Case study

MAPHI: fresh food grown in Antarctica

A hydroponic module at Argentina's Marambio Base grows up to 240 plants per cycle inside a 20-foot container, so the crew of one of the most isolated outposts on Earth eats greens harvested metres from the canteen.

Fresh greens for the base crew
Up to 240 plants per cycle
Five variables under watch
Run from thousands of km away

Client: MAPHI, INTA and UNPA
Sector: Hydroponics
Location: Marambio Base, Antarctica
Hardware: Climate and water sensors

Who they are

A farm run by scientists

MAPHI, the Antarctic Hydroponic Production Module, is the work of INTA, Argentina's National Institute of Agricultural Technology, with UNPA and the Argentine Antarctic institutions. Their brief: produce vegetables year-round at Marambio Base, where winter reaches -30 C.

Their answer fits in a 20-foot container, where a few degrees too cold or a drift in pH can cost the entire crop.

The module

MAPHI at Marambio Base

Site: Marambio Base, Argentina's permanent scientific outpost in Antarctica
Module: A 20-foot container with a fully controlled indoor environment
Method: Deep Water Culture rafts, roots in nutrient solution instead of soil
Capacity: Up to 240 plants per cycle
Measured: TemperatureHumidityWater levelpHConductivity

The module

What the team keeps in range

Growing at Marambio is a control problem before it is a farming problem. Each variable has an optimal range, and the team's job is keeping every one of them inside it, every hour of every day, with the outside air trying its best to argue. The sheet below redraws what they watch.

MAPHI module variables · As the team sees themSHEET MP-01 · REV A · STYLIZED

TMP

Two climates, one wall apart

FIG. 01

A flat growing climate held inside the shell while the Antarctic winter runs to -30 C on the other side of the wall.

INTERIOR TEMP · EXTERIOR TEMP · WINTER LOWS -30 C

CHM

Water chemistry

FIG. 02

The pH and electrical conductivity of the nutrient solution, each held inside its target band. A drift in either can affect the entire crop.

WATER pH · ELECTRICAL CONDUCTIVITY · TARGET BANDS

LVL

Nutrient reservoir level

FIG. 03

The water level in the reservoir feeding the rafts, with its refill threshold marked. A low level raises an alert before the crop notices.

WATER LEVEL · REFILL THRESHOLD · LOW LEVEL ALERT

AIR

Air inside the module

FIG. 04

Relative humidity held in its band while air keeps moving through the growing chamber, in a sealed box the weather never enters.

RELATIVE HUMIDITY · AIR CIRCULATION · SEALED CHAMBER

CYC

From seed to harvest

FIG. 05

Deep Water Culture rafts hold up to 240 plant sites per cycle, followed from seeding through growth to harvest day.

DWC RAFTS · UP TO 240 PLANTS / CYCLE · SEED / GROW / HARVEST

ALR

The moment a variable escapes

FIG. 06

When any variable leaves its optimal range, an automated alert reaches the team on the spot, wherever on the planet they happen to be.

AUTOMATED ALERTS · OPTIMAL RANGES · PUSH TO THE TEAM

Results

Fresh food on Antarctic plates

The measure of success is served in the base canteen: lettuce and arugula grown metres from where they are eaten.

The project also proves a wider point. If a crop can run automated at -30 C, with the nearest specialist thousands of kilometres away, it can run automated on any farm.

First harvest

Grown and eaten at Marambio

Harvest for the base crew
Lettuce15.6 kg
Arugula4.4 kg
Outside the module
Down to -30 C in winter
Operation
Supervised and run remotely, thousands of kilometres away
Remote

Harvest figures as reported by the MAPHI project.

Under the hood

How MAPHI stays in range

Every sensor in the container streams to Thinger.io: temperature, humidity, water level, pH and electrical conductivity arrive as live telemetry for real-time analysis. Dashboards show the state of the module at a glance, and the moment any variable falls outside its optimal range the platform raises an automated alert.

The same link carries control the other way. The team supervises and operates the module remotely, from thousands of kilometres away, which keeps manual intervention to a minimum. On an outpost where every hand has other work, the farm mostly runs itself.

Climate and water chemistry sensors inside the 20-foot module stream to Thinger.io, where real-time dashboards, automated alerts and remote control put MAPHI in the hands of its team, on base or thousands of kilometres away.

Keep reading

Automate your growing environment

MAPHI runs its Antarctic crop on Thinger.io. If your greenhouse, vertical farm or growing module needs the same kind of watchfulness, we can help you get there.

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