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POLARPROG-Polarforskningsprogram

Atmospheric Icing on Arctic Infrastructures

Awarded: NOK 0.28 mill.

Atmospheric icing can greatly affect functional surfaces like road/runway surfaces, photovoltaic panels, building skins (cladding, windows) or wind turbine blades. In worse case scenarios the ice accumulation can lead to structural collapse, but also temporary loss of function (for example slipperiness, transparency) can cause severe challenges for operating the infrastructures in the Arctic. The InfraICE project will perform extensive field data collection during winter 2022/2023. The project will develop, install and maintain an atmospheric icing rig at Breinosa, conduct field measurements on runway of Svalbard Airport Longyearbyen. In addition, data is collected in the ice laboratory at UNIS, Longyearbyen using NTNU's hoarfrost formation set-up. The atmospheric icing rig will consist of two photovoltaic panels: one heated and one unheated. The power production of both panels will be monitored and a photo camera will document the surface of the panels using timelapse photography. Meteorogical data like wind, temperature and humidity will be measured as well. During atmospheric icing events, including hoar frost formation, manual documentations of the runway surface at Svalbard Airport will be made. The goal is to document when, and how long the runway loses its frictional properties required to sustain safe aircraft landings and take-offs. Laboratory measurements will provide a better insight in the conditions (humidity, temperature, wind and duration) that create certain types of ice formation, coupled with the functional loss (transparency and friction) of the surfaces. All these data are crucial for the development of the engineering models that are envisioned.

Funding scheme:

POLARPROG-Polarforskningsprogram