Antarctic Research Station is working unmanned

British Antarctic Halley Research Station is an internationally important platform for global earth, atmospheric and space weather observation in a climate sensitive zone. Built on a floating ice shelf in the Weddell Sea in 2012, Halley VI is the world’s first re-locatable research facility.

In January 2017, as a safety precaution, the Director of British Antarctic Survey (BAS) took the decision not to winter a team at Halley following the detection of new and unpredictable ice crack on the Brunt Ice Shelf. This will remain the case for the foreseeable future.

Following the decision to operate Halley VI as a summer-only station until the Brunt Ice Shelf stabilises, BAS scientists and engineers are continuing to work on automating instruments at the station to enable ongoing data collection throughout the Antarctic winter when the station is unoccupied.

The Halley automation project consists of a micro-turbine power supply and datalink to a suite of autonomous scientific instrumentation around the station and on the ice shelf.

 


Halley VI Research Station – British Antarctic Survey
https://www.bas.ac.uk/polar-operations/sites-and-facilities/facility/halley/

Halley Research Station
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halley_Research_Station

Research stations in Antarctica
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Research_stations_in_Antarctica

British Antarctic Survey
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Antarctic_Survey

Brunt Ice Shelf
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brunt_Ice_Shelf

File:Halley VI Antarctic Research Station – Science modules.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Halley_VI_Antarctic_Research_Station_-_Science_modules.jpg

File:Low sun behind Halley VI modules.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Low_sun_behind_Halley_VI_modules.jpg

Halley VI Research Station in Antarctica
https://twitter.com/architeg/status/1154753990602526720

Halley VI covered in ice
https://twitter.com/OccultaeV/status/1060260748461568011

Winter Aurora over Halley Research Station
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSp1XL-5agM

Halley VI Research Station
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhR-JZLtzvQ

#Automation, #Halley, #Antarctica