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All systems go
We accomplished a second radar test with all five radar systems running simultaneously, just a few miles away from South Pole.
Location: Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station
Elevation: 2838 m
Weather: -28 C, 10 knots
The ‘sniffer’ system is used to detect crevasses, and is mounted on the front of the lead vehicle, driven by our safety and mountaineering expert, Stein Tronstad. The remaining four radars in the line are on the last vehicle. Anna’s two are mounted on a boom above the snow (designed to see the faint layering in the upper snowpack). Then follows Tom’s radar towed from a second side boom looking at the variations in accumulation in the top 100 meters (300 feet) of snow. Each hill and valley in the Plateau has a snowy side and a windswept side, and we will track the variation along the way. Last is the deep radar, managed by Kirsty, sitting inside her ‘Plateau Palace’. “It’s a smooth ride in there” she said after the first test. We’re hoping it will be stable enough so that the Dramamine bottle will not be standard equipment!
The deep radar sled and the “Plateau Palace”. Photo: Ted Scambos.
