Wednesday 22 February 2006
Neumayer Station
Yesterday I was lucky enough to get a flight to Neumayer Station, another Antarctic base run by the Germans which is around 800km from Halley. Apart from the Argentinian Belgrano base, Neumayer is the closest wintering base to us and we regularly cooperate with them as part of the Dronning Maud Land Air Network.
Map showing the extent of the Dronning Maud Land Air Network and the locations of Halley and Neumayer. Click for a full-sized version.
Because Antarctic is so huge and so sparsely populated no single nation has enough facilities to support air operations over such a large area. By collaborating, any of the member nations can stop to refuel at a number of bases in the area. As part of the deal we regularly get visits from the German Dorniers and a commercially operated Basler DC-3 and in exchange some of our staff are flown in from South Africa via Novo and Neumayer, giving us more flexibility in when staff can arrive at and leave Halley.
Yesterday the Germans had a small but important item of cargo which needed to be shipped out of Antarctica this season, and since their last plane had already departed they asked us to pick it up and deliver it to Rothera where it would be collected by their logistics ship. Because the cargo was small there was plenty of space on the plane so a few of us were able to tag along and get a rare chance to see another Antarctic base.
The view of Neumayer from the surface. The two wooden boxes are shafts which provide access to the base below. The dome contains a satellite dish which provides their communications and internet access. Out of shot to the left of this picture is the entrance to the garage and their wind generator.
As their winter had already started there were only nine people on base when we arrived and I think they were a bit overwhelmed when six of us stepped off the plane (they were only expecting a couple of visitors!). Despite the additional numbers they were extremely friendly and welcoming. They gave us an extensive tour of the building, a fantastic lunch and a load of traditional German beer and spirits!
A Piston Bully. The Germans use these vehicles instead of sno-cats and bulldozers - to move snow and transport passengers.
It was really intriguing to get a look at another antarctic base and compare it to Halley. Halley V was actually designed by a German company so much of the utilities (such as the air handling units, engine control boards and other technical facilities) were identical, giving the place a strange air of familiarity. On the other hand a huge number of things were very different, from the design of the building to their way of life.
The biggest difference between Halley V and Neumayer is the method of handling snow accumulation. While we built our base on the surface on jackable legs, they designed their base to be buried, using steel Armco tubing to protect the interior from being crushed by the ice (essentially the same design as some of the earlier Halley stations). Although this has some disadvantages (such as the lack of windows) I couldn't help but be impressed by the overall design and the way they ran things. The base was in great condition, and there was a lot more space generally than we have at Halley. It was also very compact on the surface, and the underground garage would make the vehicle mechanics job much easier than at Halley, where he is constantly fighting to stop vehicles getting clogged up with snow and buried. Although it's a cliché, I've got to admit that the whole setup was incredibly efficient!
Left: The entrance to the garage is a steep slope, covered by a huge hydraulic door so it can be closed during the winter. To prevent the hatch from being covered by snow the whole roof is lifted and raised each year. Right: A large underground cavern contains the bases supply of fuel, with extra tanks on the surface containing futher supplies. When the roof sags under the weight of the ice they cut it back with chainsaws.
Another thing that was clear was that the base seemed much more geared towards work than Halley. Recreational space was limited to just one combined living/dining room, which looked like it would be rather small during the busy summer (this was perhaps offset by the larger bedrooms). The summer accommodation was separate from the main building, with basic sleeping in huts on the surface - if the summerers wanted a shower or even a toilet visit they had to head underground into the main building.
The Neumayer Dining Room. 40 people have to be fed in here during the summer.
The wintering team of nine is significantly smaller than the 16 we have at Halley, and the saving seems to have been made by making them all work twice as hard! Their meteorologist works from 8am until 12pm, 7 days a week, completing 3 hourly observations, daily balloon launches and ozone observations on their own. By contrast we have three winterers here to do the same job! Everyone worked 7 days a week to some extent, and rather than having a day off work to clean the place they do that on top of their regular daily workload.
This large wind generator provides up to 20kW of power to the station, to suppliment the power produced by the generators.
Another member missing from their team is the field assistant, which means no winter trips, a real loss in my opinion. On the plus side (for them) their wages are way higher than ours and they have a free and basically unlimited supply of booze (I'm not sure this system would work on a British base!).
We stayed for about three and a half hours in the end and when we finally headed for the plane (remembering to pick up the all important cargo!) we were secretly hoping that the weather at Halley had deteriorated and we would have to stay the night (I'm sure their chef was thinking the opposite).
Like Halley, Neumayer has a few molting Adelie penguins, a couple of which waddled over to see what was going on just as we were leaving.
A group photo of us with some of the Neumayer winterers at their signpost. Only 798km to Halley.
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