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Ella Derbyshire (grannydoc)
South Pole Station,
Antarctica
Gigapans: 180
Snapshots: 725
Bookmarks: 5
Last Visited: March 14, 2010
Tags:
None
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I'm an Arctic traveler in the deepest South with my Nikon, a Canon and a gigapan robot.
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Nikon D80 |
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Canon G9 |
| For Robert the Robot |
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Robert the Robot |
| The gigapan robot |
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Driving south from Picton towards New Zealand's west coast, just a little north and inland from Greymouth, we came across the picturesque town of Blackball. It is just a little place, slightly off the road on the right as you drive from Reefton to Greymouth.
Blackball was a coal mining center at the end of the 19th Century. Following the success of the miners in several labor disputes, the idea of workers joining together in unions took off. And so, the Federation of Labour and the New Zealand Labour Party were born here.
There isn't a lot of modern architecture around town, and I doubt that there is anything at all like a rush hour in this tiny community. Instead, it is a charming hamlet populated with very friendly people.
The hotel pictured in this panorama is an old one. Located on Hart Street, it was called the Dominion Hotel when it opened in 1910. In the 1970’s it became the Blackball Hilton, and then it became "formerly the Hilton" after it came to the attention of the larger hotel company with the same name. Fortunately, Formerly the Blackball Hilton is still in the hospitality business.
The 74 images of this panorama were photographed with a Nikon D80 and stitched with Autopano Pro.
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On a late summer evening, we were enjoying a mild wind from grid west which shifted the steam from the power plant away from Summer Camp and the berms. The result was this amazing clear view of much of the area behind the elevated station. We have certainly seen some changes in the scenery at the South Pole since the end of last summer. Have a look around. Maybe compare this to other images of the station looking toward grid south, and see if you can pick out some of those differences.
The west wind this day brought us temperatures approaching -20 degrees Fahrenheit, which is quite a treat so close to sunset.
The 68 photos of this panorama were captured with a Nikon D80 and stitched with Autopano Pro.
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New Zealand certainly has some very beautiful landscapes. Here is a bucolic scene with green grassy hills, tall trees, a pond and a variety of farm animals.
Please enjoy looking around. You may be surprised by what you find.
The 19 images of this panorama were photographed with a Nikon D80 and stitched with Autopano Pro.
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This lovely stone church stands on the shore of Lake Tekapo on New Zealand's South Island. It's cornerstone was laid in 1935, when it was dedicated to honor the memory of the pioneers of the Mackenzie Country.
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Skier Landing
Author: Ella Derbyshire (grannydoc)
Tags:
amundsen-scott,
south,
pole,
station,
antarctica,
hercules,
lc-130,
herc,
new,
york,
air,
national,
guard
Size: 0.06 gigapixels
Added: February 20, 2010
Total Views: 189
View in Google Earth 4.2+
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Here is the last Herc of Summer 2009-10 landing at the South Pole.
Many thanks to the New York Air National Guard: 109th Airlift Wing for sharing their table in the galley at McMurdo and for a great flight to the Pole.
The 11 images of this panorama were photographed with a Nikon D80 and stitched with Autopano Pro.
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So, here we are again, at the South Pole at the end of summer, watching the last plane of the season on the flight deck. This Hercules LC-130 dropped off some fuel and cargo for us, and then left with the few remaining summer crew members who had lingered to support the late summer flights. When the plane took off, 47 people remained at the South Pole for the winter of 2010.
We had a really good turnout for this flight despite the very early hour. It was fairly warm outside, with the temperature hovering around -42 degrees Fahrenheit. The wind was light, and the sun was still high enough to lend a little warmth.
Those of you who follow news about the South Pole will notice some changes from last year. For example, the ARFF has a new configuration that will allow us to put it inside the BARFF for maintenance and for removal of the foam that it contains. Note also that IceCube drill camp has moved. Next summer they should finish drilling the last seven holes for their in-ice neutrino telescope.
We will see our next plane in October. In the meantime, the remaining crew will winterize the station, enjoy a sunset and a sunrise and spend the months in between under long twilight, spinning stars and dancing auroras.
