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Airfields on Antarctic Glacierice

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Airfields on Antarctic Glacierice AD-A217 638 ©2E[2 EL DI FILCOPYM US Army Corps 89-w21 of Engineers REPORT Cold Regions Research & Engineering Laboratory Airfields on Antarctic glacierice Vu., vA2 2~ FEB 0C DLSPM ONSAEM-T r it Cover: Blue ice areas near the Scott Glacier. There is a possible landing field at 86035"S, 148025"W (5600 ft-or 1700 m-a.s.L ), but approaches are obstructed by mountains on thrae sides. CRREL Report 89-21 December 1989 Airfields on Antarctic glacier ice Malcolm Mellor and Charles Swithinbank Prepared for DIVISION OF POLAR PROGRAMS NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION 2 0 Approved for public release: distribution is unlimited. 9 0 u UNCLASSIFIED S ccuRvfc CAIION OF Tits PAGE REPORT DOCUMENTATION PAGE O O.o-'W.o U _ __ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ __ __ _ ___ __ _ _ _ _Emo Oote:.A 3u0. Q66 loo REPORT.S nCU ,.WC ,WAN IS.RESTICITV Aft.G,,.S Unclassified 20. SECURi 1Y CLA$CAWIN AWHORAY 3, M~IM OUIIONIAVAJ1AMUIY0F REPOill 1,rApproved for public release; 2. oowN-o SCHE distribution Wunlimited. 4, PROnMN4 GaWWJAI*. REPORT NUMER 5, MOM= O O%;,%A N EEPORI T'VS18EINS) CRREL Report $9-21 60, NAMIE OF PEAF0CRM4.G 0WANZATA' 6b. OfF)EVL 7o. NAME OF MONM1OR'.NG OW~AINVUA U.S. Army Cold Regions Research (ioprcob.) National Science Foundation and Engineering Laboratory CECRL Division of Polar Programs on4PSS(5V.?WFWCo**) 70. AOESS CC-) $1-04. andZP COO#.) 72 Lyme Road 1800 G St., NW Hanover, N.H.03755-1290 Washington, D.C.20550 Go. NAME OF FJ-.'D-G1PON'j0RrN Wo OFFICE SYMBOL 9. PRTOCMEMENT INSTrUENT OENTIFICATION tJMIEfl OGANIATiON NSF #DPPS$7-001 ft AoRESS (0t S.ote. 0n0dZP CoM) 10. SOURCE OF FUNDING NUMBERS PROGRAMi I RECT ITASKC WOR~ NT ELEMENT NO. NO. NO. ACCES"ON NO. I1, TITLE (Oick)o SOCEWiY OCWCotko') Airfields on Antarctic Glacier Ice 12. PERSONAL AUTKORS) Mellor, Malcolm and Swithinbank, Charles 13o. WiPE OF REPORT 13t. TIME COVERED 14. DATE OF Montn. o) I&PORTOY.15 PAGE COUNT FROM _ O - Decenber 1989 105 16. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTATION 17 COSATI CODES IS.SUJECT IEns (ContIb on to v#4 if nceot ond &W MY by blockrn nb) FIELD GROUP SUB.GROIJP Airfields Cold regions Land ice Runways Antarctica Ice . Polar cap Blue ice ke runways. Polar regions .19. ABIRACT (ContkOw on tevere ntceo=y aond4.ntV'fi by bloc: nrmi The physical characteristics of blue-ice ablation areas in Antarctica are described and some representative ablation rates are given. The possibilities for using blue-ice areas as airfields are outlined and exploratory surveys are men- tioned. Site details are given for icefields at Mount Howe, Mill Glacier, Patriot Hills, Rosser Ridge, Mount Lechner, S1 near Casey station, and on the Ross Ice Shelf near McMurdo station. The surface roughness of blue ice is dis- cussed, microrelief surveys are presented for Mount Howe and Patriot Hills, and spectral analyses are used to de- velop relations between bump height and wavelength. U.S. military specifications for the roughness limits of various types of runways are summrized and graphical comparisons are made with the roughness analyses for Mount Howe and Patriot Hills. Special machines for smoothing ice runways are discussed and design specifications are de- veloped. Some notes on ground facilities and ground transport are included. Appendices give discussions of weather patterns in the Transantarctic Mountains and methodology for making spectral analyses of surface roughness. It is concluded that glacier-ice airfields for conventional transport aircraft can be developed at low cost in Antac- tica. Recommendations for further work are offered. 20. DISTR[BU]ION/AVAILABIUiY OF ABSTRACT 21. ABSRACT SECURITY CLASSIFICATION IN UNCLASSIFIED/UNUMITED E3 SAME AS RPT. E DTIC USERS Unclassified 22a. NAME OF RESPONSIBLE INDIDUAL 22b. TELEPHONE (Include Areo Code) 2^r. OFFICE SYMBOl Malcolm Mellor 603-6464100 1 _iCRL-EE DD FORM 1473, 84 MAR 83 APR edition may be used until exhousted. SECURIY CLASSIFICATON OF THIS PAGE All other editions ate obsolete. UNCLASSIFIED PREFACE This is an Interim report on current studies directed towards the development of hard- surface airfields on Antarctic glacier ice. It provides a record of information that has been gathered so far and gives guidelines for future efforts. The work was carried out by Dr. Mal- colm Mellor, Experimental Engineering Division, USA CRREL, and by Dr. Charles Swithin- bank, CRREL consultant, under a continuing program of Antarctic Engineering Services for the Division of Polar Programs, National Science Foundation (DPP 87-001). The authors are grateful to R.La Count and his colleagues in the Polar Operations Section of DPP/NSF for supporting the work and providing the chartered Twin Otter aircraft. They are also grnteful for support in the field from CRREL