Weather Permitting
All Antarctic activities are subjected to the law of the elements. This is even truer this season than during the previous ones. Besides the poor weather conditions we had upon…
News from Antarctica
Interested in what's happening down at Princess Elisabeth? News from the field are posted here regularily to keep you updated about what's going on.
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Storm Warning in Utsteinen
Hardly had we returned from the BELISSIMA expedition, that the weather changed unexpectedly. Tuesday evening, the bright blue sky turned into a gray horizon in less than four hours. An…
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Taking Ocean Depth Measurements for BELISSIMA Project
Between 2 and 8 December 2011 a small team led by Alain Hubert and Dr. Katherine Leonard completed the first survey of Southern Ocean properties near the Roi Baudoin ice shelf.
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Stormy Weather Loads the Batteries
This week, the team is busy finishing everything that can be done before the ship reaches the coast, probably around Christmas. This includes all the station interior work and the…
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Sea Water Measurements at the Coast
Last week, a small team led by Alain Hubert guided BELISSIMA scientist Katherine Leonard to the coast. The trip went well, and upon reaching the coast, the team quickly set…
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Educational Project at Princess Elisabeth Station
Taking a break from their busy schedule, Expedition Leader Alain Hubert and Expedition Engineer Erik Verhagen took some time to talk to the winners of the Polar Quest contest.
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A Successful Trip to the Coast
At 10 o'clock on Thurday morning, a team led by Alain Hubert left Utsteinen to set up the first base camp of the BELISSIMA project at the coast, some 200km north…
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Straight Through the White-Out
Our first Mission this year was to drive the Japanese to their first base camp, 76km away from the station. What should have been a simple task turned into quite…
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Fresh Water for Everyone
After landing in Utsteinen, the team took three days to free the snow melter, a crucial unit. Talking with Jacob Bossaer, a chemical engineer and a new member to the…
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Bad Weather, Good Spirits
This year, the BELARE team's not lucky with the weather. They were hardly done with the 850 tons of accumulated snow, when a furious storm unleashed. While these storms usually last…