|
Testimony of
Dr. Karl Erb, Director
Office of Polar Programs
National Science Foundation
Before the House Committee on Science
Subcommittee on Basic Research
June 9, 1999
Introduction
I am pleased to have the opportunity to present this
testimony about the U.S. Antarctic Program. My organization,
the Office of Polar Programs, National Science Foundation,
is responsible for single-point management of the
U.S. Antarctic Program as well as for support of science
at the other end of the world, in the Arctic. Research
in these inhospitable regions has much in common,
and it addresses scientific issues of global societal
importance.
The availability of science-support infrastructure
and logistics is critical to modern polar research.
For both polar regions, NSF, in addition to performing
its traditional role of funding high quality research
and education, also funds and manages these specialized
field-support functions.
Today, I will make reference to some of the vital research
being supported in the U.S. Antarctic Program, with
emphasis on operational issues that are of particular
interest at this time.
Antarctica offers unique advantages for scientific
research. For example, the extremely dry, cold, and
stable atmosphere at the South Pole and on the high
plateau makes that region the best anywhere for certain
types of astronomy. In addition, the 2-mile-thick
ice sheet at South Pole serves as the medium for a
forefront detector of energetic neutrinos, particles
that interact so weakly with the matter and energy
in interstellar space that they arrive here as the
lone carriers of information about distant events.
The dry valleys near McMurdo are the venue for studies
of fascinating systems of organisms that somehow manage
to survive in that extreme environment, and scientists
studying the southern ocean are discovering species
of fish that have evolved specific genetic adaptations
that enable them to live in freezing waters.
The West Antarctic Ice Sheet, which is the only marine-based
ice sheet remaining from the last ice age, is a significant
topic of study by glaciologists and geologists. Many
believe the ice sheet to be intrinsically unstable;
if it were to slide off the antarctic continent into
the sea, sea levels worldwide would rise 15 to 20
feet. While the probability of this happening within
the next hundred years is thought to be very small,
our incomplete understanding of the way ice sheets
move dictates that we investigate the stability of
the ice sheet in a variety of ways.
Admiral Richard E. Byrd remarked decades ago that "to
travel to Antarctica is to return to the last ice
age." That is still true today; in fact, we now know
that the statement is much richer in meaning than
Byrd realized. Both in Antarctica and in the Arctic,
NSF-supported scientists have extracted cores from
the ice sheets that provide a historical record of
temperature and atmospheric gases that goes back hundreds
of thousands of years in time. These measurements
tell us that the Earth's climate has gone through
spectacular, rapid changes and they provide us with
benchmark tests of our understanding of the forces
that drive climate change. Just-published data-obtained
in a 10-year collaboration by the United States, France,
and Russia that yielded ice cores through a column
2 miles deep near the Russian Vostok station in Antarctica-reveal
a 420,000-year history of climate change.
Indeed, while the research supported in polar regions
by the NSF Office of Polar Programs advances fundamental
knowledge in virtually all the major disciplines,
much of it is also interdisciplinary, and much of
it bears on issues of global importance. An example
is the study of the ozone hole and the research on
chemistry and atmospheric science processes that created
it. This work led to global agreements to phase out
the use of the CFC compounds responsible for stratospheric
ozone destruction. Other examples include the effects
of the seasonal melting and refreezing of sea ice
on the global ocean conveyer belt and the reflectivity,
or albedo, of the polar ice cover, both of which have
significant impacts on Earth's climate.
The infrastructure required to support forefront research
in all areas of science has become increasingly sophisticated
in recent years. This trend is particularly true of
polar science, and it places new demands, in particular,
on the supporting infrastructure of the U. S. Antarctic
Program. In the remainder of this testimony I will
summarize the status of our efforts to meet these
demands.
While NSF is the designated single-point manager of
the National presence in Antarctica, the U.S. Antarctic
Program is the sum total of the contributions of critically
important Federal partnerships. The Coast Guard, the
New York Air National Guard and its 109th Airlift
Wing, the Air Mobility Command, the Military Sealift
Command, the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center,
and, until this year, the Navy's Antarctic Development
Squadron 6 have combined to make it possible for our
Nation to support world-class research in Antarctica.
The U.S. Antarctic Program is a model of interagency
cooperation and coordination, and still other agencies
maintain substantial research activities in Antarctica
in support of missions of mutual interest. Thus, the
Army's Cold Region Research Laboratory, DOE, NASA,
NOAA, and USGS both contribute to and depend on U.S.
Antarctic Program infrastructure.
Finally, the U.S. presence on the continent is manifested
through the Antarctic Treaty, which reserves that
large region for peaceful purposes only, contains
strong measures for environmental protection, and
encourages cooperation in science. The Antarctic Treaty
itself is an experiment, and a success. It came into
being in Washington, D.C., signed in 1959 by the 12
nations that performed the world's first broad, coordinated
program of research in Antarctica during the 1957-1958
International Geophysical Year. Now the treaty has
grown to 43 adhering countries, representing two-thirds
of the people on our planet. These nations meet regularly
-- the 23rd such consultative meeting has just concluded
in Lima, Peru -- to guide and safeguard world interests
in the remarkable south polar region.
