Vexcel Leads Wireless Data Acquisition Field Study in Alaska

Vexcel Corporation (CO, USA) is conducting a field campaign during the month of June 2005 to characterise the seismicity of Columbia Glacier in Southcentral Alaska using a wireless sensor network developed at its Boulder headquarters. Twenty kilometres of ice have disintegrated in the last quarter century at the ocean-bounded terminus of Columbia Glacier. Vexcel is leveraging wireless technology to gather data and tackle the 'how' and 'why' of this remarkable ongoing glacial retreat in collaboration with scientists at the Colorado University of Boulder and the US Geologic Survey.

In 2004, Vexcel conducted a similar 'Generation 1' field campaign at Columbia Glacier. Results from this effort drove sensor network design and development to the current 'Generation 2' models. The 2004 fieldwork also gave proof of the project concept: Computers can be moved from the office and into the field; they can be integrated with electronic sensors and programmed to acquire, share, process and store environmental data for a tremendous variety of applications.