Developing strategies for automated remote plant production systems: Environmental control and monitoring of the Arthur Clarke Mars Greenhouse in the Canadian High Arctic M. Bamsey a,b, * , A. Berinstain a,b , T. Graham b , P. Neron a , R. Giroux a , S. Braham c,d , R. Ferl e , A.-L. Paul e , M. Dixon b a Canadian Space Agency, Space Science, 6767 route de l’aeroport, St-Hubert, Que., Canada J3Y 8Y9 b University of Guelph, Dept. of Environmental Biology, 50 Stone Road East, Guelph, Ont., Canada N1G 2W1 c PolyLAB, 515 West Hasting Street, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, BC, Canada V6B 5K3 d Mars Institute, NASA Research Park, Bldg 19 – Suite 2047, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA e University of Florida, Horticultural Sciences, Gainesville, FL 32601-0600, USA Received 10 May 2009; received in revised form 11 August 2009; accepted 13 August 2009 Abstract The Arthur Clarke Mars Greenhouse is a unique research facility dedicated to the study of greenhouse engineering and autonomous functionality under extreme operational conditions, in preparation for extraterrestrial biologically-based life support systems. The Arthur Clarke Mars Greenhouse is located at the Haughton Mars Project Research Station on Devon Island in the Canadian High Arc- tic. The greenhouse has been operational since 2002. Over recent years the greenhouse has served as a controlled environment facility for conducting scientific and operationally relevant plant growth investigations in an extreme environment. Since 2005 the greenhouse has seen the deployment of a refined nutrient control system, an improved imaging system capable of remote assessment of basic plant health parameters, more robust communication and power systems as well as the implementation of a distributed data acquisition system. Though several other Arctic greenhouses exist, the Arthur Clarke Mars Greenhouse is distinct in that the focus is on autonomous oper- ation as opposed to strictly plant production. Remote control and autonomous operational experience has applications both terrestrially in production greenhouses and extraterrestrially where future long duration Moon/Mars missions will utilize biological life support sys- tems to close the air, food and water loops. Minimizing crew time is an important goal for any space-based system. The experience gained through the remote operation of the Arthur Clarke Mars Greenhouse is providing the experience necessary to optimize future plant pro- duction systems and minimize crew time requirements. Internal greenhouse environmental data shows that the fall growth season (July– September) provides an average photosynthetic photon flux of 161.09 lmol m 2 s 1 (August) and 76.76 lmol m 2 s 1 (September) with approximately a 24 h photoperiod. The spring growth season provides an average of 327.51 lmol m 2 s 1 (May) and 339.32 lmol m 2 s 1 (June) demonstrating that even at high latitudes adequate light is available for crop growth during 4–5 months of the year. The Canadian Space Agency Development Greenhouse [now operational] serves as a test-bed for evaluating new systems prior to deployment in the Arthur Clarke Mars Greenhouse. This greenhouse is also used as a venue for public outreach relating to bio- logical life support research and its corresponding terrestrial spin-offs. Crown copyright Ó 2009 Published by Elsevier Ltd. on behalf of COSPAR. All rights reserved. Keywords: Advanced life support; Biological life support; Greenhouse; Plant production; Autonomous operation; Space analogue 1. Introduction The Arthur Clarke Mars Greenhouse (ACMG) is an experimental facility devoted to advanced life support research and is located at the Haughton Mars Project 0273-1177/$36.00 Crown copyright Ó 2009 Published by Elsevier Ltd. on behalf of COSPAR. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.asr.2009.08.012 * Corresponding author. Address: Canadian Space Agency, Space Science, 6767 route de l’aeroport, St-Hubert, Que., Canada J3Y 8Y9. E-mail address: matthew.bamsey@asc-csa.gc.ca (M. Bamsey). www.elsevier.com/locate/asr Available online at www.sciencedirect.com Advances in Space Research 44 (2009) 1367–1381