South Pole Station safety/environment
upgrade (SPSE) and modernization (SPSM)
By the early 1990s it had become abundantly clear that
Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station would not be capable
of supporting world class research much longer. Modifying
it to meet the increasingly sophisticated requirement
of modern science was not an option, in view of the
fact that its design life had already been exceeded
and that it posed serious safety and environmental
concerns.
The NSF U.S. Antarctic Program External Panel chaired
by Norman Augustine substantiated this condition in
its April 1997 report, concluding that, "The existing
South Pole Station should be replaced with an Optimized
Station. This construction can be accomplished by
the year 2005 if the necessary budgetary steps are
taken immediately (to initiate funding for the period
FY98-FY02)." The Panel also recommended that several
safety and environmental upgrades be initiated immediately.
NSF accepted these recommendations and requested funding
for the South Pole Safety and Environmental project
(SPSE) in 1997. Congress appropriated $25 million
to fully fund this emergency measure. SPSE provides
a new garage/shop, new fuel storage tanks, and a new
power plant.
The Optimized Station recommended by the External Panel
consists of a core infrastructure that initially houses
110 persons and that could be expanded to support
up to 150 persons on site. It includes an elevated
housing and scientific research complex, with electronic
systems and communications. The project is termed
the South Pole Station Modernization (SPSM), to distinguish
it from SPSE.
NSF received initial SPSM funding in FY98. To date,
Congress has appropriated $109-million of the $128-million
required to complete the project. Our FY00 budget
request of $5-million would bring us within $14-million
of the amount needed for completion.
Both SPSE and SPSM are proceeding vigorously. The summer
building season is short at Pole, lasting about 3½
months from November to February. Exterior work must
be done during this time of 24 hours of sunlight and
relative warmth. To insure on-schedule FY05 project
completion, in summer three construction shifts are
scheduled per 24-hour period, 6 days each week. During
the 8½-month winter isolation the smaller construction
crew is scheduled for a single shift of 9 hours each
day, 6 days a week. The construction is carefully
phased to achieve what is possible in the two periods,
with great attention given to on-time completion of
planned tasks within each period.
SPSE is on budget at 72% completion, SPSM is on budget
at 8% completion, and both are on schedule. Congressional
funding allowed for substantial advance procurement
that enabled us to deliver 400,000 pounds of construction
material to South Pole ahead of schedule, an enormous
advantage given the narrow window of opportunity for
the one annual cargo ship that gets to McMurdo and
the short summer at Pole. This situation both will
allow us to take advantage of opportunities as they
arise to accelerate construction and will serve as
a hedge against potential weather and procurement
delays.
SPSE construction. SPSE commenced during the
FY98 summer season (November through mid-February)
with completion of the garage/shop arch. The fuel-storage
project was completed during the FY99 summer with
installation, piping, and partial fueling of 45 10,000-gallon
steel fuel tanks inside containment shells (replacing
nine 25,000-gallon rubber fuel bladders).
The garage/shop shell (footings, floor, walls, and
roof) also was completed during the FY99 summer season.
During the current austral winter the interior, fire/life/safety
systems, and collateral equipment installation are
being completed. Occupancy is scheduled for December
1999.
Completion of the new fuel storage and garage/shop
represent tremendous improvements in engineered-in
safety and environmental protection systems.
The FY00 season will focus on the final SPSE work-the
new power plant. The plant's steel arch cover and
footings, floor, walls, and roof will be constructed
concurrently, again allowing for interior construction
during winter. The plant is scheduled for completion
and occupancy January 2001, which completes SPSE on
schedule.
SPSM construction. In FY99, work on SPSM focused
on procurement. During the FY00 summer season the
first phase of construction will begin with the underground
passageway to the new power plant and the vertical
tower access to the main elevated station.
The rest of the construction, scheduled for completion
in FY05, includes both wings of the elevated station
holding housing, food service, medical science, administration,
electronic systems, communications, multipurpose area,
and an emergency power plant.
Impact of SPSE and SPSM on U.S.
Antarctic Program science
LC-130 airlift. Two LC-130 airlift issues currently
are impacting access to the continent by science groups
that need to get into the field far from McMurdo:
the LC-130 modernization program (discussed in "Transition
from Navy to Air National Guard," below) and the increased
allocation of airlift to the support of construction
at the South Pole. Before SPSE and SPSM, NSF had been
allocating approximately 180 LC-130 missions per year
to the direct support of science projects throughout
the U.S. Antarctic Program. During the three field
seasons beginning with the 1999-2000 austral summer,
only about 80 science missions per year can be allocated,
to keep Pole construction on schedule. In the 2 to
3 years that follow, NSF expects to be able to gradually
raise the allocation back up to 180 science missions
per season. In addition, we are reviewing options
that might free up additional LC-130 missions for
science; they are discussed below in the sections
on weather forecasting and energy conservation.
