by Joseph Gresser
WESTMORE — When the Subaru rally team tested out its cars on the ice of Lake Willoughby it was obvious what was going on. Not so with another group checking out high tech equipment in Westmore.
A crew from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, based in Massachusetts, set up a small research station on an out-of-the way area near the northern end of the lake and launched a what engineer Lee Freitag, the leader of the team, called a “robotic under-ice autonomous vehicle.”
“You can call it a drone,” he said in a phone conversation, “but we prefer autonomous vehicle.”
Woods Hole is perhaps the premiere center for research on and under the world’s seas.
The institution has long relied on small submersible crafts to carry out its oceanic studies, and the craft under study, if it proves successful, will help research in the world’s coldest waters.
According to a single-sheet flier Mr. Freitag and his colleagues put together to explain their work to folks around the lake, the group was testing new robotic technologies for measuring water temperature, salinity, and monitoring the thickness of ice.
Researchers hope the device will provide information that will aid their efforts to understand seasonal and long-term variations in those factors.
While the base for launching the vehicle was deliberately placed to avoid problems for ice anglers, the team drilled into the ice around the lake and placed acoustic nodes in the water to help in testing the robot sub.
The Woods Hole crew stayed at the WilloughVale Inn, near their ice camp and traveled to their site using utility vehicles and trailers.
Lake Willoughby was chosen for the project because it allowed the system to be tested in a controlled environment.
Even a controlled environment, though, can provide surprises. This winter proved warmer than most and, to all appearances, shorter, too.
The scientists intended to continue their work until the end of March, but Mother Nature decreed otherwise.
With the onset of unseasonable warmth, the ice became less reliable, and the crew decided to wrap up their research for the season before they, as well as the autonomous vehicle, found themselves in icy water.
On Monday morning they packed up their gear and headed back to their home base on Cape Cod.
Mr. Freitag said he expects to be back on the ice of Willoughby next winter. Should that happen, it’s likely the crew will be more welcoming to visitors. A note in the pamphlet provided by the team asked people to stay away to avoid the possibility of COVID.
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