Byrd Station

History

A joint Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines operation supported an overland tractor train traverse that left out of Little America V in late 1956 to establish the station. The train was led by Army Major Merle Dawson and completed a traverse of 646 mi over unexplored country in Marie Byrd Land to blaze a trail to a spot selected beforehand. The station consisted of a set of four prefabricated buildings and was erected in less than one month by U.S. Navy Seabees. It was commissioned on January 1, 1957. The original station ("Old Byrd") lasted about four years before it began to collapse under the snow.

Byrd was one of seven bases that the United States built for the International Geophysical Year, which also included McMurdo, Hallett, Wilkes, Admundsen-Scott (South Pole Station), Ellsworth, and Little America.

Construction of a second underground station in a nearby location began in 1960, and it was used until 1972. The Operation Deep Freeze activities were succeeded by "Operation Deep Freeze II", and so on, continuing a constant U.S. presence in Antarctica since that date. The Coast Guard participated: USCGC Northwind supported the mission 1971–72, 1972–73, 1976–77, 1979–80. The Navy's Antarctic Development Squadron Six had been flying scientific and military missions to Greenland and the arctic compound's Williams Field since 1975. In early 1996, the United States National Guard announced that the 109th Airlift Wing at Schenectady County Airport in Scotia, New York was slated to assume that entire mission from the United States Navy in 1999. The 109th operated ski-equipped LC-130s had been flying National Science Foundation support missions to Antarctica since 1988. The Antarctic operation would be fully funded by the National Science Foundation. The 109th expected to add approximately 235 full-time personnel to support that operation. The station was then converted into a summer-only field camp until it was abandoned in 2004–05.

John P. Turtle, an aurora researcher at Byrd Station in 1962, gave his name to Turtle Peak.

The National Science Foundation, which manages the U.S. Antarctic Program (USAP), had plans as of June 2009 to build a new camp to support a number of scientific projects in West Antarctica, including work at Pine Island Glacier. The camp, located about 1,400 kilometers from the USAP's main facility, McMurdo Station, will support up to 50 people and will be used mainly as a refuelling station to support flights in the region. A second field camp near Pine Island Glacier, for a project led by NASA scientist Robert Bindschadler, was also planned. That facility will support helicopter operations to the ice shelf.

Climate

Byrd Station has an ice cap climate (EF), with all months consistently having a below-freezing average temperature.

During its operation the station has recorded a warming trend, with warming fastest in its winter and spring. The spot, which is in the heart of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, is one of the fastest-warming places on Earth.

|Jan record high C = 5.0 |Feb record high C = -3.3 |Mar record high C = -8.9 |Apr record high C = -8.3 |May record high C = -8.3 |Jun record high C = -10.6 |Jul record high C = -12.2 |Aug record high C = -13.9 |Sep record high C = -10.0 |Oct record high C = -12.8 |Nov record high C = -6.1 |Dec record high C = 1.1

|Jan record low C = -28.9 |Feb record low C = -40.0 |Mar record low C = -51.1 |Apr record low C = -56.7 |May record low C = -61.7 |Jun record low C = -61.1 |Jul record low C = -60.6 |Aug record low C = -62.2 |Sep record low C = -62.2 |Oct record low C = -58.3 |Nov record low C = -43.3 |Dec record low C = -34.4

| access-date = February 19, 2014}}

References

References

1. "The Antarctic Sun: Byrd History, June 12, 2009". [[The Antarctic Sun]].
2. Frazier, P.W., 1957, Across the Frozen Desert to Byrd Station: National Geographic Magazine, v. CXII, p. 383-398.
3. (2022-07-01). "Celebrating the 65th anniversary of the International Geophysical Year {{!}} NSF - National Science Foundation".
4. [[Operation Deep Freeze#Operation Deep Freeze I]]
5. "The Antarctic Sun: Byrd Camp Resurfaces, June 12, 2009". [[The Antarctic Sun]].
6. "The Antarctic Sun: Going to the Edge, November 22, 2007". [[The Antarctic Sun]].
7. [http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/347241/description/West_Antarctica_warming_fast ''West Antarctica warming fast; Temperature record from high-altitude station shows unexpectedly rapid rise''] {{Webarchive. link. (September 11, 2013 December 21, 2012 [[Science News]])