In the 1960s during the Cold War, the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center’s (ERDC) Cold Region Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL) designed a device, commonly referred to as a Rodriguez well, or Rodwell, to harvest water under the ice in Greenland and Antarctica to sustain U.S. facilities by providing water for drinking, hygiene and other needs. Presently, NASA is working with CRREL to assess whether that same technology can provide water for human-inhabited research stations on Mars.

The U.S. Army Engineering Research and Development Center’s Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL) collaborated with the U.S. Navy during the annual Sea Ice Dynamics Experiment (SIDEx) from February through March 2020 by predicting potential breaks in sea ice. The experiment is centered around a temporary ice camp – Camp Seadragon – that the U.S. Navy established on a sheet of ice in the Arctic Ocean. The camp serves as a temporary command center for conducting submarine operations and under-ice navigation exercises. While there are numerous dangers involved with having a training camp set up in the freezing cold, a major concern for the Navy is cracks in the sea ice.

Inventors at the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center’s (ERDC) Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL) recently received a patent for sensor planning software tools designed to assist the U.S. Soldiers’ need to identify effective placement locations for sensors to accomplish their mission. Led by Research Physical Scientist Dr. David “Keith” Wilson, the research team, consisting of CRREL’s Signature Physics Branch, received the patent for their “System for Modeling Intelligent Sensor Selection and Placement” in July 2019.

In late March 2020, Army 1st Lt. Eoghan Matthews, a Soldier assigned to the U.S. Army Engineering Research and Development Center’s (ERDC) Cold Region Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL), received a call. The instructions were cryptic but direct: “Pack a bag, and be ready to go somewhere in the Northeast.” After earning a degree in systems engineering from the U.S. Military Academy in 2017 and a commission as an officer in the U.S. Army, Matthews started working for CRREL in January 2020 as a research associate. Within a few weeks, the COVID-19 pandemic required him to start teleworking. Following that phone call and a Monday snowstorm, Matthews started driving March 24 from northern New Hampshire to New York City, which was a “hot spot” in the news for COVID-19 cases.Matthews was activated to assist the USACE New York District with completing site assessments, which are provided to local, state and federal partners, so that decisions can be made about where and when alternate care facilities are constructed as additional support to hospitals during the COVID-19 outbreak.

In the forests of Fox, Alaska, carved into a frozen hillside is a unique manmade 350-meter long research tunnel. Situated on a 16-acre parcel near the confluence of Goldstream and Glenn Creeks, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Research and Development Center’s Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory’s Permafrost Tunnel Research Facility was excavated deep into a large block of discontinuous permafrost that has been going through several recent periods of expansion. The expansion project began back in 2011, taking advantage of the digging seasons when the ground is at its coldest, with an overall project goal of expanding the tunnel facility to better support ongoing and growing research and engineering needs. The most recent expansion effort, this year, has added 300-feet of new tunnel, improved 200 feet of the existing tunnel and added links between the old and new tunnel sections at several locations, to include at an interface between subsurface bedrock and overlying gravels.

Embark on the largest polar expedition in history: in September 2019, the German research icebreaker Polarstern will set sail from Tromsø, Norway, to spend a year drifting through the Arctic Ocean - trapped in ice. The goal of the MOSAiC expedition is to take the closest look ever at the Arctic as the epicenter of global warming and to gain fundamental insights that are key to better understand global climate change. Hundreds of researchers from 19 countries take part in this exceptional endeavour.

Lester Holt, anchor of "NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt," toured the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center's Permafrost Tunnel Research Facility in Fox, Alaska, Sept. 14, 2019. The veteran journalist talked to ERDC's Dr. Tom Douglas about key tunnel features and the science of climate change. Douglas is an Alaska-based research chemist assigned to our Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory, based in Hanover, New Hampshire. Tune in to NBC Nightly News TONIGHT to see Holt's report that features the tunnel and other Alaska climate change experts and locales. Check your local listings for the broadcast time in your area.

A tour group puts on safety equipment before entering the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Permafrost Tunnel on Sept. 12. Robert Tanner, a safety specialist with the U.S. Army Garrison Alaska, Fort Wainwright Safety Office, conducted an annual courtesy safety inspection during the tour to ensure all safety processes and procedures provide guests with a safe and healthy visit to the one-of-a-kind tunnel. (Photo by Daniel Nelson, USAG Alaska, Fort Wainwright Public Affairs)