colleagues, from employees of the logis- tics contractor, ITT Antarctic Services Inc., from personnel of the U.S. Navy (NSFA and VXE- 6), and particularly from the pilots and mechanics of Kenn Borek Air Ltd. Valuable help was provided by !heU.S. Geological Survey (air photographs and maps) and by the Technical Communication Branch at CPREL (typesetting, illustrating, editing, and ,oforh). The contents of this report are not to be usee for advertising or promotional purposes. Ci- tation of brand names does not constitute an official endorsement or approval of the use of such commercial products. Acces o, For NTIS CRAMI ] DTIC TAB 0 U:,dnnouticed 0 JosN1hcationl. -. Distribution I a' Av,11t , A,A, a. CONTENTS Absbcctt.................................................................................................................................. i Preface ....................................................................................................................................ii Introduction ...........................................................................................................................I Blue-ice areas .........................................................................................................................3 Blue-ice areas as airfield sites .........................................................................................4 The formation of blue-ice areas .....................................................................................6 Ablation rates at blue-ice areas ......................................................................................8 Exploratory surveys at blue-ice areas ...........................................................................11 Mount Howe .....................................................................................................................11 Mill Glacier / Plunket Point .......................................................................................27 Patriot Hills .......................................................................................................................37 Rosser Ridge .....................................................................................................................42 Mount Lechner .................................................................................................................45 The S-1 site near Casey station .....................................................................................48 The McMurdo "Pegasus Site".................................................................................... 48 Surface roughness of blue ice ...........................................................................................53 Analysis and characterization of surface roughness ...............................................57 Surface preparation to reduce ice roughness ...........................................................61 Ground facilities ...................................................................................................................65 Ground transport ..................................................................................................................66 Conclusions and recommendations ...............................................................................67 Literature cited and selected references .........................................................................69 Appendix A: Survey data for Patriot Hills, Mount Howe and Mill Glacier .............71 Appendix B: Analysis of surface roughness at blue-ice sites .......................................81 Appendix C: Meteorological conditions to be expected in summer in the Trans- antarctic Mountains ......................................................................................................85 ILLUSTRATIONS Figure 1.Locations of places discussed in this report .............................................................2 2. An area of snow-free blue ice downwind of a rock mass .......................................4 3. Blue ice on a valley glacier (Ramsey Glacier) ....................... 55. 4. Typical rough texture of the ice surface near Mount Howe .................................7 5. Scalloped ice surface at Mount Howe ......................................................................7 6. Monthly mean ablation rates for a blue-ice area that is subject to strong ablation .......................................................................................................................9 7. Ski-wheel Twin Otter at the South Pole ................................................................10 8. Internal fuel tanks fitted inside the cabin of the Twin Otter for long-range operations .............................. ............ 10 9. Location map for Mount Howe ..............:............................................................
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