Using A Single Engine Aircraft On Polar Scientific
Expeditions
By Chris Batcheller
If polar expeditions to study photosynthetic cyanobacteria in
the earth cryosphere doesn’t sound like something that
you’ll find at Oshkosh ... well read on. An incredible
aviator is turning science into an adventure.
Art Mortvedt
Art Mortvedt is that extraordinary aviator. He operates a lodge
in Alaska where the norm is quiet wilderness, cracked with the
occasional rumble of a seaplane delivering hunters and adventurers
into the wilderness. His passions include science, and he
proves that you don’t have to be a university scholar to make
a significant contribution to the scientific community.
Art has worked on over twenty plus expeditions to the Antarctic,
the southern pole. Along on those missions was a bright Orange
Cessna 185, nicknamed the “The Polar Pumpkin”. A
few years ago the Polar Pumpkin came up for sale, and Art became
the proud new owner. Determined to not let the Polar Pumpkin
rest long from its mission, Art is planning a new adventure to the
geographic north pole to study photosynthetic caynobacteria.
When Art completes his mission the Polar Pumpkin will have landed
on both poles. A feat that few, if any airplanes can
claim.
Why study this stuff ... photo cyano what? These bacteria
can live for a really, really long time in the ice.
Studying this simple living organism will help unlock secrets to
global warming and to life on Mars. But don’t think Art
is growing this stuff on his kitchen table in a Petri dish. He
wants to learn about it from a birds eye view. Enter
the Laser Induced Fluorescent Emissions or L.I.F.E. camera.
With this emerging piece of technology Art can fly above the ice
and gather data on the bacteria without having to disturb the
environment. This technology is also planned for use on
future Mars missions.
Art isn’t going at this alone. He has assembled a
team of world experts, including Dr. Birgit Sattler of the
University of Innsbruck in Austria, an expert on photosynthetic
caynobacteria. Dr. Michael Storrie-Lombardi of the Kinohi
Institute, USA, an expert on the L.I.F.E. camera, is also on the
team.
To develop the methods to use the L.I.F.E. camera from the air,
Art and Dr. Storrie-Lombardi flew low level in a Citabria over the
Alaskan Tundra last May. Dr. Storriee-Lombardi was able to
look at the images as they are taken, giving feedback to Art to
adjust his flying on the fly.
Art plans on flying the Polar Pumpkin to the North Pole next
April with the L.I.F.E. camera. Logistics of a mission like
this are complicated and take years to plan. Things like
positioning fuel on a Russian polar outpost are the norm. While on
his mission Art hopes to demonstrate the practicality of a ski
equipped single engine airplane to polar science. Images from
the L.I.F.E. camera will be sent back to Dr. Sattler and Dr.
Storriee-Lombardi for analysis.
You can find Art and the bright orange Polar Pumpkin next to the
Grimes Aviation Light Lab Beech 18 and next to Diamond Aircraft.
Stop by and ask him about some of his aerial adventures.
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