Scientists from Delft University of Technology in The Netherlands have actually used expert system to produce a kind of treasure map to identify zones where meteorites can be found with high likelihood.
” Through our analyses, we discovered that satellite observations of temperature level, ice flow rate, surface cover and geometry are excellent predictors of the area of meteorite-rich locations,” stated Veronica Tollenaar, who led the study, released in Science Advances. “We expect the treasure map to be eighty percent precise.”
Based on the study, the researchers compute that more than 300,000 meteorites are out there on the Antarctic landscape, waiting to be found. This represents enormous scientific potential.
” We found a number of never-visited meteorite-rich areas that are relatively near research study stations,” stated Stef Lhermitte, who was involved in the research study along with assistant teacher David Tax from TU Delft.
Collecting meteorites in Antarctica. Image courtesy of Delft University of Technology.
As the glaciers gradually flow, the meteorites are carried with them. If a glacier runs up versus a large barrier, in areas like the Transantarctic Mountains, the ice increases and meteorites are brought to the surface.
Additionally, dry Antarctic winds slowly erode the ice, exposing the meteorites. As more ice rises to the surface, the process repeats. Given adequate time, a considerable accumulation of meteorites develops up.
The “probability to discover meteorites” at an offered place corresponds to the a posteriori likelihood. Meteorites are too little to detect from separately from area, but with indirect satellite measurements such as temperature level, speed of the ice flow, the surface area slope, and the way the ice reflects radar signals, combing all that information and using machine learning, the researchers stated they can forecast where meteorites concentrate at the surface area.
Among the locations that are understood to consist of meteorites are in the continents blue ice areas. The contrasting blue ice makes it easy to spot and gather meteorites throughout Antarctic field work objectives.
Screenshot of the interactive site “Catch a Falling Star” showing blue ice zones. Credit: Delft University of Technology.
” Antarctica is numerous and really remote areas have never ever been checked out,” said Tollenaar in a news release. “Moreover, the reports on the success of previous meteorite recovery missions are often uncertain and not extremely comprehensive, which results in a lack of good-quality labels. To prevent this problem, we count on favorable and unlabeled learning, an emerging field in artificial intelligence.”
You can see the interactive treasure map here, to browse the Antarctic continent and check out places with a high potential to find meteorites.
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If a glacier runs up against a large challenge, in areas like the Transantarctic Mountains, the ice increases and meteorites are brought to the surface.
Additionally, dry Antarctic winds slowly erode the ice, exposing the meteorites. Antarctic meteorite hotspot map with positive classified observations.In the central overview map, the size of the positive classified observations is overemphasized for visual contrast, while in the submaps (A to G), the positive classified observations are revealed to scale. The “possibility to discover meteorites” at an offered area corresponds to the a posteriori likelihood. Meteorites are too small to identify from individually from space, but with indirect satellite measurements such as temperature, speed of the ice circulation, the surface slope, and the method the ice reflects radar signals, combing all that information and using maker knowing, the researchers said they can predict where meteorites concentrate at the surface.
Meteorites are known to fall all over the world, the environment and special processes in Antarctica make them somewhat simpler to discover on the beautiful, snowy landscape. Still, gathering meteorites in Antarctica is physically grueling and harmful work.
But what if there was a “treasure map” which revealed the most likely places to discover meteorites in Antarctica, directing researchers where to look?