The Sidewinder is not a drill but is a drive/lifting system used in conjunction with the hand augers. It is driven by an electric motor (power hand drill) and a winching system to help in both lowering and retrieving the drill string. The power hand drill is also used to spin the hand auger barrel during drilling.
The Sidewinder extends the maximum practical depth of coring with a hand auger to about 30 meters. Like the hand augers, the Sidewinders are typically operated by investigators without assistance from IDP equipment operators.
Equipment Details
| Name | Sidewinder Power Drive |
|---|---|
| Type |
Type
Power unit for hand augers
|
| Number in Inventory |
Number in Inventory
5
|
| Max. Practical Depth |
Max. Practical Depth
30 m
|
| Hole Diameter |
Hole Diameter
[NA]
|
| Ice Core Diameter |
Ice Core Diameter
[NA]
|
| Ice Core Length |
Ice Core Length
[NA]
|
| IDP Driller Required? |
IDP Driller Required?
No (while 1 person can operate the Sidewinder, a 2-person crew helps share the labor and speeds up the cycle time)
|
| Power Requirements/Source |
Power Requirements/Source
2 kW generator or solar cells
|
| Estimated Drilling Time |
Estimated Drilling Time
5 m - 2 hours |
| Time to Move (breakdown and setup) |
Time to Move (breakdown and setup)
<1 hour
|
| Helicopter Transportable? |
Helicopter Transportable?
Yes
|
| Light Aircraft Transportable? |
Light Aircraft Transportable?
Yes
|
| Shipping Weight |
Shipping Weight
180 lbs |
| Shipping Volume (Cube) |
Shipping Cube
6 (does not include generator or hand auger) |
| Comments |
Documents
| Citation | Year |
|---|---|
| NSF Ice Drilling Program (2021) IDP Sidewinder Operations and Maintenance Manual. 1-21. | 2021 |
| Vladimir Aizen, Christine Foreman, Andrei Kurbatov, Erich Osterberg, Eric J Steig (2011) 10 year plan for Shallow Coring Capabilities (1-400 m deep). 2011 Ice Drilling Science Community Planning Workshop, April 15-16, 2011, Herndon, Virginia, USA, 1-5. | 2011 |
| Jay D Kyne, Joseph McConnell (2007) The SideWinder for powering a hand-coring auger in drilling and lifting. Annals of Glaciology, 47, 101-104. doi: 10.3189/172756407786857721. https://doi.org/10.3189/172756407786857721 | 2007 |
Photos
PI Erich Osterberg drills with the IDP Hand Auger and Sidewinder system in Greenland. Credit: Gabe Lewis
Members of the Lake Vida expedition team – Peter Doran, Chris Fritsen and Jay Kyne – use a Sidewinder with the Praire Dog Drill during the 2010-2011 season to drill an ice core from frozen Lake Vida, McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica. Credit: Ema Kuhn
IDP driller Jay Kane drills with the PICO Hand Auger and Sidewinder system during the 2013 field season in SE Greenland. Credit: Rick Forster
Videos
Project History
| 2024 Arctic - Collaborative Research: AON Network for Observing Transformation of the Greenland Ice Sheet Firn Layer |
| 2024-2025 Antarctic - Center for OLDest Ice Exploration (COLDEX) |
| 2023 Arctic - Collaborative Research: NSFGEO-NERC: Recent changes in Arctic biogenic sulfur aerosol from a central Greenland ice core |
| 2023 Arctic - Collaborative Research: AON Network for Observing Transformation of the Greenland Ice Sheet Firn Layer |
| 2022 Arctic - Collaborative Research: AON Network for Observing Transformation of the Greenland Ice Sheet Firn Layer |
| 2021-2022 Antarctic - Field Validation of ICESat-2 at Western Thwaites |
| 2019 Arctic - Greenland: Refreezing in the Firn of the Greenland Ice Sheet |
| 2019 Arctic - Greenland: Quantifying Heat/Mass Structure and Fluxes through the Full Thickness of Greenland's Percolation Zone |
| 2018 Arctic - Greenland: Refreezing in the Firn of the Greenland Ice Sheet |
| 2018 Arctic - Alaska: Measuring snow compaction on ice sheets to better quantify ice-sheet changes |
| 2018 Arctic - Greenland: Quantifying Heat/Mass Structure and Fluxes through the Full Thickness of Greenland's Percolation Zone |
| 2017 Arctic - Greenland: a Greenland Traverse for Accumulation and Climate Studies (GreenTrACS) |
| 2017 Arctic - Greenland: Refreezing in the Firn of the Greenland Ice Sheet |
| 2016 Arctic - Wyoming: Biodiversity of the Longue Durée |
| 2016 Arctic - Greenland: a Greenland Traverse for Accumulation and Climate Studies (GreenTrACS) |
Shipping weight includes generator but not hand auger. 130 lb shipping weight without generator.