During the season, the outlying science buildings will have open houses to give a chance for the station population to tour the facilities. A few weeks after I arrived here, ARO opened it's doors for us non-science folks to come visit.
Some basic information about ARO...
Some of the focuses of research here at the South Pole are air quality, solar radiation/reflection, and of course, the ozone hole. All of this is done at ARO, a modular building that lies about 500 meters upwind of the main station and downwind of the Clean Air Sector. The Clean Air Sector is a section of Antarctica with access via vehicles and by foot being strictly limited and airplanes are discouraged from entering it. You can actually get vials of the "cleanest air on Earth" from the Clean Air Sector while you are visiting.
For more detailed information, check out these links.
http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/
http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/obop/spo/observatory.html
Also, the scientists that work over there are really nice, so if you have any questions, I can forward them on to them.
Click here for some photos
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ReplyDeleteFascinating stories you tell. Very interesting, and the pictures tell a story, too.
Keep up the good work.