As the team has been putting the finishing touches on the station’s new annexes, this past week they also got a lift thanks to a new system they installed last season that can help keep the two annexes level.
Adjusting to glacier movement
The station’s new annexes underwent a vertical lift this past week thanks to a new system the BELARE team installed over the last few seasons, which allows the two annexes to be lifted as the glacier beneath them recedes and moves over time.
While the main part of the Princess Elisabeth Antarctica was constructed 2007-09 on a solid and unmoving granite ridge, the two new annexes have been built at a level below the ridge on top of a slowly-moving glacier.
All ice-covered areas in Antarctica are constantly moving by a few centimetres a year. Due to gravity, glaciers and ice streams that are part of the massive ice sheet covering Antarctica slowly flow towards the coasts all the time. The ice is actually not entirely solid, but rather behaves like an incredibly slow-moving stream.
As a consequence, any construction done on top of ice-covered areas in Antarctica (or on top of any ice-covered area in the world for that matter) must take into account the constant movement of this ice, as well as additional snow that gets deposited on top of the ice. Adequate engineering solutions are necessary to compensate for the ice movement.
The system used at the station consists of 13 pistons placed under the 13 beams that support the floor in each of the new annexes from below, as well as a series of hinges fastened to the granite ridge in both annexes that can compensate for vertical movement. The pistons can be raised gradually as the ice moves. Each piston can be raised individually to allow precise adjustments to be made to the level of the annexes.
In anticipation of the average 8 cm retreat the glacier below the annexes experiences between seasons, the BELARE team has raised the annexes slightly above normal for the final weeks of the season. When the team returns in November for the next season, the annexes will not need as much adjustment as they needed at the beginning of this season.
Finishing up the garage
With the walls of the new garage are covered in solar panels installed by engineers Guus and Johan earlier this season, it was decided to put windows in the doors of the garage. This past week the team has been putting the finishing touches on the windows and moving equipment and mechanical parts (temporarily stored in containers outside) in their definitive storage area inside the new building.
Although the garage has been hooked up to the station's smart grid to receive power and can be fully lit, it’s both pleasant and useful to be able to have some natural light in the garage.
With a few more finishing touches, the three-season construction project of the new north and south annexes is finally coming to an end.
Aymar de Lichtervelde, a Belgian process engineer in charge of the water treatment systems at the Princess Elisabeth Antarctica (PEA) Station, recently took part in an international project bringing together amateur musicians from all seven continents of the world in order to raise money to help support COVID-19 relief efforts.
A bold idea
The Intercontinen7al initiative is the brainchild of amateur musician Matt Smith from Columbia, Maryland in the United States. After COVID-19 restrictions made it difficult for him to play with his bandmates in the Baltimore-Washington, DC area band Toast, he started using the BandLab online platform to compose and record songs with fellow local musicians.
Not long after he started this collaboration, he realised the potential for the platform and set his sights on a much larger ambition: record an album with contributions from musicians from all seven continents.
“If I could collaborate online with local musicians using BandLab,” Matt explained. “I thought ‘Why not try it with musicians from all over the world?’”. Matt was inspired by the rock band Foo Fighters and their album Sonic Highways, which includes songs that were recorded in various cities across the United States.
Responding to the call
In hopes of finding someone who could contribute to the Intercontinen7al initiative from Antarctica, Matt contacted the International Polar Foundation in September 2020, two months before the start of the 2020 - 2021 Antarctic research season. Luckily for him, Aymar de Lichtervelde, who was scheduled to go to Antarctica during the 2020-2021 austral summer research season to work on the station’s water production and treatment systems, agreed to take part in the initiative.
An amateur classical guitarist who keeps a guitar at the Princess Elisabeth Antarctica Station, Aymar contributed to the album in his spare time during his scheduled work this season.
"He asked me if I could play the intro to one of the songs he was composing,” Aymar recalled. "He told me the key to play it in: A minor. When I found some time, I recorded the intro on my phone and I sent it to him. Eventually, he was able to integrate my recording into one of the songs on the album.”
Aymar’s recording ended up becoming the introduction to the song "Manor Hill" on the Intercontinen7al album.
A truly international project
Ultimately, Matt managed to get 22 musicians spanning all seven continents to take part in the project, including a drummer working in Antarctica at the French-Italian Concordia Station.
