Scientists and Venturi Arrive
December 9th saw the arrival of the first teams of scientists conducting resaerch this season as well as a team from Monegasque electric vehicle company Venturi, which tested for the first time the Venturi Antarctica, the first fully electric polar exploration vehicle with caterpillar tracks designed to be used to assist polar science. It's been an exciting time!
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The first team of scientists along with a team from Monegasque electric vehicle manufacturer Venturi board the plane for Antarctica at Cape Town International Airport.
© International Polar Foundation
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The trip to Antarctica on the Ilyushin is not luxurious, but we do our best to pass the time during the six-hour flight.
© International Polar Foundation
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Meanwhile in Antarctica, the team at the PEA station prepares to meet the scientists and team from Venturi arriving at Perseus Airstrip, located 60 km north of PEA. They are preparing the airstrip for the Ilyushin's landing and will transport the scientists and their equipment to PEA soon after they land.
© International Polar Foundation
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As the Prinoth tractors can only go about 15 km an hour, the trip between PEA and Perseus Airstrip takes about four hours.
© International Polar Foundation
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Happy to be back in Antarctica to continue work on their research project, the MASS2ANT team from the Glaciology Laboratory at the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) pose in front of the Princess Elisabeth Antarctica.
© International Polar Foundation
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All scientists must do a mandatory two-day field training course before heading out into the field. In the meantime, the IPF team at PEA begin to prepare living containers and renewable energy power supply units for the scientists heading out into the field for long periods of time.
© International Polar Foundation
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Knowing how to rescue someone who falls into a crevasse is essential when working in the field in Antarctica. Crevasses are everywhere on the ice sheet. Snow cover can make them hard to detect, even by those with years of experience working in the field. In this photo, Christophe demonstrates how to hoist a stretcher carrying an injured person to the top of a crevasse.
© International Polar Foundation
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Station Doctor Barbara and Field Guide Martin hoist a simulated injured person out of the crevasse on a stretcher. The emergency medical field training they learn during the two-day mandatory course can save lives in an emergency situation.
© International Polar Foundation
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The Venturi Antarctica, the world's first fully electric polar exploration vehicle with caterpillar tracks, supported the field training exercises for the newly arrived scientists.
© International Polar Foundation / Venturi
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The Venturi Antarctica also supported the scientists from the CLIMB project on their expedition to the Antarctic Plateau through the Gunnestadtbreen (Gunnestadt Glacier), where the research project had installed atmospheric particle samplers during the previous BELARE expedition.
© International Polar Foundation / Venturi
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Now with an electric vehicle, scientists based at PEA can further reduce their carbon footprint when they conduct their field research.
© International Polar Foundation / Venturi
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Preben Van Overmeiren (CLIMB project) and the AWS team (Autonomous Weather Station), Dereck Houtz and Simon Steffen are getting assistance from the IPF team to raise scientific equipment collecting meteorological data after lots of snow accumulated during the recent winter.
© International Polar Foundation
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The Venturi Antarctica passes by the entrance to the Princess Elisabeth Antarctica.
© International Polar Foundation / Venturi
