Observatories in Antarctica

Some historical landmarks

The history of magnetic measurements in Antarctica and the surrounding oceans can be traced back to the expeditions looking for the South Magnetic Pole (see Fogg, 1992 for a review). Until the turn of the 19th/20th century, all measurements were performed at sea, on ships including Gauss (E. Drygalski expedition, 1901–1903) and Discovery (first R.F. Scott expedition, 1901–1904), both being equipped with a magnetic observatory (Lüdecke, 2003). The first confirmed landing (although certainly not really the first one), can be credited to C. Borchgrevink's expedition (1893–1895), whose party reached Cape Adare and made some magnetic measurements there (Fogg, 1992). If we define the Antarctic region as that being south of 60° S the longest span of data is that collected at the observatory of Orcadas del Sur (South Orkneys, IAGA code ORC). This observatory was founded by R.C. Mossman in 1903 during the expedition led by W.S. Bruce, 1902–1904, (Moneta, 1951). Many...