New Tech to Improve Comms, Remote Sensing in the Arctic.

• Author: Machi, Vivienne

The United States and part-ner nations are exploring new remote sensing and communication technologies to improve situational awareness and connectivity in the Arctic region.

Operating without sufficient communications tools is "arguably more dangerous in the Arctic than in many other places, given the vast distances, risky operating conditions, small population and very limited infrastructure," according to a 2018 Homeland Security Operational Analysis Center report titled, "Identifying Potential Gaps in U.S. Coast Guard Arctic Capabilities." The center is operated by the RAND Corp. under a contract with the Department of Homeland Security.

Operators in the Arctic currently rely on voice communications via existing radios and some satellite capabilities, including the Iridium Communications constellation, which operates in low-Earth orbit and provides global voice and data satellite coverage. The Navy's mobile user objective system communications satellites can also assist with coverage in the Arctic, but they are not yet available to the Coast Guard, according to the report. Cell phone communications are extremely limited, and data transmission is even more challenging.

Communications capabilities in the Arctic were described as "woefully inadequate" by sources cited in the report, which offered several possible avenues for remediation, including installing additional infrastructure and leveraging the growing number of commercial communications satellites in polar orbits.

Communications and weather are major capability gaps for Arctic operators, said Charity Weeden, president of Lquinox Consulting, a Silver Spring, Maryland-based space and data management consulting firm.

Weeden previously served as a navigator for the Royal Canadian Air Force and performed Arctic patrols and open ocean surveillance in a CP-140 anti-submarine and maritime surveillance aircraft, the Canadian variant of a P-3 Orion. She also worked on U.S.-Canada military space cooperation.

Before satellite phones were installed on patrol aircraft, getting a signal to connect with command and control was a perennial struggle in her navigator role, she noted.

"Whenever we performed Arctic patrols, we had to give an update of our position to make sure we call back and say,... 'We're all good, we're on task,'" she said. The ionosphere frequently affects high-frequency radio waves and disrupts communications, she added.

"When I would go out to send my position report, I would just get static. And so I would spend the bulk of that time...