GOAT ON THE ROOF: Ahmed Elsaify, trying to adjust a malfunctioning antenna, found that a goat living on the grass-covered roof had chewed some wires.

TECH TEAM: Glacsweb team members [from left] Kirk Martinez, Gang Zou, Ahmed Elsaify, and Alistair Riddoch prepare a system they will place at the glacier to collect data from the probes.

LAB WORK: The Glacsweb researchers transformed one of their cabins into an electronics laboratory equipped with an oscilloscope, spectrum analyzer, soldering iron, voltmeter, and computer.

FROM BENEATH: Kathryn Rose transfers sediments collected from beneath the glacier to a plastic bag. The sediments, known as glacial till, are a mixture of clay, sand, and pebbles.

SEDIMENT SAMPLING: Kathryn Rose [right], helped by Alistair Riddoch [center] and John Hunt, lowers a sediment sampler-a heavy iron rod with a hammer and a reservoir at the end-into a hole drilled on the ice.

WATCH OUT: A sign near the glacier warns visitors-in Norwegian, English, and German-of the area's treacherous crevasses and about the possibility of sudden avalanches, flash floods, and falling rubble.

TRANSMISSION TEST: Glacsweb team members [from left] Alistair Riddoch, Kirk Martinez, and Ahmed Elsaify perform a communications test to confirm that the probes embedded in the ice can send data to a receiver.

DRILLING OPERATION: Sarah Stafford pushes the drilling rod against the ice, while Kirk Martinez helps with the hose. The researchers need to drill until they reach the bottom of the glacier, where the ice meets the sediment layer underneath.

STARTING THE ENGINE: Kathryn Rose [left] and Paritosh Padhy operate a hot-jet pressure washer that pumps water through a hose connected to a steel rod that the group uses to drill holes on the ice.

GOOD TO GO: After two weeks of work at the glacier, Glacsweb team leaders Kirk Martinez and Jane Hart prepare to deploy the group's last probe.

IN A BOX: The base station includes a Linux-based computer, a GPS receiver, and a cellphone circuit that are powered by lead-acid batteries, which are recharged by a wind generator and solar panels.

DATA CENTER: Kirk Martinez [left] and Alistair Riddoch set up a new base station, which contains equipment that will stay permanently at the glacier and will transmit data to a campsite nearby.

AVALANCHING ICE: Team members watch as a chunk of ice the size of a car slides down the glacier, breaking apart into small fragments and producing a thunderous sound.

BOREHOLE VIEWER: Kirk Martinez [left] peers into the eyepiece of a camcorder connected to a small CCD camera, which Kathryn Rose lowers into a hole containing a probe that got stuck.

PLACING A PROBE: Kathryn Rose [center], holding a string attached to a probe, lowers the device into a hole, as John Hunt [left] and Jane Hart watch nearby.