Logger System for Glacier Research

Researchers with the University of Minnesota wanted to study optical characterization of glacier ice in the West Antarctic Ice Sheet Divide. They were in need of a fully motorized microscope lens under 3.5" in diameter that could withstand high pressure and extreme cold temperatures.

Navitar's motorized Zoom 6000 lens system, mounted on a UI-336OLE USB 3 camera and accompanied by a computer for controlling the zoom and fine focus controls on the lens, was encased by 0.5" of steel and 0.75" of controlled liquid, and lowered into a borehole 3400 meters deep into ice. Three sets of these imaging systems fit within the 3.5" wide inner cavity.