In 1982-83 Glen Liston spent a year at the

South Pole. The following pictures

provide a short summary of his time at

this wonderful and extreme place. Glen received his Ph.D. in 1991, and is now a Snow and Climate

Scientist at Colorado State University.

The South Pole Research Station

The South Pole Research Station in Antarctica is located within a few hundred meters of the Geographic South Pole. The station sits on the surface of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet at an elevation of 2835 meters (9300 feet).

This station was built in 1975 and is composed of a geodesic dome that is 50 meters (165 feet) in diameter and a three archways that total 250 meters (800 feet) long. In this picture you can see the huge snow drifts that are accumulating around and burying the archways and dome.

Landing at the South Pole, Antarctica

Flights to the South Pole are conducted using LC-130’s outfitted with Teflon-coated skis to land on the snow. These airplanes were flown to the South Pole by the United States Navy.

The Ceremonial South Pole

This is a picture of the red- and white-striped Ceremonial South Pole, complete with the flags of the Antarctic Treaty Nations.

Please note the distance from the geodesic dome in the background and the Ceremonial pole. This will become important later in the presentation.

The Entrance to the South Pole Research Station

To enter the South Pole station you walk or drive down this ramp and into the entrance tunnel.

Tunnel Used to Enter the Geodesic Dome

The entrance tunnel has a layer of frost on the walls and ceiling. The moisture forming this frost is from the people and buildings inside the dome, and from equipment that is driven down the tunnel.

The Buildings Protected by the Geodesic Dome

The geodesic dome is 50 meters (165 feet) in diameter and 20 meters (65 feet) tall. Inside are three main buildings. The dome protects the buildings from blowing and drifting snow. The air temperature in the dome between the buildings is the same as it is outside the dome.

Archway Containing the Fuel Storage Bladders

One of the archways is used to store diesel fuel for the electric generators that supply the station with electricity and heat.

This diesel fuel is specially treated so that it will not freeze until the temperature is below –55 degrees Celsius (–70 degrees Fahrenheit). The temperature will be colder than this for approximately 6 months of the winter, so there are heating pads placed on top of the fuel bladders, and brown-colored insulation blankets placed over the tops of the heating pads.

Geodesic Dome and Archways

The snow drifts around the dome and archways are very large, and the drifting snow is slowly covering them up. This picture was taken in 1982. Since that time these structures have been almost completely covered.

There has been a new South Pole research facility built that is scheduled to be opened in 2003.

A Flat and Generally Featureless Landscape

Other than the main station buildings and a few other small structures, the landscape is very flat and featureless. The horizon is perfectly flat in all directions.

At the South Pole the ice sheet is about 3000 meters (10,000 feet) thick. With a surface elevation of 2835 meters (9300 feet), this means that the earth’s crust under the ice is below sea level. The weight of the ice is so great that it has compressed the crust about 1000 meters (3300 feet), just as if you put something heavy on a sponge. If this ice was removed the crust would rebound until it was about 800 meters (2600 feet) above sea level.

Meteorological Instruments

Glen was hired to work during the summer of 1982 as a Meteorologist, in support of the world weather network and the airplanes bringing personnel and supplies to the South Pole research station.

This is one of the main meteorological instrument panels he worked with in 1982, showing outside air temperature, humidity, barometric pressure, and wind speed and direction.

Working on the Air-Temperature Sensor

This is the sensor that measures the outside air temperature. The annual mean air temperature at the South Pole is –50 degrees Celsius (-58 degrees Fahrenheit). The people at the South Pole generally define two seasons, the summer and the winter.

Summer is the 3 months, typically November through January, when it is warm enough to fly airplanes to the South Pole. During summer the air temperatures are typically between –20 and –40 degrees Celsius (–4 and –40 degrees Fahrenheit).

During the 9 winter months, February through October, airplanes are not able to land at the South Pole because air temperatures are low enough to cause their hydraulic systems to freeze. Typical winter temperatures are between –55 and –75 degrees Celsius (–67 and –103 degrees Fahrenheit).

The lowest air temperature ever recorded at the South Pole station was –82.8 degrees Celsius (–117.0 degrees Fahrenheit) on 23 June 1982. The lowest air temperature every recorded in Antarctica was –89.2 degrees Celsius (–128.6 degrees Fahrenheit) on 21 July 1983, at the Vostok research station run by Russia. This is also the world low-temperature record.

Balloon Launch

One of Glen’s main meteorological jobs was to launch weather balloons to measure vertical temperature, humidity, wind, and pressure profiles for the world weather reporting network. These balloons rise to approximately 32 kilometers (20 miles), and expand to a diameter of 15 meters (50 feet) before they burst and return to the ground.

Campbell-Stokes Sun-Duration Instrument

At the geographic South Pole the sun is going around and around, roughly parallel to the horizon, day after day. During the course of a year there is only one sunset, on March 21, and only one sunrise, on September 23. So, there are 6 months of continual sunlight, followed by 6 months of continual darkness.

These instruments were designed for non-polar applications, so each instrument will only work for 12 hours. At the South Pole, Glen had two of them to cover the 24 hours of continual daylight during the 6 months when the sun was above the horizon.

These are Campbell-Stokes instruments used to measure the time periods when the sun is shining brightly; for example, when there are no clouds. The glass globe focuses the sun’s rays on a paper in the back of the instrument, where it burns a line whenever the sun is shining. At the end of the day the length of the burned lines is converted to the hours of the day that the sun was shining.

Holding Up the World!

In addition to working at their regular jobs, each person took turns holding the world up!

