Delivery Scenarios for a Long Antarctic Oversnow Traverse

摘要

A recently completed interdisciplinary study assessed the feasibility of a 1600 km oversnow trail connecting McMurdo Station, Antarctica, to Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. Aircraft (specialized ski-wheel Hercules or airdrop) are currently the only means of delivering large volumes of materials to the South Pole. In addition to personnel and their needs (food, scientific equipment, etc.), more than 1.1M liters of fuel are needed annually and 1.1M kg of construction supplies for station modernization are required annually for the next eight years. This airlift seriously taxes the current US Antarctic Program's air resources during the 100-day South Pole flight season and constitutes a significant expense. Preliminary calculations suggested that an oversnow transportation system could provide considerable life-cycle cost savings. Results are reported elsewhere of the field study to determine feasible candidate routes and what driving conditions are likely to be encountered. This paper describes a) the process of determining the appropriate vehicle(s) for such a long, unsupported traverse, b) comparison of the two best candidate routes, and c) calculations of round-trip travel time, consumed fuel and deliverable payload. The latter statistics are compared to the current air delivery system and show the traverse to be twice as efficient, if speed of delivery isn't required.