What is it like to go on an Antarctic expedition?

Antarctica is a cold and mysterious continent, covered with endless secrets by its ice and snow. On December 30, 1984, the Chinese Antarctic Expedition landed on King George Island for the first time and planted the first five-star red flag in Antarctica. Since then, all changes in Antarctica have quickly attracted our attention. When we look at the map of the Antarctic continent, the Antarctic Peninsula, as the largest peninsula in western Antarctica, comes into view.

Antarctic map

The Antarctic Peninsula is one of the regions experiencing the most dramatic warming in the world, a phenomenon that has attracted widespread attention from scientists. In 2020, the Esperanza Station on the Antarctic Peninsula recorded a shocking maximum temperature of 18.3°C, setting a new high temperature record on the Antarctic continent, which poses new challenges to polar climate change research.

In early 2024, I started my expedition to the Antarctic Peninsula on a Chilean research vessel. As the only member of the expedition team with a meteorological background, I am particularly sensitive to meteorological information during the expedition. On the first day of the expedition, we set off from Punta Arenas, Chile, to the Antarctic Peninsula, but the flight was delayed several times due to weather conditions. A few hours before takeoff, there was still thick fog around the Antarctic Peninsula airport, which made us anxious, and every team member was looking forward to setting off as soon as possible.

The on-site environment in Antarctica is complex and changeable, and weather forecasts play a vital role in the arrangement and advancement of scientific research trips. After boarding the Chilean research ship, the sea ice forecast showed that the sea ice near James Ross Island was dense, forcing us to adjust the scientific research plan. So we turned our attention to the west coast of the Antarctic Peninsula and moved forward the original scientific research plan.

Fudge Island - the first stop of scientific research on the west coast of the Antarctic Peninsula

After more than a dozen landings, the expedition team successfully completed the expedition mission on the west coast of the Antarctic Peninsula. At this time, the sea ice forecast shows that the sea ice density near James Ross Island has significantly decreased, which is undoubtedly good news. The Antarctic Peninsula has long lacked on-site meteorological observation data, which has brought great difficulties to meteorological forecasting and climate change research. The purpose of my expedition is to improve this situation. James Ross Island was selected by me as the site for the establishment of one of the automatic meteorological observation stations because of its important climate representativeness.

The automatic weather observation station needs to be set up in a flat and open area far from the coast, which means that dozens of kilograms of weather station accessories must be moved to the setting point for assembly and testing. The adjective "looking at the mountain and running backwards" is very appropriate. I almost exhausted my physical strength after arriving at the setting point. However, the limited activity time on the island did not allow me to rest for a moment, and I had to start setting up immediately. After nearly four hours of setting up, the weather station passed the on-site observation test. I checked it repeatedly and immediately joined the team after confirming that it was correct. I boarded the rubber boat and looked at the weather station I set up gradually disappearing from my sight. My heart was full of expectations, hoping that it could operate stably and provide more precious on-site meteorological measurement data.

james ross i.

Douville Island was another installation point I selected. The previous wind and wave conditions forced the expedition team to postpone the installation of this point until the return trip. When we arrived near Douville Island again, the weather conditions on site only gave the expedition team a two-hour window of wind and waves, which brought a great test to the installation of the weather station. Individual strength is limited, but cooperation and mutual assistance are the fine traditions of the Antarctic expedition team. All the expedition team members worked together, and after an hour and a half of intense work, a new weather station was successfully installed and passed the on-site observation test. In addition to the increase in installation experience, teamwork is the key reason for this miracle.

Deauville Island

When we were returning to the ship in the rubber boat, the waves had become very rough and the boat was shaking constantly. Everyone was very nervous. The waves kept hitting the rubber boat, soaking everyone's body. The cold sea breeze kept attacking us, making every inch of our exposed skin feel the biting cold. Such a difficult and dangerous environment once again highlighted the important value of our scientific expedition.

During the expedition, we used almost all the available time and pushed ourselves and our team to the limit. Despite this, our exploration of the Antarctic Peninsula was still limited. The mysterious Antarctic and the beautiful peninsula made us reluctant to end this journey even though we were extremely tired. I feel extremely honored to be able to participate in the Antarctic expedition and set foot on this mysterious land; I feel particularly satisfied to be able to contribute to the meteorological cause of the polar regions.