Chinese expedition team to install laser radar in Antarctica

A Chinese expedition team will install laser radar at the Zhongshan Station in East Antarctica to fill in the gaps of the country’s research on upper atmosphere in the polar area.

Huang Wentao, researcher of the Polar Research Institute of China, said that the research team will install laser radar during the 35th expedition in the Antarctic summer, the Xinhua News Agency reported on Monday.

Huang noted that the laser radar can keep up 24-hour observation under clear weather conditions, which will improve Chinese analysis of the upper atmosphere.

“The laser radar is an instrument which detects the temperature of the upper atmosphere as well as wind speed and direction,” Zhang Xia, director of the Polar Strategy Center at the Polar Research Institute of China, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

An insider familiar with laser technology told the Global Times on condition of anonymity on Wednesday that the laser radar has high accuracy and resolution.

When used in measuring distance and transmitting information, it is free from outside disturbance, the insider said.

The Chinese expedition team plans to complete the assembly of the radar’s observation cabin and test its application to prepare for winter observation, Huang said.

According to the Xinhua News Agency, the location of the Zhongshan Station is ideal to research the upper atmosphere of the polar region, which is a blind spot in China’s Antarctica observation.

China’s 35th Antarctic expedition team onboard the research icebreaker Xuelong, also known as Snow Dragon, began their journey at a harbor in Shanghai on November 2.

The team claimed earlier that the major task was to build the first permanent airport for future Chinese Antarctic expeditions, the Science and Technology Daily reported on October 29.