Whiteness of the tundra

Team QinetiQ’s 464 mile trek was led by double Olympic gold medallist James Cracknell and to test the system’s performance, one of the small tracking devices was fitted to the front of his sled. The asset tracking device has previously been used in military applications, so the arctic expedition was regarded as a crucial test in an extreme environment. Designed around a lightweight and low power tracking beacon, the tracking service sends regular updates via the Iridium low earth orbit satellite constellation. Once received at a ground station, the data is transmitted via a secure internet link to wherever the information is required. During Team QinetiQ’s race to the South Pole, the system sent data back every 30 minutes providing tracking information and communications support. This allowed the support crew to keep up with the exact position of the team during the race. Gethyn Longworth, part of QinetiQ’s technical support team said: “The tracking system proved invaluable as we were able to monitor the progress of Team QinetiQ in real time and know exactly where they were. The other five teams in the South Pole race simply provided a latitude and longitude at agreed times each day, so their current positions were more approximate – particularly when they were pushing hard. Our equipment performed as expected, even in temperatures of –40 °C or lower but would perform equally as well in hot or humid conditions, so is a truly global asset tracking solution.” The team finished in second place behind a Norwegian crew.