The Arrival Heights Laboratory consists of a green elevated building (NZ) and a white hut (US) located within area 122 of the Antarctic Specially Protected Area. The area is an electromagnetic quiet zone,[4] but some electronic noise was created by the installation of wind turbines in 2009.[5]
Scientists from New Zealand came to area 122 in 1959.[6] An Auroral Radar Station was established by New Zealand at Arrival Heights in 1959.[7] 15 tonnes of radar and building materials were brought to the area in February 1960, and Arrival Heights Laboratory was completed in two days. The initial purpose of the base was to understand the nature of the aurora australis and its effect on radio communications. A new radar hut and storage facilities were constructed in December 1963. It currently researches upper atmosphere, trace gas monitoring, geomagnetic studies, and air quality surveys, most of which are conducted by NIWA.[7]
Activities
Lidars are hosted by Arrival Heights Laboratory for McMurdo Station.[8] Equipment for low frequency radar and aurora studies is housed at the laboratory for universities.[9] It houses both New Zealand and United States instrumentation, including a Dobson ozone spectrophotometer. The remote location makes the laboratory particularly suitable for the use of instruments sensitive to local and external noise and electromagnetic interference.[7]
A poster of projects supported by the United States Antarctic Program Research Associate, of which a majority are located at Arrival Heights.
Climate
Between February 1999 and April 2009, the maximum temperature in the area was 7.1°C on 30 December 2001, while the minimum was -49.8°C on 21 July 2004.[10] Air quality monitoring started in 1992, and the quality has declined as of 2023, due to emissions from McMurdo Station or Scott Base.[11]
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