One by one, the musicians recorded their assigned parts, and Matt put everything together into complete songs. In total, he and the other musicians were able to put together 12 songs for the Intercontinen7al album. Each song has contributions from musicians from at least two different continents. The song Aymar contributed to, Manor Hill, features artists from all seven continents.
“We’re looking into whether 'Manor Hill' might be the first-ever recording to feature musicians from all seven continents,” Matt explained. “If we were the first group of musicians to try to do this kind of recording from all seven continents, we might even be recognised by Guinness World Records.”
All for a good cause
Sales from the album will go towards supporting COVID-19 relief efforts. Matt and his team wanted to give any proceeds from the COVID-19 Relief Fund, which provides financial assistance to individuals impacted by the pandemic and organisations coordinating relief efforts.
Anyone can purchase the album on the Intercontinen7al website or listen to it on platforms such as Spotify, Amazon, or iTunes and make a contribution.
Matt Smith was grateful to everyone who contributed to the project and found it extremely rewarding. Connecting people that have never met one another and uniting them for a good cause shows the power of modern technological solutions.
“I never thought in a million years that the project would grow exponentially the way it did,” Matt explained. “I can’t thank Aymar enough for his contribution. This project is a good example of what can be accomplished when we put our heads together for a good cause.”
In a decision handed down on the 5th of January 2021, the Chambre du Conseil of Brussels definitively dismissed all charges of conflict of interest against Alain Hubert and the International Polar Foundation.
The charges were lodged in December 2013 by the former Director of the Belgian Science Policy Office, who challenged the appointment of Alain Hubert as President of the Polar Secretariat, and contested the participation of the International Polar Foundation in the Public-Private Partnership embodied by the Polar Secretariat.
The Court held that neither the Polar Foundation nor Alain Hubert could be considered as having profited personally from these appointments.
In its judgment, the Court upheld the conformity with the law of the partnership agreements signed between the Belgian State and the International Polar Foundation in 2007 and 2009. This finding is in line with the decision of the Council of State (the highest administrative Court in Belgium), handed down in June 2017.
The Court found that due to the various checks and balances exercised by the public administration, Alain Hubert would have at no time been able to promote his private interests as President and member of the Polar Secretariat. At no point was the public interest harmed, and the Court maintained that there is no evidence of a conflict of interest. In reality, the Foundation has carried on with the tasks entrusted to it by the State since 2009, demonstrating the working collaboration between the parties.
The International Polar Foundation and Alain Hubert have welcomed the decision of the Courts, bringing as it does to a close a long period of unfounded attacks on the honesty and integrity of the Foundation.
The Foundation wishes to thank all those in both the private and public sector who have shown their confidence and offered support to the IPF during all these years.
The IPF is a public utility foundation created in 2002 by Alain Hubert in conjunction with renowned academic scientists, with the intention of advancing the cause of polar sciences internationally. The Princess Elisabeth Antarctica Station, the first “zero emission” research station in Antarctica, is a flagship project of the IPF. The reinforcing of the Belgian presence in Antarctica and the support for research that ensued are key objectives of the IPF in promoting sustainable development through showcasing Belgian and European engineering and scientific excellence as well as being at the service of citizens.
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This past week has been quite busy at the Princess Elisabeth Antarctica for the team, with a trip to the coast and the last change of a few of the team members for the season.
A trip to the coast!
Last week, Preben Van Overmeiren from Ghent University travelled to the coast for a few days with BELARE Expedition Leader Alain Hubert and Deputy Station Manager Henri Robert to remove sampling stations for the CHASE project, which is coming to an end this season.
The atmospheric particle samplers, which members of the CHASE project had set up in strategic locations along a 240 km transect from the Antarctic Plateau to the coast, had been taking samples of organic and inorganic particles in the atmosphere for the last three years. The project’s goal has been to track where these particles are coming from, whether they are of natural origin or anthropogenic, and to get a better understanding of atmospheric circulation in the Southern Hemisphere.
As a lot of snow had fallen in the Dronning Maud Land in East Antarctica this past year, the poles supporting the sampling instruments for the CHASE project were buried deep in the snow. It took almost six hours to dig out the supports at several stations and pack them up safely for the trip home.
While at the coast, Alain took a detour to collect containers of waste prepared during the previous season nearby for further evacuation. Depending on the ice conditions, which often makes the loading and offloading of the ship at the coast a tricky operation, they will need to be relocated to be shipped back to South Africa when the next scheduled ship comes to pick them up.
