Arthur Clarke Mars Greenhouse Status Report July 10, 2003

By: Alain Berinstain, Arthur Clarke Mars Greenhouse Principal Investigator

The 2003 field season is off to a great start and the activities surrounding the Arthur Clarke Mars Greenhouse are in full swing. Of course, there have been many months of planning in order to be efficient with the four short weeks we have to implement this year's objectives. In 2002, the objectives were to first build the greenhouse and second, to monitor the inside of the greenhouse with a suite of sensors characterizing the reactions of the inside of the greenhouse to the varied weather conditions of the arctic. Basic information was collected during the field season which demonstrated that, even during the summer months, we both need to cool and to heat the greenhouse, depending on the weather and on the time of day, in order to keep the temperature inside at plant-friendly levels.

With this basic information, we were able to spend many months designing the next phase of the greenhouse development and research. The main objective for 2003 is to go from a monitoring-only mode to a controlled environment mode. Cooling is achieved using exhaust fans and heating is achieved using propane heaters. A hydroponic plant growth system is being installed, using an automated ebb and flow water and nutrient delivery system, with continuous temperature, pH, and electrical conductivity measurements.

Secondary objectives for this year's activities are related to the fact that the 5-6 weeks of the HMP field season are really too short to study and grow most crops. The camp is reliant on a large diesel generator for power and a large satellite dish for communications, for the entire camp. When the camp is taken down each season, the greenhouse loses power and communications. This has lead us to design and begin to implement an independent power and communications system for the greenhouse. Power will be provided using a wind-solar hybrid system and comms through a packet terminal. Once in full operation, this system will provide sufficient power to run all systems and will allow for a much longer field season with full telemetry and commanding capability from our home sites. Greenhouse operations will go into a "safe mode" in the fall and restart remotely in the spring. A video camera will provide information on greenhouse status and on crop health and status. We also intend to make the live information available on the web.

The team is working very hard to implement these major improvements this year and all is on schedule to complete primary and secondary objectives, as long as no unforeseen circumstances occur. We look forward to posting more progress reports.

• Arthur Clarke Mars Greenhouse Photo Report, July 10, 2003.

»» Back to Field Reports