Ice Crystals in the Atmosphere

The majority of the precipitation at the South Pole falls as very small ice crystals. Shown here are the sun and several features caused by ice crystals in the atmosphere: 22-degree halo, parhelia (or sun dogs), upper Parry arc, and parhelic circle.

The South Pole Station

A nice view of the South Pole station and archways. Notice how high the snow drifts are that nearly cover the structures.

The tall orange building is called the Skylab Observatory. This building had a few windows that you could use to look out at the cold surroundings.

Last Flight Before Winter

The last airplane during the summer of 1982 left in early February. This picture shows a good view of the skis on the LC-130 airplane.

The Winter-Over Group

After the airplane took off in February 1982, there were 20 winter-over personnel left at the station, 18 men and 2 women. For the next 9 months their only contact with the outside world would be through ham radio communications and telex messages.

Working as a Mechanic

For the winter, Glen’s job changed from Meteorologist to Mechanic. He is in the orange suit on the right. In this new role he performed many duties required to help keep the station running throughout the winter.

Working Outside in the Cold!

Much of Glen’s work involved being outside for hours at a time, every day. This was very cold and hard work, at temperatures as low as –75 degrees Celsius (–103 degrees Fahrenheit). In these conditions exposed skin can freeze within 30 seconds, so he always stayed completely covered up!

Sunset is Getting Closer

As the winter progressed, the sun got closer and closer to the horizon. Everyone at the station became very concerned about how they would deal with the 6 months of darkness!

The Beginning of 6-Months of Darkness

On about March 21 the sun descended below the horizon. After this they had a couple of weeks of twilight, and then …

No More Sun for 6-Months … DARKNESS!

It was dark. It is hard to imagine not seeing the sun for 6 months. But in reality, they had other sources of light, such as the stars, moon, and the aurora.

Aurora Australis, the Southern Lights

The southern lights, or the aurora australis, are a beautiful sight. These displays are the same as the northern lights, or aurora borealis, but appear in the southern hemisphere. They are formed by the interactions of charged particles, coming from the Sun, with Earth’s magnetic field.

Lights on the Dome

Lights shining on the dome during winter. Also shown is the power plant exhaust stack and plume.

My Room, Before and After

Glen’s bedroom was not very nice at the beginning of winter, but he paneled the walls and built a desk, lamp, and shelves to make his room much more enjoyable during the long winter months. This was a wonderful improvement!

The Station Bread Baker

During the winter, Glen also helped the cook in the kitchen, and became the station bread baker. He usually baked about 24 loaves of bread every Thursday, but one day he awoke at 3:00 am and baked bread until 10:00 pm that night. By the end of the day, he had baked 128 loaves and 16 different varieties of bread!

Because the winter-over personnel had to create their own entertainment, many crazy things like this were done to make life more interesting and enjoyable for the group.

The 300 Club

During each winter-over season, a celebration occurs the first time –73.4 degrees Celsius is reached at the South Pole. This temperature corresponds to –100 degrees Fahrenheit. At this time, the sauna at the South Pole is heated to +200 degrees Fahrenheit, producing a difference of 300 degrees Fahrenheit between the outside and inside air temperatures. This has given rise to what is called “The 300 Club”.

The resulting ritual involves everyone going into the sauna, with their running shoes on, to get as warm as possible. Then they run out of the building, through the dome entrance tunnel, to the frozen outside, around the ceremonial South Pole, and back. This is a run of over 400 meters (1/4 mile)! Remember the picture shown earlier that showed both the ceremonial pole and the dome together.

During this 1982 season, 19 out of the 20 winter-over personnel became members of The 300 Club, leaving one person available to take pictures!

The Winter Solstice

Another unusual activity involved the celebration of the winter solstice, on June 22. It was rumored that during this time, it be would possible to stand a raw egg on its end, and it would stay balanced in that position.

The crew worked very hard to prove this theory, and successfully made several eggs stand upright!

It took a lot of ingenuity to find new and interesting things to do by this time in the winter!

Snow for the Snow-Melter

In addition to searching for different and interesting things to see and do during the winter, there was also a lot of work necessary to maintain life at the South Pole. Here, everyday Glen drove the tractor out of the dome to get snow from the “snow-mine” to dump into the snow-melter for the station water supply.

Measuring Winter Snow Accumulations

Scientific measurements continued throughout the winter months. Here, Glen is helping the winter Meteorologists make snow depth measurements out in the dark of night.

Sunrise, At Last!

And then finally, on about September 23, the sun came above the horizon again. It was a wonderful sight for the 20 people who had not seen it for 6 long months!

Time to Go for a Walk

It was once again possible for those at the station to go for walks outside … not that there was really any place to go. But at least they were not so confined to the buildings under the dome and archways.

Preparing the Runway for Airplanes

One of the important jobs that Glen was in involved with after sunrise was the preparation of the runway for the airplanes to use in early November. To make the snow surface smooth enough to land airplanes, a large chain was pulled between two bulldozers, up and down the runway.

The First Airplane in 9 Months Arrives!

And finally, after being at the South Pole Station for a year, the winter-over crew watched as the first airplane returned to the South Pole, signifying the end of winter and the beginning of summer. You can tell that it is still very cold because of the very large vapor and snow plume behind the airplane.

Our Year at the South Pole is Over

As you can imagine, it was wonderful to see the airplane arrive safely. This airplane brought the winter-over personnel fresh fruit and vegetables, mail, and new people to talk with!

For the next week, the winter-over personnel would train the new workers in their jobs. Then they would leave this amazing South Pole world and go back home to their regular jobs, their friends, and their families.