarthScope).

The Roadrunner station is a self-contained, portable system designed for shorter duration deployments needing lower power—such as for typical Principal Investigator-led projects. Aside from polar conditions—where the ICEAGE platform will be used—the Roadrunner system is designed to be used in as many environmental conditions and use cases as possible. Over the past year, the CSP team completed the first prototype build of the system, which consists of one to two small portable boxes housing internal electronics that can easily be handled by field personnel. The Roadrunner system will move to the testing stage this year.

Opened yellow bow with pink padding foam inside securing internal station components
Four engineers surround opened yellow prototype system box that sits on a blue hand cart.

Prototype of the Roadrunner enclosure box system demonstrated by CSP engineer Greg Chavez.

Together, these new prototype platforms mark an important step toward more standardized, scalable geophysical station deployments across diverse environments. EarthScope will continue to share updates as CSP testing progresses as the prototype systems move toward broader use.