Alain and his mechanics drove a Prinoth tractor with a residential container, while Henri and Preben travelled via modified Toyota Hilux to the coast and camped on-site. Overall, the 200 km trip to the coast took about 14 hours each way, with stops along the way to collect the scientific samples and equipment for the CHASEproject.
Rotating team members
Not long after their return from the coast, it was time to say goodbye to seven members of the expedition who had finished their rotation, including Preben, who was returning home after finishing his tasks for the CHASE project, as well as Guus Luppens and Johan Demuylder, who had done an excellent job of adding to the station’s renewable energy capacity during their stay.
While it was sad to see our friends go, we welcomed veteran cook of 11 seasons at PEA David Rigotti, as well as carpenter / electrician Paul Dudas, who is joining the team for the second season in a row and will help to finish work on the new north annex.
There are no more flights in and out until the last plane of the season, which is scheduled for 16 February. For the next month, the BELARE team plans to concentrate on assisting scientists who are collecting data remotely, preparing the station for the coming winter, and completing the construction work that must be done before the end of the season.
The 2020-2021 season at the Princess Elisabeth Antarctica has been progressing smoothly for the BELARE team, despite the challenges the team has faced due to the COVID-19 situation. After completing 24 days of quarantine near Cape Town before leaving for Antarctica and a weather delay, the BELARE team has overcome a few initial challenges they’ve encountered at the start of the season to have a quieter yet very productive season.
Scientific research projects
The COVID-19 pandemic has made it difficult for a large number of scientists to travel to the station this year. Ultimately only three scientists representing three different scientific research projects spent time at the Princess Elisabeth Antarctica this season, including two Belgian projects, CLIMB and CHASE, and a Swiss project from the EPFL-CRYOS laboratory, From Clouds to Ground: Snow Accumulation in Extreme Environments.
Alexis Merlaud, an atmospheric scientist from the Royal Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy (BIRA-IASB), spent several weeks at the Princess Elisabeth Antarctica installing and maintaining instruments to observe the atmosphere above PEA. With the help of the station team, he installed two instruments to measure atmospheric ozone concentration: a Brewer Spectrophotometer from the Royal Meteorological Institute of Belgium, and a MAX-DOAS instrument from the Royal Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy BIRA-IASB. The data Alexis and his team (working remotely) collected contributes to the global scientific effort to monitor the ozone hole, which was unusually large over Antarctica during the austral spring this year.
During his first ever trip to Antarctica, Armin Sigmund, a PhD student from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL) spent several weeks in Antarctica doing fieldwork for a project the EPFL CRYOS lab calls From Clouds to Ground: Snow Accumulation in Extreme Environment. His objectives were to maintain and upgrade two automatic weather stations, which his colleagues had installed in 2016. These stations have been collecting data ever since. He also took photogrammetry measurement of the area around PEA using a professional mapping drone. The data he and his team are collecting will help determine net snow accumulation to better understand surface mass balance (SMB) of the ice sheet in East Antarctica.
Preben Van Overmeiren from Ghent University spent the longest time in Antarctica before returning to Belgium in mid-January. Working for both the CLIMB and the CHASE project, Preben spent his time in Antarctica collecting samples from devices his colleagues had installed at PEA and along a 250 km transect from the Antarctic Plateau to the coast to collect organic and inorganic atmospheric particles, hoping to learn about atmospheric currents and how much anthropogenic atmospheric pollution ends up in Antarctica. With the CHASE project in its final season, Preben had to collect passive sampling instruments that his colleagues had set up along this transect. For the rest of the expedition, a number of instruments will continue to collect samples with the assistance of IPF staff.
Works around the station
With an entire season to focus on the improvement of the facility, the BELARE team made a lot of progress to finish a number of construction projects at the station.
After its completion in February 2020, the team used a new system of hinges and pistons to adjust the level of the new station’s annexes. These adjustments compensate for the slow-moving glacier upon which they are built. These two new north and south annexes contain 16 comfortable bedrooms that can sleep up to 32 people, a scientific workplace, storage areas, freezers for provisions, a large snow melter for the station’s water production, carpentry and metal workshop, a space for the emergency generators, and a heated garage for large machinery maintenance and repair.
The team also constructed a brand new, well-equipped surgery room. They also improved several modified living containers to give scientists going on extended field campaigns a comfortable place to stay. The station’s mechanics also checked and maintained machinery and vehicles during the first part of this season.
