- During these nine weeks, we have faced a range of weather conditions, including around ten days of storms. Nevertheless, we now feel confident that we have got it done, says ingenieur Ravn Rydtun. . 

Seven out of ten instruments have been successfully installed.After nine weeks of work and a one-hour tracked vehicle journey from Troll Station in Antarctica, the new NORSAR station is now in place. Ravn Rydland , Morten Hervik and Nils K. Schøyen are returning home — mission accomplished

In recent days, we have been focusing on final adjustments and attempting to activate the remaining instruments. Some of them appear to have been damaged during transport or have not withstood the cold after being stored for two years. These will be brought back home for inspection and repair, with the aim of returning them here at a later stage.

Our researchers at NORSAR report that the signal quality is satisfactory, which is very encouraging. This was one of the major uncertainties before our departure — whether the signals would successfully be transmitted.

Everyone has remained in good health throughout the expedition. Now, we are simply waiting for the Norwegian Polar Institute’s aircraft to land — and take off again — before we can begin our journey home shortly after the weekend.

In close collaboration with the Norwegian Polar Institute, a seismo-acoustic array station has now been established with funding from the Research Council of Norway. The station consists of a network of several seismometers and infrasound (acoustic) sensors arranged in a geometric pattern to enhance the detection, localisation, and characterisation of seismic events—such as earthquakes, explosions, and volcanic activity—as well as atmospheric sound. 

It was originally planned to be established at Troll, but because the government decided to upgrade the Troll research station — including the construction of a wind power facility for green energy — NORSAR had to relocate the measurement station away from the site. The direct reason for the move is the noise generated by the wind turbines. Additional funding for the relocation was provided by the Ministry of Climate and Environment (KLD).

Background

• Installed 10 seismic points, meaning ten seismometers lowered into steel wells placed in boreholes at 4 metres depth.

• Installed 9 infrasound points, meaning assembly of these “shower heads” – wind noise reduction branches, which will eliminate pressure and wind noise caused by the wind.

• Transported the container out with the assistance of the Norwegian Polar Institute and one of their “Troll beasts” (Prinoth Panther XL), a massive tracked transport machine.

• Assembled the steel framework around the container, which holds the solar panels (12 units), wind turbines (3 units) and communication equipment (mobile data antenna and Starlink in redundancy).

• The steel frames and container were supplied by Varia, the diesel generator by Coromatic, wind turbines by APRS World, communication by COM4 and UPS, while solar panels were supplied by DELTA.

• 8 lead batteries serving as a buffer bank for wind turbine charging.

• Installed 20 x 250Ah lithium batteries, 63kg each. These are hopefully charged by the wind turbines during the polar night so that the diesel generator can be used as little as possible.

Without any charging, this UPS can keep the station running for 3 weeks.

I