South Pole resources. The redevelopment of South
Pole will remove key constraints-insufficient power,
work space, and communications-that have held back
scientific research. It will alleviate, but not eliminate,
a fourth constraint-a population cap. The decision
to include core infrastructure that enables expansion
of the station capacity from 110 to 150 now appears
to have been wise. Current estimates are that the
110-person capacity will unduly constrain science,
even as we rely much more heavily on remote access
to enable the research. South Pole's potential for
astronomy has been recognized, and results from experiments
already on site are promising.
During construction, the South Pole science population
is being held more or less steady, whereas overall
station population has increased by more than 25 percent
because of the presence of construction workers. During
construction, access by scientists to direct construction
support of their on-site research needs is about 20
percent less than previously.
Summary. Our ability to deploy large new research
projects certainly will be curtailed over the next
3 years. But, like the Augustine panel, we are convinced
that the capability for research embodied in the new
station will more than compensate for the short-term
impacts.
Transition from Navy to Air
National Guard
March 1999 marked the end of the Navy's logistics support
of the U.S. Antarctic Program. The transition to contractor
and Air Guard support, although complex and involving
hundreds of people over a number of years, was virtually
transparent to the ultimate customers: the scientists
conducting research in Antarctica. This successful
transition has resulted in reduced environmental impact
to Antarctica due to a reduced number of personnel
providing the support and the eliminated duplication
of effort. This also will yield future reduced operational
costs.
Now that the transition from the Navy is complete,
NSF is completing the definition of management relationships
among the parties involved in supporting the U.S.
Antarctic Program.
We do not expect these management issues to affect
support to the program. In fact, the season just completed
in Antarctica-the first in which the Air Guard had
the primary role in LC-130 operations-was highly successful.
Every planned project was supported, and more flights
than ever before were made to resupply South Pole
Station and to place construction materials there
for the modernization program described above.
The Air Force awarded a contract to Raytheon Systems
Company in March 1999 to upgrade and modernize two
NSF-owned LC-130s to meet Air Force safety and operability
standards. These planes will be operated by the 109th
Airlift Wing of the NYANG. In FY99 Congress appropriated
$20M through the NSF Major Research Equipment account
for these upgrades. An additional $12M is requested
in FY00 to modernize a third NSF LC-130. Delivery
of the three upgraded planes is expected in July 2000,
November 2000, and, assuming we receive funds, March
2001.
With delivery of the third plane the 109th will be
operating 10 LC-130s in support of NSF science in
the Arctic and the Antarctic. NSF and NYANG believe
10 aircraft will be sufficient for both polar missions.
The NYANG owns six of the 10 aircraft. NSF owns four-the
three being modernized and one new LC-130 H3 delivered
in 1996.
Support contractor recompetition
NSF's current 10-year U.S. Antarctic Program support
contract, with the firm Antarctic Support Associates
(ASA), will expire 31 March 2000. NSF's Office of
General Counsel and Office of Budget, Finance, and
Award Management advised that extending the contract
is not tenable. Accordingly, NSF issued a Request
for Proposals on 14 September 1998. It is anticipated
that the new contract will be a performance-based,
cost-plus-award-fee instrument. The new contract is
expected to have a 5-year base period with one optional
5-year period and thus can extend through SPSM.
Proposals were received by the 15 March 1999 deadline.
Additional questions are being forwarded to bidders
in the competitive range, and best and final offers
are expected in July. The process is on schedule to
result in a new contract by 1 October 1999.
If a new contractor is selected, there will be a 6-month
phase-in between October 1999 and March 2000 during
which the new contractor and the current contractor
will work together. The phase-in covers the 1999-2000
antarctic summer season. Major activities during phase-in
would be: establishing the program headquarters and
associated infrastructure in the United States; turnover
of records and documents, including SPSM planning
software and documents; recruiting and signing of
existing contract personnel; turnover of property
and equipment; and "over the shoulder" observation
of seasonal activities.
To the extent that there is risk to SPSM associated
with the transition to a new contractor, that risk
is considered mainly a new contractor's lack of familiarity
with the project or the unique requirements and conditions
of working in Antarctica. This risk will be mitigated
by the following:
- Interagency continuity. The design and
review responsibilities are vested in separate
architectural and design contractors. Oversight
of these activities is by the Pacific Division
of Naval Facilities Engineering Command (PACDIV)
and NSF. The logistics of moving the materials
from California to McMurdo by vessel and then
by air to South Pole are the responsibilities
of the Military Sealift Command and the New York
Air National Guard, respectively. These responsibilities
will not be affected by any contractor transition.
- Procurements. Thanks to Congressional actions
NSF and ASA are able to substantially accelerate
(by 2 years) the procurements associated with
SPSM. A majority of the procurements will have
been completed by the end of the transition between
the old and the new contractor. Any procurements
not completed before a new contract is awarded
will be subject to Federal Acquisition Regulations
(FAR) requirements and competitively bid, as is
currently done.
