Revision as of 17:03, 28 July 2017

Research stations

Arun Ram, Bharti to be 3rd Indian station in Antarctica, August 6, 2009: The Times of India

Twenty-five years after it established Dakshin Gangotri, the first permanent research station in the South Polar region, India is all set to build the third such centre in Antarctica at a cost of Rs 230 crore to take up cutting-edge research in various fields. The station, named Bharti became operational by 2012, making India a member of an elite group of nine nations that have multiple stations in the region.

Dakshin Gangotri, set up in 1984, was buried in ice and had to be abandoned in 1990, a year after India set up Maitri, the second station. The National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research (NCAOR), Goa, will set up the new station on Larsmann Hill, 3,000 km from Schirmacher Oasis, where Maitri stands. While Maitri was more than 100 km from the Antarctic Sea, Bharti will be on a promontory by the sea. "This will enable us to take up rare research on the marine ecology of the polar region. Antarctica is a continent spread across 13 million sqkm and we thought we shouldn't confine ourselves to just one area," NCAOR director Rasik Ravindran told.

Bharti, like Maitri, also conducts research on seismic activity, climate change and medicine. The station is a compact structure of 30x50 metres, accommodating 25 scientists. While living in Antarctica, where temperatures range from -89 degrees Celsius in winter to -25 degrees Celsius in summer, can be tough, constructing a permanent structure is a huge challenge. "With wind speeds crossing 40 knots, manoeuvring ships to Antartica is a challenging job. We're also considering transportation of materials on ice that could be more than 1.5 metres thick, from the ship's mooring point to the construction site, using special vehicles," said Rajasekhar, head of vessel management, National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT), Chennai, which handles the logistics.

Dakshin Gangotri: India’s first scientific base

India Today.in , Gangotri at the South Pole “India Today” 15/12/2016

1983

Antarctic research

Gangotri at the South Pole

In 1983, India's first scientific base station in Antarctica was established, about 2,500 kilometres from the South Pole. Named Dakshin Gangotri, it was constructed during the third Indian expedition to Antarctica. The station was built in record time-eight weeks-by an 81-member team, and was powered by solar energy. It was abandoned in 1988-89, after it was submerged in ice. Before it was shut down, the base hosted an automatic weather recording station, and was also used to perform scientific tests on radio transmission. It also served as a hub for experiments in physical oceanography, chemical analyses of freshwater lakes in the area, as well as geology, glaciology and geomagnetism. After the base was rendered inoperable, a new research station, Maitri-which also served as India's first permanent station at the South Pole-was constructed about 90 km away, in 1988. It serves as a base for front-ranking research and developments in basic and environmental sciences.