Arctic Food and Fresh Ice Security in Community Ice Cellars

Ice Cellar Experimental Research Tunnel (ICERT) in Fairbanks, Alaska will address the urgent need for food security in Arctic regions where ice cellars are being compromised by permafrost thaw due to global warming.

A permafrost tunnel will be excavated and a bermed pond created above a portion of the tunnel to measure and computer model the thermal effects from adding water to the surface, and storing ice inside the cellar.

The design will incorporate thermal siphons, and air vents to draw-in cold winter air and evacuate heat. 

Ice blocks will be harvested from the fresh water pond, and placed inside the ice cellar to maintain below freezing temperature.

Indigenous knowledge of food preservation will be built upon to advance research and fill gaps in science for food and fresh ice security.

Four main opportunities will be investigated at Ice Cellar Experimental Research Tunnel (ICERT), that are not available at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Cold Region Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL) in Fox, Alaska:

1. WATER ABOVE: Adding water on top of a portion of the tunnel to measure and computer model the thermal changes to the permafrost. Fresh water will be filled from a well into a pond, and water will be channeled through a ditch into Cripple Creek that meanders accross another zone above the ice cellar.
2. WATER INSIDE: Fresh ice will be havested from the pond and bought into the tunnel to measure the cooling effects.
3. FOOD STORAGE: Food storage lockers inside temperature controlled air vaults
4. PUBLIC TOURS: The public will have access inside the ice cellar for educational tours.

Join-in on the open discussion

at

Arctic Encounter Symposium

April 15 – 17, 2026 in Anchorage, Alaska

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ICERT

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7421499719517962240

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