1.4. South Pole Observatory

R. Ramos and M. Boland, NOAA Corps

1.4.1. Operations

 

The Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station is located at 90°S on the Polar Plateau at an elevation of 2838 m above sea level. The station is managed by the National Science Foundation (NSF) Office of Polar Programs.  CMDL has operated a South Pole Observatory (SPO) at this station since 1972.   

Nearly all of the CMDL projects are housed in the Clean Air Facility (CAF).  The 1996 summer field season marked the last year that a CMDL crew would occupy the “old” CAF.  Construction began in November 1995 on the Atmospheric Research Observatory (ARO) and was completed in January 1997.  The new ARO houses CMDL’s “new” CAF, the Biospherical Instruments, Inc., San Diego, ultraviolet (UV) monitoring instrument, and the University of Illinois lidar instrument.  The ARO also has an additional 25 m2 for future atmospheric monitoring science.

The ARO was built on a previously surveyed site inside the Clean Air Sector (CAS), approximately 183 m and grid 070° from the “old” CAF.  In November 1995 the walk-up meteorological (MET) tower was moved.  The tower was excavated from its location along the old CAS boundary line at grid 110° to its new location along the new CAS boundary line at grid 340°.  After the tower was erected at the new site, all meteorological instruments were reinstalled.

During construction of the ARO, an electrical generator was placed in the CAS to supply power to the construction site.  In addition, numerous vehicles were required inside the CAS to assist with construction.  Most of CMDL’s projects were shut down on January 22, 1997, during the move into the new building.  By February 10, 1997, all projects and equipment were set-up and running in the ARO building.

A new facility for CMDL’s stratospheric ozonesonde and Antarctic Support Associates (ASA) meteorological program was also constructed in the 1997 summer season.  The new building is a heated facility with an inflation room large enough for CMDL’s 540 m3 volume plastic balloons and a separate data acquisition room.  It has unofficially been named the Balloon Inflation Facility (BIF).

Upgrades to the station electric generators continued through the austral summers of 1995-1996 and 1996-1997.  There were several scheduled blackouts during this period to facilitate the upgrades.

Data continued to be transferred digitally via satellite throughout the year with no significant problems encountered.  Increased demand from the South Pole science community is expected to continue.  In anticipation of the removal of the South Pole VAX computer system, all CMDL data and e-mail traffic were transferred to the UNIX system.

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