- Phase-in period. The phase-in period provides
6-months as discussed above for the old and new
contractors to work together to bring about a
smooth transition. NSF staff will work closely
with both organizations to ensure transfer of
expertise and experience. Offerors have submitted
in their proposals, as part of their management
plans, how they would conduct the phase-in. NSF
has handled transitions between support contractors
twice in the past when new contractors were selected
for the support contract. Several key NSF staff
participated in the most recent contractor transition
and will bring experience to the next transition,
if one occurs.
- Retention of experienced labor pool. In
each previous change of support contractor for
the U.S. Antarctic Program, the new contractor
has hired a significant portion of the existing
contractor's personnel-from midmanagement to skilled
labor. This is standard industry practice that
is recognized as good business.
- Planning and oversight. All ASA documentation,
including designs, planning and project management
software, and other project documents, belongs
to NSF and would be available to a new contractor.
NSF has been conducting quarterly SPSM project
audits during which ASA and NSF staff go over
engineering activity schedules, construction plans
and schedules, procurement plans, cost accounting
for the project, and other administrative matters
associated with the project. This has ensured
that NSF staff are as knowledgeable as ASA staff
on the status of the project.
- On-site management. During recent antarctic
summer seasons, NSF has placed its experienced
managers at McMurdo and South Pole to provide
oversight and management for logistics, operations,
and facilities management. These managers have
an average of nearly 20 years of antarctic and
construction management experience and are thoroughly
familiar with the project.
NSF is aware that the potential for changing prime
contractors in the middle of the SPSM project presents
some risk. SPSM and its oversight and management plan
have been designed by NSF and its contractors with
full regard for the inherent risks associated with
construction in Antarctica. We intend to control the
additional potential risks associated with changing
contractors during the project through careful project
management, project oversight, and contractor selection.
These precautions are intended to ensure that the
transition does not increase the project cost or lengthen
the schedule. In fact, we think the major threat to
the project schedule is adverse weather.
Research vessel contract recompetition
While on the subject of recompetitions in the Office
of Polar Programs I should comment on the status of
the Nathaniel B. Palmer. This 308-ft, state-of-the-art,
icebreaking research vessel is under full-term lease
to the U.S. Antarctic Program. The ship was built
to specifications issued by the U.S. Antarctic Program
and began service in 1992. Nathaniel B. Palmer
is a first-rate platform for global change studies,
including biological, oceano-graphic, geological,
and geophysical components. It can operate safely
year-round in antarctic waters that often are stormy
or covered with sea ice. It accommodates 37 scientists
and support technicians, has a crew of 22, and is
capable of up to 75-day missions.
The 10-year lease will expire in March 2002, and research
demand is sufficiently strong that a standard government
recompetition is being planned for another 10 years.
NSF is developing requirements that will be incorporated
into a request for proposals to be issued approximately
July 1999, with proposals due in November 1999. The
user community has expressed the need for a vessel
of approximately similar size and capability of the
Nathaniel B. Palmer.
Facilities improvements
McMurdo. A rough estimate for execution of the
long range plan for conventional McMurdo Station facilities
is $50-million. Additional infrastructure improvements
needed in the McMurdo area are discussed in following
sections. NSF has initiated work on the six highest
priority activities in the McMurdo long range plan
as follows:
- Mechanical Equipment Center (MEC) replacement,
to be completed in early FY02.
- Dining hall and food preparation remodel, to be
completed in late FY00.
- Power plant upgrade, to include improved waste
heat recovery.
- Replacement of old, deteriorating fuel storage
tanks with new tanks for diesel and aviation fuel
and for gasoline, to be completed in FY01 or FY02.
- Removal of unused buildings from Observation Hill.
- Other projects, including a consolidated work
center and warehousing, dormitory rehabilitation,
and replacement recreation and science support
facilities.
Palmer. At Palmer the two main buildings are
being remodeled in four major phases to be completed
during austral winter 2001. The remodeling, estimated
to cost $3-million, will improve the laboratories,
offices, and housing, and enhance the efficiency of
science and science support.
Weather forecasting
Weather forecasting in the Antarctic is a challenge.
Weather patterns are volatile, often changing with
little advance indication. Observations and real-time
data, compared with those in most of the civilized
world, are sparse, making it difficult to predict
those changes. When the weather worsens significantly
during a flight in ways that weren't predicted, aircraft
frequently are required to return to the point of
origin, since there are no nearby alternative landing
sites. This results in lost time and wasted expense.
Such turn-around flights are not uncommon, and if
they could be reduced in number we could increase
the number of missions in support of research.
Better weather forecasting could lead to more effective
air operations and greatly enhance our ability to
support science. In the last few years vastly better
meteorology systems have become available, and the
following improvements are planned or underway:
Fog prediction. Fog at McMurdo is localized
and highly transient, can occur rapidly, and can close
an airfield. Planning is under way for a new fog detection
network consisting of unattended automatic weather
stations in concentric rings to the south of McMurdo
airfields where the fog originates.
