Category: ACE-SPACE Blog
Siple Island
Position 73°39′S, 125°0′W Shortly after leaving the Balleny Islands, we arrived at Scott Island. Scott Island is just a couple of soccer fields big, a 55 meter high volcanic rock sticking out of the Southern Ocean. Operations where quick, since again there was no beach, so samples were only collected on top of the island. (…)
Balleny Islands
Position 66°55′S, 163°45′E Work on the ship has been very busy while being near the Mertz Glacier. And there was hardly time to take it a bit easier before getting to the Balleny Islands. These four volcanic islands, Young, Buckle, Sturge and Borodaile, and one prominent Rock, Sabrina, are located almost exactly on the polar (…)
Four days at the Mertz Glacier, East Antarctica
Position: 67°30′S 144°45′E After skipping the visit to Macquarie Islands, spirits went down for some teams. It would have been one out of two subantarctic islands in leg 2 to take soil samples and sediment cores… But bad weather is what you need to expect in these latitudes. So mentally we prepared ourselves for more (…)
A storm at the latitude of the infamous “Furious Fifties”
After four weeks at sea, we finally get to Hobart. Dolphins jump around the ship as if they were welcoming us. The weather is exceptional, and we are all looking forward for a bit of rest on land. Fiona and Markus are leaving the team, Andrea and Silvia are now joining. Time is short, however, (…)
Wonders of the Southern Ocean
Position 53°06′S 73°32′E After the Crozet Island we head towards Kerguelen. This time we are unlucky, the weather is stormy and rainy. There is no point in flying the helicopters and going ashore with the zodiacs is not without risk. So operations around the island are short. We do what we can and then leave (…)
Prince Edward Islands to Kerguelen
Position 46°24′S 51°46′E After two and a half days it’s time to leave Marion, one of the Prince Edward Islands that we visited. Ahead of us are three short days of sailing until we arrive at Possession Island, one of five islands in the French Crozet group. While sailing, a routine is established quickly: breakfast, (…)
From Cape Town to the Prince Edward Islands
The expedition departs on time, 3 pm local Cape Town time. The first two days at sea are calm, it is still warm and nice to spend the time outside on deck. All instruments are up and running. Our team is happy and looking forward to what is to come. After two days we get (…)
Ready To Sail
Current position: 33.90242 S / 18.42593 E on Dec 20, 2016 at 06:46 UTC There were lots of tasks on the menu for Cape Town. First two transformers had to be installed to connect the atmosphere lab container to the ship’s power grid. The job was done in one day and so we had a (…)
Press conference in Cape Town, South Africa, 20 Dec 2016
The Antarctic Circumnavigation Expedition (ACE), the first project run by the Swiss Polar Institute (SPI), will set sail from South Africa on 20 December in the late afternoon. The Akademik Tryoshnikov, a Russian research vessel chartered for this expedition, will be carrying 55 researchers from 18 countries. They will collect various types of data in (…)
Getting Ready
Equipping the Atmospheric Measurement Container by Julia Schmale Such a three months expedition requires thorough preparation. For the type of experimental atmospheric sciences that we do, a good preparation basically means that we need to find an appropriate location on the ship where we can safely place our instruments and construct air inlets. For this (…)