China’s 16th Arctic Ocean expedition team said a satellite internet trial aboard the Jidi icebreaker connected distant research sites as it tested ways to ease communications isolation on polar voyages, Xinhua reported Oct. 19.
The pre-operational trial used a domestically developed Chinese system during Jidi’s Arctic voyage. A video call connected the ship with Qinling Station in Antarctica, the Lhasa River test station on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and China’s Ministry of Natural Resources’ North Sea Bureau. The team said it was the first test to connect the three regions through the satellite internet system.
Zhang Meng, an expedition member and on-site tester, said the ship transferred more than 300 files totaling over 100 gigabytes. The crew also held more than 40 video meetings over the connection, Zhang said.
The link supported a medical consultation when an expedition member became ill. The crew spoke by video with hospitals and medical experts in Qingdao, according to the team.
In a separate trial, the team tested data transmission from Zhigan, a drifting ocean buoy. It said the transmission met practical requirements and showed the Chinese system could provide an alternative to the international satellite relays traditionally used for buoy data.
A Ministry of Natural Resources research institute said the ministry organized the four-vessel expedition, which began July 3. Its research covers sea ice, hydrology, biology, ecology and the atmospheric environment. Zhang said the communications tests addressed the isolation that can affect polar expeditions.
