From Above

Each summer season, one lucky photographer gets the gut wrenching opportunity to map the South Pole Station, with his camera, from high above in a fast flying, quick turning twin otter aircraft. This is done, not only because its pretty damn cool to have aerial photos of the ever shifting, ever growing station, but also to aid the surveyor's and track snow drifting.

This is 'Downtown' Amundsen-Scott Station - measuring about one square mile. In the right forefront is the 'new station'. In the left forefront is the 'old' station - the dome sinking in the snow.

The new station, or 'elevated station', was dedicated last summer, but has been inhabited for several years now. You can see in the photo, the black siding is still being installed. The elevated station is raised above the ground on pillars. This serves a dual purpose: 1) The Windward side of the station (the side you see in the photo) is beveled at the bottom, like a wind foil, to increase the speed of the wind as it passes underneath the station. Drifting snow is then blown under the station and out the other side, as opposed to drifting up the walls of the structure. 2) As the pillars sink in the ground, a series of hydraulic lifts will raise the station and new pillars will be installed on top of the old pillars. This will be done every ten to fifteen years, as needed. Pretty rad, huh! When I think of the elevated station, I think of a moon base. Its actually that cool.

This is the old station. As you can see, it is inevitably losing the battle that every structure at the South Pole will lose. It is sinking in the snow, and being drifted in . . . silly place to build a research base, huh.

Pictured below are the 'berms'. Anything on the ground, over time, drifts in with snow, and the berms are a method of preventing cargo from getting buried. Heavy machinery is used to compact snow mounds, about four feet high and hundreds of feet long. Cargo is then placed on top of these plateaus or 'berms'. Everything from Caterpillar engines to toilet paper to french fries is stored on the berms. Its a low tech solution that doesn't really work - buts its the best we got. Any building constructed to store cargo would simply sink and drift in.

This is the airstrip, a groomed, compact snow surface used by the Baslers, Twin otters, and LC-130's.

On the left side of the airstrip is the 'dark sector' or the telescope suburbs of the South Pole Station. Several telescopes operate here and during winter, windows and headlights are covered up throughout the station to prevent light pollution from entering the dark sector.

The Ten meter telescope. This, the largest and most modern, of the telescopes at the South Pole, was built primarily to search for galaxy clusters.

This is a good example of how the snow drifts on the polar plateau, with piles forming on the leeward side of a structure. The fuel tanks pictured below provide a wind block, which allows snow to settle behind the tanks. And then drifting begets drifting, and the tanks, with all their fuel, disappear during winter. As you can see, its very important store things strategically and make detailed maps.