Meteorological sensors. New sensors that measure
temperature, pressure, and cloud platforms have been
procured for all U.S. antarctic airfield towers to
provide direct, remote reading to forecasters and
the tower.
ASOS. Automatic Surface Observation Systems
(ASOS), a National Weather Service recognized remote
system, are installed in strategic locations near
McMurdo (Pegasus glacier-ice runway, Marble Point
helicopter fuel depot) where other sensors are absent.
Balloon tracking. McMurdo's old theodolite tracking
system for upper air balloon sondes (probes) was replaced
in 1998-1999 with a new, automated GPS tracking system
attached to each weather balloon that provides more
accurate data with less maintenance and down time.
This kind of system also will be used at South Pole
this coming season.
Satellite weather images. Traditional weather
imaging satellites provide coverage at McMurdo for
15 hours each day. For the remaining 9 hours nontraditional
satellites such as SeaWiFS (typically for sensing
ocean bio-optical properties-but able to give clear
weather images) and the Russian Meteor satellites
are expected to provide images this coming season.
Initial Meteor images were received in the 1998-1999
season. The usefulness of the Meteor data will be
enhanced this season with upgraded software.
Forecast systems. When preparing flight briefs
and terminal forecasts, McMurdo meteorologists use
information from a variety of sources. An automated
local area network is being completed to serve as
a repository for meteorological data and for tools
to correlate and display data from dissimilar sources.
Forecasters thus will have current information in
a single repository and will be able to work more
effectively.
Basic research and modeling. U.S. Antarctic
Program meteorologists interface with university and
DoD weather modeling centers to determine which mesoscale
models may be successful in the Antarctic. NSF has
continuing grants with meteorologists and climatologists
who are providing the basic science and intellectual
framework that can lead to improvements in the mesoscale
models.
Air Traffic Control and Landing
Systems (ATCALS)
The ATCALS challenge is to improve U.S. Antarctic Program
airlift safety and efficiency while minimizing acquisition
and infrastructure costs. NSF is supporting these
initiatives through its ATC provider, SPAWARS, which
has instituted employment incentives to retain experienced
personnel in the U.S. Antarctic Program's unusual
annual deployment cycle of half a year at McMurdo
and half a year off.
- A working group and an annually updated 5-year
plan are managing the upgrade of existing equipment
to enhance performance and reliability.
- NSF tested in McMurdo a prototype digital global
positioning system (DGPS) and an Air National
Guard mobile microwave landing system for precision-controlled
landing, with positive results.
- NSF expects to test an automatic dependent surveillance
system on its helicopters, with possible expansion
to the LC-130s, that continually informs a central
site of the location of aircraft.
Energy conservation
Improved facilities. The U.S. Antarctic Program
imports all the fossil fuel it uses in Antarctica.
Reductions in fuel consumption can save money, reduce
environmental impact, and free up what would have
been fuel transport missions for scientists and their
equipment. Thus a criterion of the McMurdo facilities
plan is to save energy. As noted above, new construction
at McMurdo and the other U.S. stations is replacing
old, inefficient buildings with energy-efficient ones.
An energy conservation project in McMurdo, to be completed
in 2002, takes waste heat from the diesel engines
in the electrical power plant to heat buildings (cogeneration).
Reducing flights to Pole. Aircraft use about
half the fuel delivered to McMurdo Station. Transport
to South Pole, now done entirely by LC-130 flights
from McMurdo, uses some two-thirds of each season's
LC-130 missions (an LC-130 burns about 4,500 gallons
of fuel to deliver 3,500 gallons to Pole). To maximize
the load on each flight to Pole, fuel is carried in
wing tanks to be delivered to the station when the
cargo load is less than the weight the plane can carry.
Still, LC-130 flights are one of our scarcest resources,
and a priority is to minimize the Pole flights and
free the precious LC-130s for missions such as open-field
landings at remote antarctic research sites on snow
or ice where there is no alternative.
Several concepts are being analyzed. One is to use
oversnow traverse vehicles-tractor trains-to resupply
South Pole Station from a landing site closer to Pole
than McMurdo is. Another would circle an Air Force
KC-135 tanker over South Pole so that LC-130s equipped
for air-to-air refueling could shuttle fuel down from
the tanker to the station. A third idea is to build
a hard-surface snow-ice runway at South Pole (comparable
to the prepared Pegasus runway on glacier ice near
McMurdo) so that wheeled airplanes can land with larger
payloads, at lower cost per pound, than is possible
with an LC-130 making a ski landing.
Alternative energy sources. NSF uses wind turbines-and
solar power and heating-at locations in Antarctica,
including the satellite ground station at Black Island
(near McMurdo), in newer buildings at South Pole,
and at research camps.
