Logistics
In the polar regions, the harsh conditions and the remoteness of the working areas present considerable challenges to the logistics of expeditions. However, the BGR scientists and their guests from other polar research institutions benefit from the logistics department's well-established procedures and contacts, which have been built up over decades.
Logistics in the Antarctic
BGR's Antarctic research is focused on Victoria Land, located in the Ross Sea Sector. Here, Gondwana Station serves as the logistical base for the GANOVEX programme, which is carried out in close cooperation with other national Antarctic programmes. BGR also works closely with international partners in Dronning Maud Land. Of particular note is the collaboration with the Alfred Wegener Institute, which operates Neumayer Station III, and the Belgian Antarctic Programme, which operates Princess Elisabeth Station at the foot of the Sør Rondane mountains.
Gondwana Station with a small ecological footprint
BGR uses the Gondwana Station on Cape Möbius at Gerlache Inlet in Terra Nova Bay for its logistics in the Ross Sea region. The station has only been in operation during the Antarctic summer since 1983 and is the starting point for expeditions to Victoria Land and neighboring areas. The BGR works closely with the Italian Antarctic program PNRA and the South Korean Polar Research Institute KOPRI, which operate their own stations in the vicinity. This means that BGR can often use the supply trips of these Antarctic programs for its own logistics. The Gondwana Station has repair and recreation rooms, a kitchen and sanitary facilities. Up to 25 scientists and logistics staff can work there. The station only has limited sleeping capacity indoors, so most of the overnight accommodation is in tents outside on the station grounds. Between 2015 and 2017, the station was extensively modernized, including the energy, water and waste supply, and is now considered one of the most environmentally friendly research stations in Antarctica. It can now be used for at least another 25 years.
Logistics in the Arctic
Research in the Arctic always takes place under the conditions and according to the rules of the nation states on whose territory the scientists are visiting. This makes things easier in terms of logistics, as there are usually local contacts.
With the exception of the glacier-covered areas of Greenland, Spitsbergen, Ellesmere Island and Alaska, the vast tundra and mountain regions of the Arctic are largely ice-free, unlike the Antarctic. In order to carry out expeditions, it is therefore necessary to set up a logistics chain that covers two important points: the transport of equipment and personnel from the northernmost regional airfield to the expedition area, which can be several hundred kilometers away, and back, and the construction of a base camp in which the expedition participants can live and work largely self-sufficiently for up to eight weeks. In order to be able to carry out the work in an area of around 500 km2 around a base camp, helicopters are usually stationed there, which considerably increases the logistical effort due to the additional provision of fuel. At the end of an expedition, the camp area must be returned to its natural state as far as possible and all equipment and waste flown out again. Ideally, nothing should be visible of a base camp once the terrain work has been completed.
Impressions from the Antarctic and the Arctic
