SmartStake is a portable and autonomous station for tracking the glacier mass loss all along the melt season
The SmartStake station allows you to monitor ice ablation on a glacier with high accuracy over long periods of time. Designed as a convenient and efficient replacement for the classical stakes, the instrument allows a much more detailed analysis of the ablation phenomenon, thanks to a very high monitoring rate and an enhanced accuracy. The SmartStake station is supported by the WGMS and the Kilian Jornet Foundation as part of their joint work to monitor glaciers and show their importance for our planet.
Monitoring rate
4 meas./hour
Cumulative ablation
Up to 7 m
Resolution
1 mm
Data storage
Internal SD card
Communication
LoRaWAN, wireless
Additional sensors
GPS
Snowfall detector
Temperature
Continuous ablation measurement based on a reliable and simple method
The SmartStake station relies on a simple working principle: the device is installed on the surface of the glacier and a rope is uncoiled into a hole drilled in the ice. As the ice melt, the elevation of the device decreases and the rope coils back. The instrument measures the winding of the rope and computes the corresponding vertical displacement, hence the cumulative ice ablation. The measurement is performed on a regular basis, typically every 15 minutes. The output is stored on a microSD card and can be downloaded through a USB connection. It may optionally be sent over a telecommunication network.
