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Antarctica Communications - Antarctic
Blogs
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Live Antarctic
Blogs
Please let us know if there are others that you
think should be added here - either live or archive
email
Archive Antarctic Blogs
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Simon
Coggins, Halley UK, 2003 - 2006 Data manager -
*
Star Blog |
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Sea Shepherd, at sea with whales and the Japanese whaling fleet 2005
- 2006 - Farley Mowat crew |
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Luke, McMurdo
USA, 2003 - 2006 |
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Guillaume Dargaud, Concordia France, 2004 - 2005
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Dave
Evans, Halley UK - Meteorologist - summer 2007/08 |
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Alex Gough,
Halley UK, 2005 - 2008 - Data manager |
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Gillian
Hadley, McMurdo USA, 2002 - 2004 - Seal researcher |
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Julius, Halley
UK, 2006 - Electronic Field Engineer. |
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Rhian
Salmon Halley UK, 2002 - 2005 the first BAS blogger? |
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Frances, Halley
UK, 2005 - Meteorologist. |
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Dave, Halley
UK, 2005 - 2007 - Communications Manager. |
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Charles Redell,
McMurdo USA, Oct 2006 - materials person
in the kitchen summer-only. |
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Antarctic
Monkey - Rothera UK, 2005 - Technician. |
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Anthony Brennan,
Halley UK, 2005 - Vehicle Mechanic. |
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Michael - Rothera UK - Antarctic Peninsula, 2005 |
Who was the first
Antarctic blogger? -
email with link if you have
a claimant
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South Pole Station Operations Center
(SOC). Personnel handle high-frequency radio calls with aircraft,
local radio communications, and fire alarms. Photograph by: Peter Rejcek
- National Science Foundation - Dec 2005.
Communications equipment at Amundsen-Scott
South Pole Station. The white sphere is the MARISAT GOES Terminal
(SPMGT) satellite communications antenna platform. Behind it to the
left is the Radio Frequency (RF) Building. Photograph by: Scot Jackson
- National Science Foundation - October 27, 2005.
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Communications have probably changed
the experience of being in Antarctica more than any other single factor.
In the earliest days, there was no radio
even, so ships and their crews would not be heard of for literally months
on end, even a year or more, until it returned to port or came across
another ship during its voyage.
Later radio was invented, but communications
were rather "official" being about the work of the base or ship rather
than personal communications. The radio communications themselves would
be at a pre-arranged "sched" (scheduled) time and would be via a land
station bordering Antarctica. This situation lasted for several decades
into the late 20th century.
The next major step forwards was with
the advent of telex communications when the base personnel were given
a monthly allowance of around 100 words or so to be sent in either direction
to a pre-named contact person. Aside from this communications of a personal
nature between Antarctic personnel and the rest of the world was by
letter which went in each direction from one to three times a year depending
on how deep in Antarctica the base was.
Later by the 1980's, satellite communications
arrived along with fax machines which speeded things up and also increased
the amount of traffic.
Personnel now had 200 words and more
per month in each direction and the possibility of making telephone
calls (at exorbitant cost! - paid by the individual)
With the advent of the internet and broadband,
the outside world is now available via your keyboard and monitor screen
almost on demand (satellite position and weather conditions allowing).
So in the last 100 years, base personnel
have gone from being able to only write letters 1-3 times a year to
being able to email and post their thoughts, news and pictures on websites
and blogs on a daily basis.
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There's even a whole bunch of
webcams:
Australian -
Casey |
Davis |
Mawson |
Macquarie Island
Podcasts and other audio files
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Author: College of William and
Mary
Date: Jan 10, 2006
Via Antarctica is a video and audio podcast delivered from the
Antarctic by Cindy Van Dover, associate professor of biology at the
College of William and Mary. She and fellow scientists, assisted by
student researchers, crossed the Drake Passage to Anvers Island on a
five-week research cruise led by Hugh Ducklow, professor of marine biology
at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS). The team travelled
to the Antarctic Peninsula to explore the ecological systems of the
region - video.
6 part podcast
here
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Author: Colgate University
Date: Feb 28, 2006
Colgate geology professor Amy Leventer talks about her expeditions
to Antarctica to study climate change in the latest episode of Colgate
Conversations, a series of podcast interviews with members of the campus
community. In spring, Leventer and others made another scientific discovery.
They found a vast ecosystem on the floor of the ocean beneath what used
to be the Larsen B Ice Shelf, which collapsed and splintered in 2002.
The Larsen B Ice Shelf is one of the settings depicted in the film The
Day After Tomorrow, and Leventer talks about her trips there during
the podcast interview.
Click here to listen now
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Please let us know if there are others that you
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email
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