As for the station’s renewable energy production, engineers Guus Luppens and Johan Demuylder increased the station's capacity significantly by installing on the ridge where the station sits a large number of latest-generation, double-sided solar panels, which are able to collect both incident light from the sun and light reflected off of the snow. They also covered the walls of the new north annex in solar panels, which greatly increases power production and the station’s energy resilience during calm weather, when wind turbines are less efficient.
Process engineer Aymar de Lichterverde, who is responsible for the station’s water treatment system and the drinking water mineralisation system, improved the station's water treatment capacity by installing an aeration system that enhances the efficacy of the bacteria used to treat wastewater in the large bioreactor. He also automated the mineralisation process for the station’s drinking water, which, until now, had to be done by hand.
Christmas and New Year's
After several weeks of intensive work, the BELARE team enjoyed celebrating Christmas and New Year’s Eve, despite being a smaller crew than usual, mostly due to COVID-19 restrictions. They even built an eco-friendly Christmas tree out of recycled wood!
For Christmas Eve, the station’s plumber Bernard Polet prepared a traditional three-course meal, and for New Year’s Eve, Expedition Leader Alain Hubert made a festive dinner, including roast duck and a traditional Belgian dish: stuffed tomatoes with shrimps, which was a taste of home for the Belgian crew.
Still much to do
Although the handful of scientists who have been at the station this season have already come and gone, a lot of work remains before the end of the season. The BELARE team will continue to gather and maintain data-collecting equipment for scientists making remote observations. Other tasks they must do include installing windows on the north annex’s wall and finishing all the partitions and insulation between the different workshops, storage areas, and the garage.
Later in February, the team will spend time to prepare the station for overwintering. They will drain all the water systems, store machines and containers in a place where snow accumulation is minimal, and last but not least, programme electronic modes for the autonomous functioning of the station while it is uninhabited for the next nine months.
Aymar de Lichtervelde, a process engineer who is in charge of the water treatment system of the Princess Elisabeth Antarctica (PEA) Research Station, spent 21 days in Antarctica with the BELARE team during the 2020 - 2021 season.
While only in Antarctica a short time, he was able to make a lot of progress in his continuing mission to improve the water production and treatment systems at the station.
What were your primary objectives at the Princess Elisabeth this year? Did you manage to accomplish them?
Due to a weather delay keeping us from arriving in Antarctica on schedule, it was not possible to do everything I had planned, but I was able to complete all of the essential tasks I needed to accomplish.
Firstly, we had to do maintenance and repair work on the station’s water treatment system. After more than ten years of operation, some sensors had started to malfunction or break down from natural wear and tear, and needed to be replaced.
The next most important order of business was further automating both the drinking water production and wastewater treatment systems.
For the drinking water, we installed an automatic mineralisation system. During previous seasons, minerals had to be added by hand. We add essential minerals such as calcium and magnesium to the drinking water to make it healthy drinking water, like we have back home. The water we obtain from melting the Antarctic snow is too pure to drink. If you drink water without minerals, it can keep your body from getting the nutrients it needs and create health problems.
As for the bioreactor, which treats the station’s wastewater, we had planned to do some work to further improve its aeration system. Although we faced strict space constraints at the station, the system we designed works very well. I have already noticed an improvement in the water treatment process compared to the previous season.
However, starting up the bioreactor is the one thing that is still difficult to automate, and one of the reasons why my return to Princess Elisabeth Antarctica was necessary. When starting up the system, someone must do chemical analyses in the lab to assess the viability and activity of the bacteria we use to treat the wastewater.
Why was it necessary to improve the aeration of the station’s bioreactor?
Managing wastewater at a polar research station is a challenge. The wastewater treatment system at PEA was originally designed over a decade ago to handle only about 15 people staying at the station.
But over the years, more and more people have been staying at the station at a time. So eventually it became necessary to find a way to increase the capacity of the water treatment system while respecting the space constraints we had at the station.
During last season, we learned that the oxygenation of the bioreactor could be a major bottleneck in the overall treatment process. Hence, improving aeration was thought to be an effective way to improve the system’s overall performance. More oxygen means the bacteria that treat the wastewater can do their job more effectively.
Before leaving for Antarctica, we built and tested a prototype of an external aeration column, based on the airlift principle. This was very useful as it allowed us to carefully select and pre-assemble the materials to bring to Antarctica, saving us time on-site.
