NORSAR's engineers Ravn (26) and Morten (38) are now travelling to Antarctica and Troll. They are to establish a new station where NORSAR listens to the Earth.

For three months they will be in Antarctica in temperatures down to minus 30 degrees and build a completely new station for NORSAR.

• We are going to establish a seismo-acoustic array station. A network of several seismometers and infrasound sensors (acoustic sensors) placed in a geometric pattern to improve detection, localisation and characterisation of seismic events (such as earthquakes, explosions, volcanic activity) and sound in the atmosphere, says the head of the National Data Centre at NORSAR, Jon Magnus Christensen, who continues:
• We were supposed to establish it at Troll, but because the government has decided to upgrade the Troll research station and, among other things, install a wind power station for green energy, NORSAR had to move the monitoring station away from this facility. The direct reason is the noise that the wind turbines will create.
  
  
  

Morten and Ravn outside NORSAR

Jon Magnus is clear that this will be challenging:

• Logistics, weather and wind, in general the complexity, this is some of the most demanding we have done at NORSAR. We need to see if more have to travel in the final phase to manage to complete the facility before the season ends in early March.

Ravn and Morten are travelling now, first to Cape Town and then out to the Troll platform as soon as the weather permits. A white Christmas is guaranteed.

• I was down there for a few days last year. It was useful experience to bring with me for this long session this year, says Ravn Rydtun and tells more about the background together with Morten Hervik:
• To obtain precise measurements it is crucial to place the instruments in an area with minimal background noise. The government is building a new Norwegian research station in Queen Maud Land. A requirement for the new station is that it should have renewable energy solutions, such as wind turbines. Since our instruments are sensitive and the wind turbines will create vibrations in the ground, we inspected a new site last year, Armlenet, 11 km from the Troll station. It is located outside the established power grid but NORSAR has extensive experience from off-grid operation in challenging climates on Svalbard and is well equipped for the task.

The observatory will be made autonomous to limit the need for supervision. That is what we are going to build now in the coming weeks.

• Two men, three months, an extremely important mission – what are you most anxious and excited about?
• The worst is if we have forgotten something in the packing, exclaims Ravn and his eyes show anxiety.
• Agreed, replies Morten – and the second worst is if we turn it on and we don't get a signal… and so cannot send the data home.

They look at each other. And we can see that this will not be a ‘dance on roses’. They will travel one hour by tracked vehicle away from Troll every day to work alone installing the station. They imagine it will be a tough hour ‘home’ every evening after a 10-hour work shift. The station is to be anchored to solid rock. The normal temperature is minus 20-30 degrees. Equipment and clothing are packed in a container sent a few weeks earlier. They live at Troll, eating breakfast and dinner there.
 

Morten and Ravn in front of a screen showing Antarctica

If everything goes as planned, data collection will start in spring 2026.

The infrastructure is part of the Troll Observation Network (TONe) project led by the Norwegian Polar Institute and funded by the Research Council of Norway. The TONe project is an important national initiative that will provide unique opportunities for Norwegian and international research.

• I’m most looking forward to it. It will be a fantastic experience out there. At Troll I experienced a great environment last year. There are 20-30 people, mostly men, all Norwegian. There will be some walks and film evenings, says Ravn.
• This is our first long trip together. We might also have to share a room for a couple of nights if Troll is full or the weather stops us, says Morten who has been to Jan Mayen a couple of times for six months:
• The toughest thing to deal with is that everything you do takes one and a half times longer – that’s just how it is. We take our time to do it properly and safely. 10 hours every day. Just dressing and undressing takes 20-30 minutes.