Science at the South Pole

Ok, I have to admit that I got the following short pieces describing the different science project here at the South Pole from the South Pole intranet. They describe in short what experiments go on here, and they do a much better job than I could possibly do...

The area around the South Pole is divided in four main sectors for scientific reasons: the Quiet Sector, the Clean Air Sector, the Dark Sector and the Downwind Sector.

Quiet Sector: "Seismology (measurement of earthquakes anywhere on Earth) and radio detection experiments take place in the Quiet Sector, where radio emissions and vibrations created by people at the Pole are kept to a minimum. The Quiet Sector is grid-southeast of the station.
Because the Pole is at the spin axis of the Earth, it is uniquely situated to measure global seismography and long-period oscillations of the Earth. There are no earthquakes in the area and very few seismic monitoring sites anywhere in the Southern Hemisphere."

Clean Air Sector: "The Clean Air Sector is located grid-northeast of the station. The Atmospheric Research Observatory (ARO) is located within the Clean Air Sector and houses climate research and aeronomy projects. Because winds persistently blow toward the South Pole from this direction, the air has been virtually untouched by biota or pollution for thousands of miles - it is some of the cleanest air on Earth." - That's where I sit right now, and where I do the Dobson measurements every day.

That's the Clean Air Sector. I took the photo from the roof of ARO. You can see that there is absolutely nothing as far as you can see. The only people allowed in that sector are the people working at ARO. And then only if they have to take air samples.

Dark Sector: "The Dark Sector is grid-northwest of the station. This sector is maintained with minimal interference from extraneous sources of light and other electromagnetic radiation. Microwave, infrared, and high-energy neutrino telescopes are located within the Dark Sector, as are the Martin A. Pomerantz Observatory (MAPO), which serves as headquarters for many Dark Sector projects, and the Astronomical Submillimeter Telescope/Remote Observatory (AST/RO)."

These are the telescopes of the Dark Sector. The one to the right (with the silver antenna) has a diameter of about 10 meters.

Downwind Sector: The Downwind Sector is located grid-southwest of the stations. It provides an area for balloon launches, aircraft operations, and other “downwind” activities. That's where the runway for the planes is and where the planes arrive.