The United States South Pole Station is located at
the Geophysical South Pole, on the Antarctic Plateau at 9,300 feet
(2835m). The equivalent pressure elevation, based on polar atmospheric
conditions, will vary from 11,000-13,000 feet (3,300 to 4,000m), and the
station rests on a moving sheet of ice almost 2 miles (3,000m) thick of
ice. The recorded low temperature during the winter is -117 F, without
wind chill, with an average temperature of -49.8C/-57.6F. South Pole
Station has over 4 months of continuous sunshine, followed by 2 months of
day and night, and then over 4 months of continuous darkness.
All
material and personnel must be flown in during the Austral Summer season,
with station personnel being isolated for over 8 months out of the year.
The isolated personnel dine on frozen food stores that are flown in during
the summer, and stockpiled. The one component of their diet that is not
supplied, is the fresh salad crops, which are not able to be dried or
frozen, and don’t have a long storage life. Since 1992, South Pole has had
a volunteer operated growth chamber, to produce some salad crops, to
supplement their diets. With the advent of the New South Pole Station, the
National Science Foundation wanted a state-of-the-art growth chamber to be
included in their new station.
The University of Arizona’s
Controlled Environment Agriculture Center was selected to produce this
state-of-the-art growth chamber. Subcontracting to this effort was Sadler
Machine Company, who was responsible for the original South Pole growth
chamber, and who designed and fabricated the mechanical components for
this chamber. The Chamber was completed and delivered to South Pole
Station in February, 2004, and currently be assembled by the
NSF’s civilian support contractor, Raytheon Polar
Services Company. |
.gif){kind=small}
.gif){kind=small}
.gif){kind=small}