The 30 meter tower

Beside the ARO building there is a 30 meter tower where several meteorological instruments are located, either 2 meter, 10 meter or 30 meter above ground.Yesterday afternoon I mentioned to one of my colleagues that I think you would have an excellent view from up there, and he agreed. And offered that I could go up there if I wanted to.

So this morning I did it. The weather was not suitable for Dobson measurements, so I had some time at my disposal. My colleague came with me, and we climbed up many, many narrow stairs with lots of space to look down and out at the side. All the way to the top. Being up there, totally exposed, was pretty scary at the beginning, and I was super careful when I took my camera out of my bag. Didn't want to drop it 30 meters down! But although the weather was not the best, the view from up there was just incredible. You can see the whole station setup, and that there is really, really nothing else around.

 So this is the view. You can see the station, the summer camp behind the station, all kinds of storage containers behind the station, and our foot path leading to ARO. If you look really closely you can see the Ceremonial Pole to the right of the station, and the Geographic Pole right in front of the silvery entrance building on the left side of the station. And of course you can see the halo around the sun. And that there is not much more than the station...

 Here is the proof that I actually did climb all the way up to the top of the tower. And that I did not just send my camera up with my colleague.

This is a close-up of the summer camp. The blue half-round structures are accommodation buildings for people who cannot be put in the main station because of limited space. They are called hypertats. Behind those you can see all kinds of wooden storage containers. And the big building in front (slightly to the right) is where the balloon filling facility is located.