The Troll Observing Network (TONe) drone access call

TONe is proud to announce a pilot season access call to the new TONe drone service infrastructure. TONe has built a new and unique capability with long range instrumented drones infrastructure that will support the research in Dronning Maud Land (DML). The infrastructure will be deployed in the field from the Troll Research Station for the first time in the 2026–27 austral summer season.

The pilot campaign is already financed by Research Council of Norway through the TONe project, and therefore this presents an opportunity for scientists to propose drone missions in DML to gather data in support of their research free of charge.

NORCE is the drone operator and will deploy two of their drone pilots at Troll for the pilot campaign. Norwegian Polar Institute owns the TONe project and operates Troll Research Station. In addition to the large long range drones the team will bring some smaller  electric VTOL drones that are field portable. These have RGB and IR cameras and Ultra Wide band radar systems.

Descriptions of the sensor systems and capabilities of the drones that will be deployed can be found on the TONe project page. The pilot season will be carried out between mid-November and mid-December, or alternatively between mid-January and mid-February, depending on the incoming requests. The duration of the pilot campaign is approximately one month.

The drone endurance is up to 800 km and 8 hours in the air, giving an anticipated operational range out to the coast, see map sketch below. Range will be affected by wind conditions so there will be some variation depending on weather. 

We invite proposals from the whole Norwegian research community to help design an optimal and efficient flight for the campaign. The overall objective of the campaign is to generate data that complements ongoing research activities including the TONe observatories, while showcasing the potential of drone-based capabilities. These outcomes will provide a foundation for future research proposals and help attract a broader community of engaged user groups.

The proposals need to include information about the research project the mission will support and what kind of data is needed, including detailed description of type of data, geographical area to be covered, time period and other data requirements.

The proposals will be selected and prioritized according to the following criteria:

• Excellence of science supported – advancement of science
• Relevance for Norwegian Antarctic research priorities
• Feasibility of conducting the proposed missions – technical and risk
• Capacity – since this is the pilot season the priority will be to conduct a set of missions spanning a wide range of topics.
• Complying with rules and regulations pertaining to Antarctica, in particular Regulations relating to the protection of the environment and safety in Antarctica  and associated guidelines.
• Supported by a funded research project/program

The evaluation will be done by NORCE and NPI.

Data policy

A more detailed data policy within TONe is under development. For now we refer to the Research Council of Norway’s data policy.

Eligibility criteria

The Principal Investigator (PI) must be from a Norwegian research institution. Scientists from non-Norwegian research institutions are encouraged to go in partnership with Norwegian research institutions.

Risks

Since this is the pilot season for TONe drone there is a heightened risk for technical challenges and data quality issues as well as weather limitations on the overall capacity for the season. Researchers must be aware of and accept this risk.