For every 10 percent that we can reduce energy consumption
at South Pole, we free up some seven LC-130 missions
for direct science support. The new buildings at the
South Pole will have photovoltaic panels on the exterior
walls. The Army's Cold Regions Research and Engineering
Laboratory and DOE tested photovoltaic units there
to determent the reliability of manufactured units
under ambient conditions. Although the panels will
provide only a fraction of the station's power, performance
data will be obtained for consideration for other
polar sites.
The primary source of heat for buildings is and will
be waste heat from the power plant. When SPSM is complete
the supplemental fuel used for heating the 100,000
square feet of occupied space will be 12,000 gallons
per year. Fuel heating will be needed only during
very low temperatures and low electrical power requirements.
The present South Pole Station uses about 70,000 gallons
of supplemental fuel a year to heat the 64,000 square
feet of indoor space.
NSF is partnering with DOE to test a 100-kilowatt cold-weather
wind turbine for South Pole, McMurdo, and arctic locations.
Again, the objective is to reduce environmental impact
and fuel transport cost for these remote sites.
South Pole Station satellite
communications
Information technology -- required by the sophistication
of modern research but also driven by its potential
for enhancing safety and efficiency -- is a vital
element of U.S. Antarctic Program infrastructure.
Advances that have revolutionized the modern world
are mirrored in basic research, with impacts felt
by the U.S. Antarctic Program. Technologically advanced
research on the leading edge of discovery is now done
at the South Pole, facilitated by advances in computing,
networking, and satellite communications. Deep-field
researchers, once isolated, now stay connected with
colleagues and information sources worldwide. The
enabling effect of information technology has stimulated
research, with increased demands for yet better information
at remote research sites.
South Pole Station lies beyond view of conventional
geostationary communications satellites and therefore
is denied access to communications taken for granted
in mid-latitudes. While some special communications
satellites (typically government-owned) in elliptical
orbits cover Northern Hemisphere high latitudes, they
have brief contact with the Antarctic and cannot provide
useful communications between Antarctica and the mid-latitudes.
The tiny human population beyond 65ºS latitude is
not a market for commercial satellite operators, resulting
in little interest in deliberately providing services
in the interior of Antarctica.
The Internet service that South Pole now gets relies
on obsolete Government satellites that have lasted
well beyond their expected lifetimes. These old spacecraft
have moved slowly, over 10 to 12 years, into orbits
that for part of each day enable them to be seen simultaneously
at the geographic South Pole and in the continental
United States. Multiple spacecraft are required to
meet time-of-day coverage required by the research
community, as each satellite can provide only 4 to
6 hours of contact. The challenge to NSF is that growth
in science at South Pole will outstrip these capabilities,
and the satellites are at risk of failure.
The present South Pole communications constellation
consists of these satellites:
ATS-3 provides voice and very low speed data
transfer. It is used for voice coordination of the
more advanced South Pole satellite links and for morale
telephone calls. NASA intends to deactivate ATS-3
once emergent commercial global satellite cellular
telephone systems such as Iridium and ICO Global are
established, probably in early FY01. NSF will experiment
with Iridium at South Pole during the upcoming austral
summer to begin transition of voice communications
from ATS-3.
LES-9 provides Internet service. NSF has a support
agreement with DoD (Air Force Space Command) for access
through FY00 and will update the agreement with DoD's
U.S. Space Command as a new sponsor beginning in FY01.
LES-9 should provide service for South Pole through
FY04. NSF will keep the option to transfer moderate-rate
data services (equivalent to high speed dial-up telephone
modems) to commercial providers as they become available
and competitive.
GOES-3 is a key long-term South Pole resource.
The satellite has broadband communications initially
intended by NOAA to relay weather imagery to users.
It transmits at rates now widely deployed for Internet
access. The spacecraft has redundant systems that
we believe make it reliable for long-term communications
while other options are explored. NSF and NOAA soon
will conclude an agreement that transfers control
of the satellite to NSF for its exclusive use to support
polar communications. NOAA'S GOES-2 satellite can
service South Pole now, and GOES-7 will drift into
a position to provide service in about 2006.
TDRSS F1. With the active support of NASA, NSF
has obtained highly capable wideband communications
via NASA's original Tracking and Data Relay Satellite
System (TDRSS F1). TDRSS F1 service, introduced to
Pole in January 1998, is the most advanced communications
ever implemented at South Pole. It supports astronomy
and astrophysics programs that must transfer very
large sets of observational data and software and
that, because of TDRSS, can manage South Pole instruments
remotely.
NASA agreed in February 1999 to continue TDRSS F1 support
of NSF science, subject to periodic review. The design
life of the satellite has been exceeded; some subsystems
have failed, and as it ages the satellite is responding
less surely to ground control. NASA believes it can
provide TDRSS F3, a comparable satellite, once it
becomes visible to South Pole circa 2005. But TDRSS
F1 is unlikely to remain operational until then, and
NSF is pursuing alternatives to fill the gap and provide
redundancy in wideband access until 2005.