Thanks to the help of the station’s two plumbers, Bernard Polet and Paul Herman, we were able to get the job done. I am really grateful for their technical support, which was a key ingredient in this mission’s success. We ended up installing the aeration column with a static mixer inside to efficiently mix air and water without taking up too much extra space in the core of the station, which is densely packed with the station’s systems.
Did you do anything besides work on the water treatment system while you were at PEA?
The Antarctic air is very dry. Any water quickly evaporates, which allows aerosols to disperse more easily in the air. Consequently, particles from coughing, sneezing, and even speaking can linger in the air for quite a long time, which can favour airborne virus transmission indoors.
Although we went through a very strict quarantine and submitted to several tests prior to leaving for Antarctica, as an extra preventive measure against COVID-19, we installed air purifiers that monitor the indoor air quality and filter fine particles and aerosols inside the station.
The system we installed is also very energy efficient, which is in line with the environmentally-friendly concept of the Princess Elisabeth Antarctica.
Will you be heading back to the PEA Station next season?
At this point, I cannot give a clear answer. There are still decisions to be taken that will happen at the end of the 2020-2021 season vis-à-vis current projects. If any additional work is required, I will probably be asked to go on-site to carry out more work.
This year was my shortest mission of the three seasons I have been to the Princess Elisabeth Antarctica so far. It was especially challenging this season, not only because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but because unfavourable weather postponed our departure by nine days. My time at the station ended up being reduced by a third, which is significant. It tightened our planning and required us to prioritise our objectives this season.
While I was a bit frustrated to have to leave the station with a few tasks remaining on my to-do list, I was able to hand over water treatment operations to the station’s two plumbers, Bernard and Paul, who are certainly the most experienced and polyvalent technicians in their field.
The most important objective of my mission was to leave the water treatment system in such a way that it can be operated without requiring an engineer to stay on-site each season, and this is an objective we reached. We want to reduce to a strict minimum the number of engineers and technical crew needed at the Princess Elisabeth Antarctica each season, although, as an evolving prototype of sustainable living and a technical showcase, the presence of engineers will be required from time to time at the station.
What have you been doing since your return to Belgium?
Since my return, I have been monitoring and supporting operations remotely from Belgium. Bernard has been able to operate the water treatment system on his own in addition to other jobs he has at the station such as operating the snow melter, fixing any plumbing issues, performing general maintenance tasks, doing the laundry, etc. Being able to manage the water treatment system on his own was something he had wanted to do for a while, so now he has the chance to do it.
As my presence was not required for as long compared with previous seasons, I was able to come back to Belgium in time to celebrate Christmas with my family for the first time in three years. This was very important for me.
Armin Sigmund is a PhD student conducting research at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL). During the 2020-2021 research season, Armin travelled to Antarctica to help maintain and upgrade several instruments for a long-term project EPFL is managing in the vicinity of the Princess Elisabeth Antarctica Station. Upon his return to Europe, he recounted the highlights of his first journey to Antarctica.
First impressions
My trip to Princess Elisabeth Antarctica Station was my first experience travelling to the Polar Regions.
Almost six hours after leaving the warmth of South Africa aboard a cargo plane, we arrived in the cold climes of Antarctica at the Russian Novolazarevskaya (Novo) Station at the coast of the Dronning Maud Land in East Antarctica. Here we were to await our connecting flight to the Princess Elisabeth.
My first impressions of the White Continent were exciting. The weather was clear and sunny. A strong, cold wind buffeted our faces. Drifting snow moved rapidly in a shallow layer above the surface of the snow and ice.
I was particularly happy to witness this last phenomenon because it was part of the reason why I came to Antarctica: to better understand how snow transport via the wind influences the surface mass balance of the Antarctic ice sheet - which, in turn, can have an important effect on sea level rise.
My colleagues at EPFL run simulations for the entire Antarctic ice sheet to quantify all processes that add mass to it (mainly snowfall) or remove mass from its surface (for example, snow sublimation and wind erosion). However, we need in-situ measurements to validate and improve our simulations, and taking these measurements is why my mission took me to Antarctica.
Discovering life in Antarctica
While the majority of the expedition team continued their journey to the Princess Elisabeth Antarctica Station on a Basler plane, I had to stay behind with a small group at Novo Station to wait for the Basler to come back to collect the rest of us. Unfortunately we had to wait. The second connecting flight for the BELARE team was postponed due to bad weather conditions.
