---
title: "No access for months of the year"
url: https://mru.space/use-cases/polar-stations/
description: "Polar stations run through winters with no access. Mru Field keeps the record going as parts fail, until the next season's visit."
---

[Mru](https://mru.space/) / [Mru Field](https://mru.space/field/) / [Use cases](https://mru.space/use-cases/) / Polar stations and sensor networks

Research · Polar Exploring

# Polar stations and sensor networks

No access for months of the year.

![Summit Station research building on stilts, Greenland ice sheet](https://mru.space/_astro/pl09-summit-station.Dr49mb7a_Z2kDQwN.jpg)

Summit Station research building on stilts, Greenland ice sheet Peter West, NSF · Public domain

“Capability is a depleting resource to be spent, not a fixed budget to be defended.”

Whitepaper, §5

Automatic weather stations and sensor networks in Antarctica and the Arctic run through winters when no aircraft can reach them. Parts fail in the cold, and the record has to keep going.

Mru Field runs on the processors already in the equipment. When one fails and nobody can come, it continues on the ones left and delivers only results it can check. Status: decision core at TRL 3; first field pilot planned for 2027.

01

## Computers fail one by one

Radiation, heat and age take out processors and memory. Nothing is replaced until the next visit.

02

## Power runs down

Batteries fade and panels foul. The system has to do less, on purpose, and keep the important part going.

03

## The link is thin

Bytes per message, or nothing until the next window. Problems have to be solved on site.

## Three computers. Then two. Then one, still working.

Most redundant systems stop when they lose their majority. Mru Field steps down instead, and says which mode it is in.

3 alive · vote

A B C

Three computers vote. One bad result is outvoted.

2 alive · compare

A B C

Two compare. A known-answer test finds the faulty one.

1 alive · self-check

A B C

The last one checks its own work and keeps the record through winter, at half speed.

Power

Solar, wind and batteries

Link

Iridium, or none

Visits

Once a season

Service life

Years

## Questions

Does Mru Field need new hardware?

No. It is software for the processors you already deploy. It runs beside your control code and decides which computer to trust as parts fail.

What about the cold?

Cold is a hardware problem. Mru handles what it causes: parts that fail and are not replaced until next season.

How do we start?

Use the form below. We first model your hardware and show what each redundancy design returns over its whole life. Then we plan a pilot on your own equipment.

## Related settings

[All use cases](https://mru.space/use-cases/)

[

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### Volcano and seismic stations

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Memory · Preservation

### Long-term archives

](https://mru.space/use-cases/long-term-archives/)