December 3, 1998
Web posted at: 12:25 PM EST

By Environmental News Network staff

Summer Camp is on the polar plateau at an elevation of 2,835 meters (9,450 ft), about 300 meters (1000 ft.) upstream from the geographic South Pole.

(ENN) -- The South Pole must be getting crowded. Along with the three intrepid adventurers on the IceTrek project trying to make an unassisted hike to the South Pole, four scientists who are studying chemistry at the South Pole are inviting students to come along -- virtually, that is.

The National Center for Atmospheric Research scientists are participating in a six-week data collection mission at the South Pole's new Clean Air Facility. The study, titled the Investigation of Sulfur Chemistry in the Antarctic Troposphere, is a two-part project, which will take them early next year to the equator.

Lee Mauldin, who will be stationed at the South Pole through mid-December, is maintaining a web site with frequent updates and kid-friendly language explaining the science, geography and logistics behind a South Pole expedition. The site is at http://www.acd.ucar.edu/spole.

"To me it's a neat thing just to be able to go [to the South Pole]," says Mauldin. He envisions the web site as a "virtual field trip." The site includes digital-camera photos and a link to Mauldin's electronic mailbox. "Hopefully we can get some input from schools and answer their questions by email," he says.

Known as the "hero" picture, the scientists are standing at the geographic South Pole.

He has already heard from Navajo students in New Mexico who are following his project through the web. Mauldin plans a similar web project next spring while he is in the South Pacific for a tropical field experiment.

Maudlin explains on the web site that there are actually two South Poles; one geographic and the other ceremonial. The geographic pole changes each year, as the ice drifts. The station where they're staying, known as Summer Camp, is on the polar plateau at an elevation of 2,835 meters (9,450 ft). The station is about 300 meters (1,000 ft.) upstream from the geographic South Pole and is drifting toward the South Pole at about 10 meters (33 feet) per year.

Since it's summer time, the scientists have 24 hours of daylight, and the average temperature is a not-too-balmy -28 degrees Celsius (-18 degrees Fahrenheit). The record high of -13.6 C (7.5 F) was recorded in December 1978, and a record low of -82.8 C (-117 F) was recorded in June 1982.

The goal of ISCAT is to study sulfate chemistry at the South Pole, a site with few human influences on atmospheric chemistry and no local sources of dimethyl sulfide or sulfur dioxide, the two primary sources of airborne sulfur. Air routinely sinks from higher altitudes to ground level at the South Pole. With its elevation of nearly two miles (three kilometers), air quality is comparable to that found elsewhere well above ground level.

The current field work is the first of two rounds scheduled for the four-year ISCAT program. The second field phase will take place in the fall of 2000 and will be keyed to answering questions that arise from this year's sampling. Years two and four will be devoted to data analysis.

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