Troubleshooting a Glacier Monitoring Station

When one of the Norwegian Polar Institute’s remote glacier monitoring stations stopped reporting data, glaciologist Jack Kohler reached out to Kolibri Geo Services for support. These automated stations—known as “autostakes”—are critical tools for tracking glacier speed, accumulation, and ablation, and a failure in the system meant a potential gap in long-term data.

Rather than fly in a full technical team from Tromsø, the institute needed a fast, local solution. Kolibri was contracted to investigate and troubleshoot the issue on site. After safely navigating across crevasses and blue ice under the guidance of NPI technician Eirik Hellerud, we located the faulty stake and found it had been knocked over by shifting ice or weather.

Using a systematic approach, we removed accumulated snow, assessed the damage, and repaired the broken components. The autostake structure was re-erected and reinforced in position. We also uploaded updated firmware to the data logger and confirmed the unit was functioning before making the return journey.

Thanks to Kolibri’s rapid response, the station was brought back online without delay—and without the cost or complexity of bringing in external crews from the mainland.

This project highlights Kolibri’s ability to step in as a local, skilled partner—solving technical problems quickly, safely, and cost-effectively in the heart of the field.