Utsteinen Ridge Chosen for Princess Elisabeth Station - Copyright: International Polar Foundation - © International Polar Foundation

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How was Utsteinen chosen for the implantation of the Station?

Professor Frank Pattyn participated in two BELARE expeditions (2004 and 2005) to help position the Princess Elisabeth Station in Antarctica. He also helped collecting and analyzing the necessary meteorological data which was determinant in choosing the Utsteinen site.

An interview of Professor Pattyn is available on the IPF's Science Poles website, allowing you to learn more about how the Station's site was chosen and to discover the first research which will be carried out around the Station, as soon as November 2008.

Although the Station's interior facilities (power supply, recycling facilities and systems controls) will not have been fully installed by then yet, the station's exterior shell and eight wind turbines will already be resting on the Utsteinen ridge.

The scientific team lead by Prof. Pattyn will study glacial grounding lines, sleeping in tents along a nearby ice stream. The Princess Elisabeth Station will be used as a hub to house communications, safety lines and scientific equipment. This will be the first scientific expedition to work from the Princess Elisabeth station.

Author: IPF

Picture: Utsteinen Ridge Chosen for Princess Elisabeth Station - Copyright: International Polar Foundation - © International Polar Foundation

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