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During the Southern-Hemisphere summers of 2003-04 and 2004-05 I returned to Antarctica to collect some more data about Antarctic climate and properties of the snow that covers the continent. This trip was again part of my studies at the University of Washington. These times we didn't go to Sout Pole, but to the new French/Italian base called Concordia, located in the region of Antarctica known as Dome C.
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For us, the main advantages of being at Dome C were that the sun gets higher in the sky than at South Pole, that its elevation varies significantly during the day, and that many satellites pass over Dome C but do not see South Pole. The first two points were important because we wanted to make measurements with the sun at many different elevations in the sky, and the last one was important because we would like to make comparisons of our data with satellite data. It was just an added bonus that Concordia is known for having the best food on the continent. More information about our research project can be found at our Dome C project home page.
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Dome C is about is about 1650 km (1000 miles) southeast of the pole, at 75°S, 123°E (in the direction of western Australia; see the geography page for an explanation of directions relative to the pole, and for a map showing the location of Dome C). It is similar to South Pole in many ways. It is high (3250 m, 10,600 feet), cold (below 0°F, -18°C on summer afternoons), and flat. In some ways it is different though. In summer at Dome C, it gets relatively warmer in the afternoon and relatively colder at night; at South Pole there is no daily cycle because the sun remains at the same elevation all day. The sun gets low in the sky at Dome C every night, even in December and January; at South Pole the sun doesn't get that low until March.
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The links below are to pages with pictures from my trip to Dome C in January 2005. There are also some links to pages on Antarctic climate and geography that I wrote as part of my South Pole page.
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