South Pole Observatory
South Pole Observatory

The South Pole Observatory (SPO) is located at the geographic South Pole on the Antarctic plateau at an elevation of 2838 m above sea level. GMD projects are housed in and around the Atmospheric Research Observatory (ARO) and the Balloon Inflation Facility (BIF), both are National Science Foundation (NSF) facilities for the support of scientific projects related to atmospheric research. The ARO and BIF facilities are part of the NSF Office of Polar Programs (OPP) United States Antarctic Program (USAP). The South Pole Station cargo, personnel travel, housing, building maintenance, and electrical power are all supported by NSF through the contractor, Raytheon Polar Services Company (RPSC). RPSC has been the support contractor since April 2000.

The ARO facility is approximately 500-m grid east-northeast of the new elevated station. This location is generally separated and upwind from station operations. The grid system is used at South Pole Station to define Cartesian coordinates. Grid north (0°/360°) is defined as the line representing the prime meridian or zero line of longitude and is called “north.” The 180° line from South Pole is referred to as “south.” A Clean Air Sector (CAS) was established and is defined as the area beyond the ARO facility from grid 340° to grid 110°. The prevailing winds at South Pole are from CAS more than 90% of the time.

CAS was established to preserve the unique atmospheric and terrestrial conditions from South Pole Station influences. Except for special circumstances, access to the CAS is prohibited. This includes foot and vehicle traffic. Aircraft activity is limited in CAS, and guidelines for scientific or other activities are under discussion at this time. The pristine nature of CAS is strictly preserved, not just for the current scientific activities, but also for future science at South Pole.