international
polar
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Alexis Merlaud is an atmospheric scientist from the Royal Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy (BIRA-IASB). He is currently part of the 2020-2021 BELARE expedition, installing instruments dedicated to observing the atmosphere above Princess Elisabeth Antarctica

The BELARE team arrives at Novo Station, where they must wait for a connecting flight on a Basler to reach the Princess Elisabeth Antarctica

The team arriving at the Princess Elisabeth Antarctica research station to start BELARE 2020-21.

The BELARE team had to clear a flat 120 x 120 metre space in front of the station to place equipment.

The Princess Elisabeth Antarctica station looks majestic atop Utsteinen Nunatak now that it is up and running at hte start of the 2020-21 season!

A lot of snow accumulated behind the station’s annex during the austral winter. The team had to spend several days removing the snow around the building. In this photo, a special cavity had to be dug to access the space where the foundation of the annex is located, as maintenance to adjust the station's foundation (using a convenient system that was put in place last season) was necessary.

The BELARE Team poses for a photo in Cape Town prior to departure for Antarctica. The entire team quarantined in Cape Town and took three COVID tests over a period of three weeks - all of which came back negative - before embarking on the flight to Antarctica.

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