Images


Field Work:

Photo F1
Polar Haven tent at Upstream B, West Antarctica housing computer equipment controlling remote sensing devices. Radio Acoustic Sounding System (RASS) in the background, which measures temperature profiles in the lowest 800 m of atmosphere.

Photo F2
Three-axis Sodar being assembled at Williams Field near Ross Island, Antarctica during October 1991. The Sodar measures boundary-layer winds in the lowest thousand meters of atmosphere.

Photo F3
Radar antenna for the RASS being assembled at Williams Field.

Photo F4
Operational sodar at Upstream B, West Antarctica. The cylinders are about 6 feet high.

Photo F5
Theodolite tracking of pilot balloon to get upper level winds at Williams Field near Ross Island. RASS and sodar are in the background. The peak in the far background is Mt. Erebus on Ross Island.

Photo F6
Installation of automatic weather station (AWS) on the ice sheet above Terra Nova Bay during January 1988. The AWS measures wind speed, wind direction, temperature and pressure and transmits this information to satellites passing overhead, which relay the data to the United States for analysis.

Photo F7
Tower for measuring the surface energy balance at Hells Gate, near Terra Nova Bay, as part of the Italian Antarctic Program.

Photo F8
Regularly scheduled weather balloon launch at McMurdo.

Photo F9
An Italian and U.S. technician stop to smile for a photo while working on a weather station at Edmonds Point.

Photo F10
Ryan Fogt and Shelley Knuth install an Acoustic Depth Gauge on the Windless Bight AWS in January 2006. Mt. Erebus looms in the background.


Bases and Camps:

Photo B1
McMurdo Station, Antarctica - the base of United States operations. Located in the Ross Sea, this is the largest research station in Antarctica. As many as 1,200 scientists and support personnel live in McMurdo during the summer field season.

Photo B2
Terra Nova Bay Station, Antarctica. This is the base of Italian Operations in Antarctica, located in the Ross Sea about 200 miles NW of McMurdo.

Photo B3
Living and working quarters at South Camp, West Antarctica.

Photo B4
Scott Base, Antarctica -Also on Ross Island near McMurdo, Scott Base serves as a central for New Zealand Antarctic operations.

Photo B5
Ryan Fogt at Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, with the construction of the new station in the background during January 2006.

Photo B6
Another photo of Ryan Fogt at Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, with the old station dome in the background, January 2006.


Aviation:

Photo A1
Twin Otter airplane used for transportation during the Nov.- Dec. 1992 field program in West Antarctica.

Photo A2
Wheeled C-130 Aircraft used for intercontinental flights between New Zealand and Antarctica. Ski-equipped C-130's are also used for operations within Antarctica and some intercontinental flights.

Photo A3
C-141 Aircraft also used for intercontinental flights between New Zealand and Antarctica. C-141's are much larger and faster than C-130's, but are not ski-equipped and therefore land only on the hard runway surfaces at Pegagus or the Ice Runway.

Photo A4
Helecoptor used to fly equipment and personnel to camps near McMurdo, such as the Dry Valleys.

Photo A5
Twin Otter landing at the Terra Nova Bay runway. This sea-ice runway allows little margin for error, as it is surrounded by mountains on 3 sides. Prevailing crosswinds also make the landing difficult.


Wildlife:

Photo W1
Adelie Penguins at Terra Nova Bay.

Photo W2
An adelie penguin rookery at Edmonds Point near Terra Nova Bay.

Photo W3
Weddell seals sunning at Barnes Glacier near McMurdo.

Photo W4
An emporer penguin rookery at Cape Washington.


Weather:

Photo WX1
An image of a model forecast from the Antarctic Mesoscale Prediction System, a collaboration between the National Center for Atmospheric Research and the Polar Meteorology Group is shown on the right. On the left is a satellite imager closeup of the storm, which occurred in the Ross Sea in December 2001. As can be seen by comparing the two images, the model predicted this event with high skill. Surface winds associated with this storm at times were above 100 mph. Low visibility and drifts over 10 ft hampered aircraft operations for an entire week. (AMPS model image courtesy NCAR; NOAA-15 Image courtesy Aviation Technical Services)

Photo WX2
Huge drifts bury a van at McMurdo station after a December 2001 storm with winds in excess of 100 mph.

Photo WX3
A moderate snow event in McMurdo, seen in the distance is Discovery Hut on Hut Point Peninsula during 2002/2003 field season.

Photo WX4
A moderate wind event (gusts over 40kts) picks up loose snow and obscures the horizon and low levels in McMurdo Sound during 2002/2003 field season.


Scenery:

Photo S1
Inexpressible Island and the Nansen Ice Sheet, Terra Nova Bay. Hells Gate is the area of ice between the island and the peninsula in the foreground. Scott's Northern Party wintered on this Island in 1912, experiencing some of the most persistant and intense winds in the world.

Photo S2
The Nansen Ice Sheet with Reeves Glacier in the background.

Photo S3
Campbell Glacier with Mt. Melbourne (an active volcano) on the right hand side.

Photo S4
An ice cave in the Erebus Ice Tongue, near McMurdo.

Photo S5
Mt. Erebus on Ross Island, at 3,800 m (12,500 ft), is the southernmost active volcano on Earth.

Photo S6
Another picture of Mt. Erebus taken from Pegasus Runway. In front of Mt. Erebus McMurdo, Observation Hill, and Castle Rock are all visible.

Photo S7
Mt. Discovery as seen from across the McMurdo Sound. Because of its location, observations at Mt. Discovery are often indicative of weather to come into McMurdo.

Photo S8
The Ross Sea and northern edge of the Ross Ice Shelf taken during a southbound C-17 flight from New Zealand, January 2006.

Photo S9
The Transantarctic Mountains on the northern edge of Bryd Glacier, taken on a C-130 flight to Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station that flew up Byrd Glacier, January 2006.


Other Stuff:

Photo O1
A digital radar mosaic of Antarctica showing the 3 U.S. bases at Palmer, South Pole, and McMurdo. (courtesy Alaska SAR Facility)

Photo O2
A small greenhouse at the Italian base at Terra Nova Bay. In the future, it is hoped that fresh vegetables grown on site will suppliment the scientists' diets.

Photo O3
A rock resembling a four-legged animal at Terra Nova Bay. Wind erosion plays an important role in shaping the Antarctic topography.

Photo O4
Sea ice near Cape Byrd, Ross Island (December 2001).

Photo O5
Iceberg B15-A and C-16, currently grounded to the north of Ross Island. These huge bergs have had significant effects on the local ocean circulation, sea-ice dynamics, and wildlife. (NOAA-15 Image courtesy Aviation Technical Services)

Photo O6
Participants of the 2002/2003 U.S. Antarctic Program at a required field safety and training program "snow survival school", in which field workers camp out on the Ross Ice shelf overnight and undergo many survival scenarios to ensure field safety.