Alternative communications for
South Pole Station
Last Fall we commissioned studies of alternative communications
satellites-military, other government, and commercial-for
South Pole. And other options are being studied. For
example, a fiber optic cable could be laid from South
Pole to the antarctic coast then an ocean cable onward
to Australia, or a fiber optic cable could go from
South Pole overland to a point where a ground station
(to be built) would see conventional satellites. Satellites
from failed commercial launches, such as the recent
Orion-3, might be accessible. NASA is helping us search
for new opportunities.
At an NSF-sponsored workshop in March 1999, South Pole
science users identified their requirements. The NSF
contractors presented options: high cost and risk
(more than $200-million for the land-ocean fiber optic
cable), intermediate cost and risk (tens of millions
of dollars for a dedicated satellite, land fiber optic
cable, and reclaimed new commercial satellites from
failed launches), and low cost with high risk (a few
million dollars for scavenged old satellites). The
workshop concluded that two priority requirements
for research are continuous connectivity at lower
bandwidths for routine daily activities and windows
of high bandwidth to transmit large batches of data
and computer software.
Our preliminary studies have not found DoD or National
Reconnaissance Office (NRO) wideband resources that
would service our region. Contact with South Pole
would be intermittent and of low capacity. However,
NSF has formally requested that the Office of the
Under Secretary of the Air Force, Space, include wherever
possible U.S. Antarctic Program requirements in operations
planning and systems acquisitions managed by U.S.
Space Command and the National Reconnaissance Office.
We plan to have our analysis of near- and mid-term
plans by Fall 1999, to include the development of
a contingency plan for TDRSS F1 alternatives based
on available satellite resources.
Palmer Station communications
NSF has started an engineering project to give Palmer
Station (latitude 64o S) conventional commercial
geosynchronous satellite communications in 2000 for
continuous Internet, telephone, and facsimile service.
This service will replace existing limited Internet
service now provided by the LES-9 satellite and low
cost telephone service provided by the ATS-3 satellite.
Palmer Station now gets broadband digital service from
INMARSAT, a commercial maritime satellite that provides
continuous Internet access, although at high cost.
McMurdo Station regional communications
Wireless. NSF is assessing wireless communications
for small, seasonal field teams within 200 miles of
McMurdo. Even small research camps these days need
Internet, telephone, and year-round remote telemetry.
The challenges of rugged terrain, remoteness, and
year-round operation are similar to those in rural
areas in the United States. NSF is consulting with
the Department of Commerce, NTIA Institute of Telecommunications
Science, as a Federal expert in rural and emergent
wireless communications.
High frequency radio. The high frequency (HF)
radio communications system at McMurdo Station is
the sole long-distance link with U.S. Antarctic Program
aircraft and is the main health, safety, and operational
link with field teams beyond line-of-sight to McMurdo.
NSF has tasked the SPAWAR Systems Center to modernize
the HF radio systems, particularly aviation communications,
in the coming 3-year period. While global satellite
cellular communications systems (Iridium and the forthcoming
ICO Global) may have a role, DoD operates most U.S.
Antarctic Program aircraft and expects to use HF radio
for the next decade. NSF will seek to phase out HF
radio for field camps once the commercial satellite
cellular systems stabilize.
Portable earth station. NSF demonstrated a portable
satellite earth station during the 1998/99 field season
that uses GOES-3 for medium-bandwidth Internet service
to a large field camp. The success of the trial resulted
in the decision to use this system as an alternative
to HF radio for future large camps.
Other satellite activities
NSF and NASA have collaborated since 1994 on a major
satellite ground tracking facility at McMurdo. This
McMurdo Ground Station (MGS) initially was installed
to get synthetic aperture radar (SAR) mapping data
of Antarctica from the European ERS-1 and ERS-2 and
Canadian RADARSAT satellites. The MGS is now part
of the EOS Polar Ground Network of NASA, which includes
collaborating tracking stations at high latitudes
(Fairbanks, Spitsbergen, and McMurdo).
The high latitude of McMurdo renders it valuable to
NASA for recovering data from polar satellites, and
for command and telemetry with polar satellites. The
Air Force Weather Agency/Air Force Space Command and
the NOAA National Polar-Orbiting Operational Environmental
Satellite System also would like to recover satellite
weather data using McMurdo ground stations. NSF and
these agencies have begun discussions regarding the
possibility.
McMurdo thus can provide a cost effective means to
recover Earth-imaging satellite data while simplifying
the ground tracking infrastructure needed world-wide.
NSF anticipates a benefit to space scientists who
depend on rapid access to space-weather data from
these spacecraft. NSF also hopes to benefit from the
economies of scale involved in the increased demand
for commercial satellite communications to transport
the data in near-real time to the United States. NSF
would share costs with the space agencies in a way
that enables increased service to McMurdo at lower
cost for the NSF component.
Effect of tourism
Background. Compared to, say, the 48,900,000 foreign
tourists who visited the United States in 1997, the
antarctic tourist population is minuscule. Nevertheless,
the 10,026 antarctic tourists in the 1998-1999 austral
summer exceeded the summer population (about 4,000)
of the Antarctic Treaty nations' government programs,
although the number of tourist person-days was lower
than the person-days of government research and support
personnel.
