Maps and Info on Antarctica

I just came across the website of the British Antarctic Survey. It is a great resource for maps and all sorts of info. Check it out: http://www.antarctica.ac.uk
For some useful fact sheets from the BAS see: http://neutrino.physics.wisc.edu/antarctica/

Boomerang

The new South Pole station let's you easily forget that you are at the end of the World. With good food, a gym, a science lab, conference rooms as well as game and video rooms you find here more facilities and amenities than in many other experimental locations I have worked at. But sometime Nature tells you that it is still in control down here. Everything depends on the weather cooperating and equipment not failing in the harsh conditions. 

Yesterday the satellite connection failed and we lost internet connection. There is nothing one can do about it. And there is  no coffee shop around the corner to help you get your webfix. You are just disconnected from the world. Life is confined to the events on the Station. While there is an Iridium link for emergency phone calls, on days like yesterday life on the station is quite isolated. 

Several flights were planned for yesterday. The first flight had to "boomerang" after it had flown 3hrs from McMurdo to the Pole. The landing skis didn't deploy. The plane circled for about 15 min above the Pole and then made a decision to return to MCM. On the Pegasus airfield at MCM the plan can use its wheels to land on the compressed and hardened runway.  

It's snowing at the South Pole

It is snowing at the Pole! - Usually the Pole is a very dry place. And most days the wind picks up ice crystals so that you have the impression of snow falling. Today we have whiteouts again and it just started snowing for real. A rare occasion for the Pole. The air warmed up. Moisture is coming from the Weddell Sea.

The weather here is dominated by either the cold clear air from the plateau (the East Grid, as they say) or the Wedell Sea. The plateau brings nice cold weather, the sea brings the clouds, whiteouts, and....snow.

We are scheduled to leave Pole tomorrow. We will have to watch the weather closely. The C-130 planes require at least 1km of visibility to land.

HEAT at the dryest, calmest, coldest place on Earth

Every Sunday there is a science lecture at the South Pole. Projects and experiments introduce their work to the South Pole community. Station staff and scientists together listen to the latest work at the Pole and in Antarctica. Yesterday, we heard about HEAT, a new THz astronomy experiment to be deployed at on Ridge A, near Dome A. The goal of the experiment is to observe the Milky way in THz light and learn about gas and cloud formations. This observation requires the dryest and  thinnest atmosphere possible. Water in the atmosphere will absorb the THz radiation and make the measurement impossible. Even the mountains of Hawaii, the Chilean desert, and the South Pole (!) are still too humid for this experiment.

The location of choice is Ridge A, near Dome A. The highest location on the Antarctic plateau. There is no  station. It is one of the coldest and most hostile places on the continent. The Chinese are planning to build a telescope near Dome A. The average temperatures at this place are about -60 deg C. At the Pole it is only -48 deg C. The experiment  is deployed in day trips and then runs remotely for a year at a time. During the winter data is transferred via an Irridium Satellite link. The data transfer per day is a maximum 10MB!
This makes the 9hr-per-day broadband connection at the Pole seem awesome in comparison.

For more information on Ridge A see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ridge_A
and http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/08/bestplaceonearth/

Racing to reach Lake Vostok....

Some updates on the Russian effort to reach Lake Vostok
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-12275979
and some pictures
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-12302953

Exceptions to the Antarctic Treaty .. in the name of science

With the Antarctic Treaty all nations have agreed to eventually remove everything from the continent and not leave any trash etc behind. Last night I learned that the IceCube experiment required an exception. With 5000 photomultipliers frozen 2.5km deep into the ice there is no chance for a post-operation cleanup or removal. The IceCube detectors will stay frozen in the Antarctic ice forever. Or until the glacier pushes them off the continent in millions of years. At Pole the glacier speed is about 10m/year.  The distance to McMurdo is about 1100km. The Transantarctic Mountain Range is in between.

End of season ... celebration!

The summer season is coming to an end at the Pole. Most scientists will be leaving next week. The station is getting ready for the winter. One of the major events this weekend  is the South Pole International Film Festival (SPIFF) followed by a party in the summer camp.  SPIFF features short films, photographs, and slide shows made by the people working at Pole. Station staff, scientists, techs, support people... everyone can show their creative side. It is a fascinating insight into the life and humor at the Pole. We summer scientists don't really belong to the group that runs the station.

SPIFF also featured slides of the old, original SP station that was finally buried in the ice this past year. The photographs of the old station revealed a much harder life. This was the time when men were still men. The new station is just so much neither. Like a luxury hotel in comparison.

The party in the summer camp is about half a km away from the station. A temporary tent camp that is only used during the summer. It is strange to walk in bright day/night light at 10pm to a party.

The next morning I get up early. My daily routine is set by the satellite time from 02300 to ~11am. I take  a walk outside the SP station. I appear to be the only person around. Everyone else is sleeping. It is Sunday. No snowmobiles or machinery are running at this hour of the day. It is a strange experience. Everything is quiet except for the Antarctic wind. The wind is calming down. With windchill it is now only -38 deg C. I love this weather.