The staff at Novo Station was welcoming. They offered us good food and a warm place to get some rest. As there is no sunset in this part of Antarctica in late November, the "nighttime hours" felt more like daytime. Nevertheless, I quickly fell asleep because I was tired after a long day of travelling and new impressions of Antarctica to absorb.
After two days at Novo, sunny weather allowed us to fly to our final destination: Princess Elisabeth Antarctica. It was fascinating to look out of the plane window during that journey to see a flat and endless snow surface with patches of ice below us, dotted occasionally with awe-inspiring mountains and crevasses.
After a smooth landing at Princess Elisabeth Antarctica, we were welcomed with a delicious meal.
The station offered everything that anyone would need: A nice and comfortable dining and living room, fresh and delicious food prepared daily, several corners with desks to work, enough bedrooms to accommodate us, and some space in the workshop for organising our scientific equipment.
Staring my mission
During the first few days of my three-week stay, the weather was perfect for field work. It was sunny with light winds and temperatures around -10 °C. I quickly realised that the UV radiation can be intense in Antarctica, especially during the exceptional austral spring of 2020. The use of sun screen was very important to avoid a bad burn.
The focus of my work was to maintain and upgrade two automatic measurement stations, which my colleagues installed in 2016 and have been collecting data ever since. The goal of our research is to obtain year-round measurements of the net accumulation of snow and individual processes such as snow transport and sublimation.
One of the automatic measurement stations is located only a few kilometres from the Princess Elisabeth Antarctica, while the other station is located at a colder and windier location about 40 kilometres away on the Antarctic Plateau. It was an adventure to visit this remote station by skidoo, especially the first time I went out there.
To reach the more distant station, we travelled through the nearby Sør Rondane Mountains, which are home to many fantastic landscapes. It was a special experience seeing all of this scenery at the "end of the world".
When we arrived, we had to lift the measurement station because approximately half a metre of snow had accumulated since the previous year. I was glad that the members of the BELARE team who accompanied me were there to provide very good help with digging into the snow, lifting the measurement station, and replacing the station’s batteries and solar panel.
After a long day in the field, it was always great to return to the warm and comfortable Princess Elisabeth Antartica.
Facing challenges
During the second week of my stay, the winds were much stronger, creating quite a lot of drifting and blowing snow. We had to wait for better weather before we could continue the work at the distant measurement station 40 kilometres away.
But my time was not wasted. I had enough to do in the vicinity of the Princess Elisabeth, including relocating the nearby measurement station, installing additional instruments on it, improving the power supply system, and regularly sampling surface snow to study stable water isotopes.
Luckily, the wind calmed and the sun returned during the third week of my stay. After a week of howling winds, I was more conscious of the fact that it was completely quiet in this part of Antartica when the wind was calm. The only noise I heard came from human activity at the station.
With the weather on our side, we were able to visit the distant measurement station to replace its wind generator and a broken fuse. Unfortunately, an unexpected electrical issue kept me occupied most of the day, so in the evening, we had to return to the Princess Elisabeth without having solved the problem completely.
I discussed the problem with a few members of the BELARE team, and I received valuable advice about what to do. The following day when I returned to the distant measurement station, I was able to solve the problem by connecting a wire differently. I was relieved. Now, all the instruments were powered up and working!
Wrapping up
I spent the final days of my time in Antarctica taking advantage of the nice weather. I took photogrammetry measurements of the area using a professional mapping drone. These measurements allow us to determine short-term and long-term changes in surface elevation over a large area.
Overall, my trip was a wonderful and unique experience. I am thankful for the excellent support from the expedition team!
With most parts of the world experiencing some sort of lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, New Year’s celebrations have been, for the most part, relatively small and rather calm affairs. With only 15 people at the Princess Elisabeth Antarctica, New Year’s was small compared to previous years. Yet the crew still was able to have a festive evening.
As there is currently no designated cook at the station until the next crew rotation, the crew is taking turns cooking for everyone each day. On New Year’s Eve, Expedition Leader Alain Hubert was in charge of making dinner.
As a starter, he prepared a traditional Belgian dish of tomatoes stuffed with shrimps, which was a nice taste of home for the Belgian crew. The main dish was composed of duck legs cooked in the oven accompanied by potatoes and fruit salad with berries, with tiramisu for dessert.
Later in the evening, everyone stayed up chatting with one another cheerfully in the living room of the station until midnight came.
