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A Special Sun Tracker Application in the Arctic

Kipp & Zonen’s 2AP Sun Tracker has become an industry standard for longevity and reliability in the measurement of solar radiation. The 2AP’s high power motors and precision gear drives were what ProSensing Inc. was looking for when developing a steerable remote radar system to study sea ice.

Measurement of the physical properties of snow-covered sea ice for geophysical and climate variable inversion estimation.(Photo courtesy of Dr. John Yackel, University of Calgary)

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ProSensing Inc. of Amherst, Massachusetts, USA was founded in 1982. During the early 1990’s the company began designing and building remote sensing instrumentation for a wide range of environmental research applications. ProSensing, with its highly qualified technical staff, has successfully deployed equipment all over the world. Whilst touring the facility, James B. Mead, President of the company, showed us many of the environmental research projects under development. One of the original Scatterometer systems had just returned for a service, after 5 years in the field, and the 2AP was found to be still in perfect condition.For further information please contact ProSensing through www.prosensing.com
Each 2AP sun tracker is fitted with a cold weather cover, heater kit, tripod stand and height extension tube. In 2003, ProSensing delivered three C-band Scatterometers to the University of Manitoba for studying sea ice. These solid state radars have very fine range resolution (0.3 m) and are used to investigate how changes in ice structure affect radar reflections at various polarization states. Each Scatterometer is mounted on a Kipp & Zonen 2AP Sun Tracker to accurately position the radar beam in all conditions. The data from these surface-based instruments can be used to improve satellite-based remote sensing of first year and multi-year ice in the Arctic.During the fall of 2008, Kipp & Zonen USA delivered two additional 2AP’s to ProSensing Inc. for further Scatterometers.