The International Association of Antarctic Tour Operators
(IAATO) estimates the number of tourists in the coming
1999-2000 season will rise to more than 14,000, attributing
part of this surge to Millennium-stimulated travel.
But IAATO predicts "Antarctica will remain a specialized
and expensive niche destination offered by a limited
number of experienced operators focusing on educational
voyages to areas of exceptional natural history and
wilderness value."
Tourism helps to develop knowledge of the Antarctic,
but it introduces the potential for negative impacts
on the natural environment and research through the
risk and expense of diverting logistics from research
to rescue in tourism emergencies, of which there have
been several.
Environmental impact. Tourism potentially could affect
small sites, such as penguin rookeries, that are popular
destinations. Research results are mixed. A 1996 Australian
study shows significant reductions in Adélie penguin
hatching success and chick survival at a colony disturbed
by nest checking for scientific purposes and by station
personnel instructed to behave like tourists. On Torgersen
Island, near the U.S. Palmer Station, which real tourists
visit, NSF-supported research published in 1996 indicates
that "tourism as it is currently regulated at Palmer
Station does not affect Adélie penguin reproductive
success." A 1997 paper shows that some penguin populations
on islands near Palmer not visited by tourists have
decreased faster than on Torgersen Island. The confounding
effect of natural factors has led some scientists
to conclude that tourist impact studies need to be
based on long-term data collection and detailed studies
at key sites.
International response to antarctic tourism. The Antarctic
Treaty nations in 1998 adopted the Protocol on Environmental
Protection, which strengthens antarctic conservation
and waste management measures. The Protocol applies
to governmental and nongovernmental activities. In
addition, over the years, the Treaty system has considered
the effect of tourists and nongovernmental expeditions
at several of its consultative meetings. Results have
included publication of guidelines for visitors, recommendations
that expeditions be covered by insurance or some guarantee
to demonstrate responsibility for their activities,
and imposition of reporting requirements.
U.S. response. The U.S. Antarctic Program is attentive
to tourism. All three U.S. year-round antarctic research
stations are tourist destinations. The United States,
with its LC-130 long-range ski-equipped airplanes,
is uniquely capable of long-distance rescue. And nearly
half the antarctic tourists in recent years have been
from the United States.
In 1988 the National Science Foundation initiated annual
meetings with antarctic tour operators to allocate
visits to our research sites and to share information
on environmental protection, waste management, and
responses to incidents such as fuel spills. Partly
as a result, IAATO was founded in 1991 to promote
and practice safe and environmentally responsible
private-sector travel to the Antarctic.
The Protocol on Environmental Protection, mentioned
above, strengthens Antarctic Treaty environmental
protections that were in place as early as 1964. It
is implemented in the United States through the Antarctic
Conservation Act (PL 95-541), which applies to Americans
in Antarctica and to governmental and private expeditions
to Antarctica that are organized in the United States.
The U.S. Government does not support private antarctic
expeditions except in emergencies. NSF now requires
full cost recovery when it gives emergency assistance
and has invoked the practice four times, twice to
private adventure expeditions and twice to evacuate
ill tourists from cruise ships. We believe cost recovery
encourages more careful planning by tour companies,
expeditioners, and their financial sponsors.
For the U.S. Antarctic Program, the above measures
and the current numbers of antarctic tourists have
resulted in acceptable levels of visits to research
sites and, with a few notable exceptions, tolerable
impact on operations.
Conclusion
The United States is in its fifth continuous decade
of research in Antarctica. In 1957, when we started,
more than half the continent had not even been seen.
New findings continue to emerge today. In the last
year researchers netted four species of fish previously
unknown to science, drilled to the base of the ice
sheet to recover a core with critical information
on climate history, obtained an ocean-bottom core
revealing volcanic eruptions 25 million years ago
that affected the global environment, made precision
measurements of the cosmic background radiation at
South Pole to help determine the curvature of the
universe.
I am committed to assuring that forefront science activity
continues to thrive in the U.S. Antarctic Program,
even as we upgrade the infrastructure that underpins
it and sets the stage for future scientific advance.
Glossary
ASA - Antarctic Support Associates, Inc.
ASOS - Automatic Surface Observation Systems
ATC - Air Traffic Control
ATCALS - Air Traffic Control and Landing Systems
CFC - Chlorofluorocarbons
DGPS - Digital Global Positioning System
DoD - Department of Defense
DOE - Department of Energy
GPS - Global Positioning System
LC-130 - Ski-equipped C-130 Hercules heavy-lift transport
airplane
NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration
NOAA - National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
NSF - National Science Foundation
SeaWiFS - Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor satellite
SPAWARS - Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center
SPSE - South Pole Safety and Environment upgrade
SPSM - South Pole Station Modernization
USGS - U.S. Geological Survey
|
