Experimental Application of Intelligent Robot Technology in Antarctic Scientific Expedition

Intelligent robot technology has great potential for application in polar scientific expedition.During the 24th Chinese Antarctic Expedition in the summer of 2007/08,our ice-snow surface mobile and low-flying robots were successfully employed for the first time in the Antarctic.This paper firstly gives a brief introduction to the intelligent robot technology developed abroad and used in the Antarctic,then focuses on the ice-snow surface mobile and low-flying robots developed by China as well as their field trials in the Antarctic.Moreover,the authors have considered the potential demand for the intelligent robot technology in China＇s Antarctic scientific expedition,in the hope of providing some reference for the future development of robot technologies.

On scientif ic expedition tourism of desert region:a case of eastern Ulan Buh Inner Mongolia

Desert-based adventure tourism is a rapidly expanding tourism market segment after the late 20^th century around the world. Perhaps the most significant factor in the development of desert adventure tourism is the extent to which common tourists are really engaged in scientific expedition. Inner Mongolia has long been considered as the resources accumulation area of desert tourism. The investigation on the Ulan Bah Desert has discovered that the desert animals, the vegetation, the insects, the fungus, tire landfrom and the climate are impressive for both the researchers and the mass tourists. After the resources investigation a survey was carried out in 2007 to get the detailed information of the tourists＇ attitude toward the planning desert scientific product in the Ulan Buh Desert. Based on the resources and market analysis, this paper tries to make a planning of the desert scientific expedition tour of the Ulan Bah Desert. The planning includes the functional division, expedition route design, tour-explaining system, facility of safety guaranty and service planning, and the professional training base.

A Study of Kumtag Desert:Progresses and Achievements

The Kumtag Desert, the fourth largest sand desert covered mainly by mobile dunes and shifting sands, had remained as the last untouched natural desert to be fully investigated in a scientific way. Therefore,＂Integrated Scientific Expedition of the Kumtag Desert Programme＂was listed as one of nine key research programmes of China National Science and Technology Basic Research Programmes in December, 2006. The expedition team carried out two large-scale and multidisciplinary scientific expeditions from June 2007 to December 2009, to the Kumtag Desert and collected more than 20 sets of field samples and ground observations. Finally, the expedition team completed not only systematic and integrated scientific expedition of the Kumtag Desert and filled in the gap of the last unexplored desert in China, but also gained fruitful research results in many scientific research subjects. These research results included that：（i） A unique aeolian landform unit, sand-gravel-moraine, developed in the Kumtag Desert, was defined and named for the first time, and the morphologic characteristics of feather-like longitudinal sand dune and its formation process are initially proved;（ii） Two sources and mineral element composition of the surface sedimentation of the Kumtag Desert was determined, and the characteristics of the desert sedimentation and stratum chronology of the Later Cenozoic Era was illustrated;（iii） The chronology of the paleo-aeolian sand was essentially determined and the formation courses and evolution process of the desert was illustrated;（iv） The thorough investigations of water system distribution, hydrology,chemical characteristics of water of the Kumtag Desert were made and six Water System Evolution Maps of the Kumtag Desert were compiled from the Later Cenozoic Era to the contemporary age;（v） The types, formation processes and distribution of soil in the Kumtag Desert were fully determined;（vi）An all-direction, all-weather, full-coverage desert meteorology observation was established and the characteristics and trend of climate change of the Kumtag Desert and nearby districts were adequately illustrated;（vii） It is the first time that the distribution areas of six plant species, including Tamarix taklamakanensis, Tamarix albiflonum, Agriophyllum lateriflorum etc., were catalogued in the Desert;（viii） The varieties, population, quantity and distribution of the wild animal such as the Bactrian Camel （Camelus ferus Przewalski）, are now documented;And （ix） it is the first time that the ecological services and economic function subdivision zones of the Kumtag Desert were classified;the Framework of the Great Dunhuang Special Ecological-Economic Zone was proposed to realize the sustainable development strategy in population, resources, environment, ecology and economics in the Kumtag Desert and nearby districts.