The 36 photographs of this panorama were photographed with a Nikon D80 and stitched with Autopano Pro.
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Here you see the M/V American Tern and the icebreaker Odin in McMurdo Sound. The arrival of the supply ship near the end of summer is an exciting event. The entire community will be involved in offloading supplies for McMurdo and other Antarctic Stations. Cargo can be anything from heavy equipment to scientific instruments to cleaning supplies. Ships bring fuel for the power plant and food for the galley. Although planes carry a good deal of cargo to Antarctica, ships are the least expensive way for cargo to get here.
Most of the cargo from this ship will stay in McMurdo, which is America's largest Antarctic statation. The rest will find be sent inland by plane or overland traverse to destinations such as the South Pole, Siple Dome, WAIS Divide and AGAP.
The icebreaker Odin is off shore in the distance. The Odin cleared the way for the Antarctic Tern, and it will linger by Ross Island until the cargo ship has left.
When the American Tern leaves, it will carry retrograde cargo back to the United States. This will include old vehicles, pieces of demolished buildings, obsolete equipment and quite a bit of everyday trash which has been carefully sorted for recycling.
The 17 images of this panorama were photographed with a Nikon D80 and stitched with Autopano Pro.
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Somewhere in Middle Earth, an imagination is kindled.
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Here is South Pole's first passenger plane of the summer 2009-10. It is a Basler, which is a converted DC-3. The vanguard of the summer crew arrived on this sturdy little aircraft, along with some small cargo and some most-welcome fresh fruit and eggs.
We actually saw two earlier planes which stopped by for fuel on their way across Antarctica from Rothera to McMurdo. The layover for the Basler on that day was a short one. The Twin Otter, which followed about an hour behind, lingered awhile for some engine repairs, and so we had some unexpected late-winter guests.
This Basler however, brings replacements for the winter crew, and so marks the end of our winter 2009 at the South Pole. It took off, as scheduled, after a very brief stay on the ground.
If you look at other panoramas of the South Pole runway from this landing at Destination Alpha, you will see how the winds have changed the landscape this winter. We certainly have much larger drifts of snow than I found when I arrived in October 2008. There are also a lot of sustrugi which give you a clue about the direction of the prevailing wind. Walking in the dark this winter was sometimes a problem, as the sustrugi seemed to grow and shift position overnight. Although the snow-carved ridges look soft and fluffy, they do not provide a soft landing in a fall.
The heavy equipment operators will be busy this summer, as they have the task of paring down these huge drifts and moving the snow to the End of the World. By the end of summer, the little mountains of snow should be gone and the Antarctic Plateau by the station should be flat once again.
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Here is a view of the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station as it appeared on March 1, 2009. I photographed this landscape as I was walking back from a weather balloon launch in the BIF.
March 1st was a very calm day with the sun still high enough above the horizon to give a pleasant warmth to the -50 degree Fahrenheit air. We were fast approaching sunset, and you will notice that the shadows are quite long. By the end of the month, the sun will be gone and we will not see it again until the equinox in September.
There is some haze in much of the image because the exhaust from the power plant sinks quickly when it hits the cold air, and then it stays close to the ground, making a bit of a fog around the station if the wind isn’t strong enough to carry it away. The wind that day was less than 5 knots and was blowing from grid east, as it commonly does, and so the exhaust was blowing slowly towards grid west. The wind at the South Pole blows so seldom towards grid east that the Clean Air Sector is located there.
From this angle, you can see the four wings of the station, all of which face grid south, which is the general direction of McMurdo and New Zealand. From left to right, the wings house the gymnasium, the emergency pod and the two main berthing areas. In the center of the image you can see the Dome, the stacks of the power plant, and the doors of the LO and VMF shop at the ends of the arches. The unfinished particle board siding of the BIF and the cryo lab stand out on the right side of the image.
Have a look around and see what you can find.
The 23 images of this panorama were photographed with a Nikon D80 and stitched with Autopano Pro.
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