Picture galleries

This section regroups all picture galleries published on SciencePoles alongside some articles or news. It's currently a bit of a work in progress but more will be added with future articles.

Cryosat 2

03.06.2010

After being successfully launched on 8th April 2010, ESA's CryoSat-2 has started its mission to measure the rate of change in the thickness of the Earth's land and sea ice. The satellite is unique in that it has an orbit taking it to within 2° of the poles, closer than any previous satellite. It also has a SAR Interferometric Radar Altimeter (SIRAL), a new generation of altimeter that will allow it to measure changes at the edges of the Greenland and Antarctic Ice Sheets with greater accuracy than ever before. During CryoSat-2's commissioning phase, ground truthing campaigns will continue to be carried whenever possible to cross-validate the data it collects.
Astronomy at Dome C: Concordia Station and the ARENA Network

10.05.2010

The French and Italians have been investigating astronomical observation projects at Concordia Station at Dome C under an EC-funded action called ARENA (Antarctic Research, a European Network for Astrophysics). The project is a consortium of 22 European and Australian partners including polar institutes, research laboratories and industrial companies funded by the European Commission as a coordination action under the Sixth Framework Programme (FP6). The aim of the project was to gather existing atmospheric observations important for determining astronomical observation conditions and devise a suite of programmes to take advantage of the ideal astronomical observational conditions at DOME C. The project lasted for four years starting in 2006 and ending in December 2009.
Princess Elisabeth Antarctica: Changing the Way We Think about Using Energy

03.05.2010

The Princess Elisabeth Station is the first station ever to run on a « zero emission » principle. This feat, however, was only made possible by designing a specific way of managing power in an energy-autonomous building. In the following picture gallery, you will be able to see for yourselves the systems and some of the people that have participated in achieving the « zero emission » aim.
JARE 51 Meteorite Hunting Mission a Success

22.02.2010

The JARE 51 Mission to collect meteorites in the Eastern Sør Rondane Mountains was a success. The team, which spent teh better part of four weeks in the field, found 635 meteorite fragments ranging in size from a few grams to 5 kg. Most of them were ordinary chondrites; however some are possible iron meteorites and others ureilites, although they will need to be taken back to a lab for further anaylsis. The team is very happy with the results!
Belgo-Japanese Collaboration in Antarctica

27.01.2010

Being in close proximity to one another in the Dronning Maud Land in Antarctica, the Japanese and the Belgians have frequently cooperated when conducting research. This picture gallery looks at some of the more recent expeditions to Antarctica, particularly this year's JARE and BELARE expeditions. For the latest updates on this year's expedition please consult the website of the Princess Elisabeth Station.