Enjoying some time off
After weeks of work insulating the new garage, renewing the floor of the station near its entrance, upgrading the Toyota Hiluxes the team uses to transport material, and installing new double-sided solar panels for the station on ridge next to the station, it was nice to be able to have a few days off to relax or work on a few side projects.
Alain and a number of team members headed to the former Japanese Asuka Station site, which has been abandoned since the 1990s. Located 60 km towards the east, it was a great opportunity to test out the upgrades the mechanics had made to the Toyota Hiluxes for driving on rough terrain. While there, they collected some fuel drums that a previous BELARE expedition had left there in case of need.
Others took advantage of the time off to enjoy their surroundings, taking a guided hike along the nunatak in the vicinity.
Now everyone is back to work and ready to finish off what needs to be done for the 2020-2021 season!
Christmas 2020 has already come and gone at the Princess Elisabeth Antarctica.
With a smaller number of people at the station this year due to the pandemic, the traditional three-course Christmas Dinner, prepared by the station’s cook, did not include as many participants as it has in recent years.
This didn’t stop the BELARE team from getting into the Christmas spirit, however. The team managed to fashion an eco-friendly Christmas tree out of recycled wood, which now decorates the station’s living room.
Maintenance and improvement
The team has had a full workload undertaking maintenance projects around the station over the last several weeks.
One of the first orders of business this season was to adjust the station’s annexes, which sit atop a slow-moving glacier. Thanks to a new system of pistons and hinges the team installed last year underneath the newly rebuilt garage, the entire structure of the building can be adjusted and leveled to compensate for the glacier’s flow.
Meanwhile, the team added finishing touches to the rebuilt garage, including insulation and a snow-tight door to the outside. They also added stainless steel plates to cover the garage and the new annexes of the station.
Engineers Guus Luppens and Johan Demuylder, added additional solar panels on the new building’s façade, which increases renewable energy production by 10%.
In addition to the usual mechanical maintenance the crew is required to do on all of the vehicles used at PEA, it was also necessary to clear blocks of ice and some stones from the crevasse underneath the station (where clean, fully treated wastewater is dumped after use) and re-channel it so it can now flow unhindered.
Looking forward to a new year
As the first part of the season draws to a close, the team has a lot to look back on and be proud of. Everyone will get a much-deserved two-day break around New Year’s as they look forward to 2021.
The first week of the new year will bring more interesting adventures, as a field expedition for the CHASE project is scheduled to depart.
It’s amazing how time flies when you are in Antarctica, away from the pandemic crisis, and focusing on the mission. The BELARE team has been at the Princess Elisabeth Antarctica for three weeks now, and we’ve already seen the first team members and scientists leave.
On Wednesday 16 December, we said goodbye to Alexis Merlaud, from the Royal Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy (BIRA-IASB), and Armin Sigmund from the École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), who accomplished their task of installing weather stations and a number of instruments to monitor atmospheric parameters and the ozone layer thickness in this part of Antarctica.
Until the next flight scheduled mid-January, only one scientist, Preben Van Overmeiren from Ghent University (UGent), will remain at the station to continue to study the origin of organic and inorganic particles transported in the atmosphere all the way from Africa and South America to Antarctica.
The departing crew included engineer Benoit Verdin, who installed and maintained scientific equipment, most of which continuously gathers data year-round. He also performed maintenance and worked on improving the station’s communication system.
Also leaving was engineer Aymar de Lichetvelde, who started up and improved the water treatment systems at the station - a delicate process involving several tanks, filters and a bioreactor. The season's first cook Thomas Duconseille, the season’s first doctor Martin Leitl and Station Manager Nighat Johnson-Amin also left.
After spending a one-night layover at Novo Station, they departed Antarctica on a flight back to Cape Town the following day. Two days later, they’ll be home in time for Christmas.
Fresh Faces
The plane that brought out the departing team members also arrived with some fresh faces who will be working at the station for the next part of the season.
Engineers Guus Luppens and Johan Demuylder will be working on maintaining and improving the station’s sustainable energy production systems, wich funcion on wind and solar power. In their spare time, they’ll also continue to create solar-powered devices to help give scientists renewable energy sources to run mobile living quarters used during field expeditions and to power their equipment in the field.
Also newly arrived is the station's Chief Doctor and mountain guide, Jacques Richon. This year will be his 10th Antarctic campaign at the PEA Station.
