Stations

Antarctic
Arctic

Station

Camp

Shelter

Laboratory

Station

Camp

Shelter

Laboratory

Background

Facility Name	German Antarctic Receiving Station (GARS) O'Higgins
Website	http://www.dlr.de/gars
Location	Antarctic
Current status of facility	Open
Type	Station
Operating country	Germany
INTERACT Status	None
First opened/Opening year	1991
Operational period	Year-Round

Introduction

Facility name and Operator	GARS-O'Higgins, German Aerospace Center (DLR)
Location	The German Antarctic Receiving Station GARS O'Higgins is located on Cape Legoupil, ca. 30 km southwest of the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula on Isabel Riquelme Islet, also known as Peninsula Schmidt. GARS O'Higgins is in the vicinity of the Chilean Base General Bernardo O'Higgins. At low tides, there exists a connection to the mainland.
Biodiversity and natural environment	The island is 150 m wide and 200 m long and is covered by rock and debris areas. The station was build on rock, which enables geodetic long-term observations.
History and Facilities	GARS was opened in 1991 at this place, because of the good geological conditions and the good satellite visibility for receiving satellite data. The station's nearness to the South Pole means more frequent contacts with polar orbiting satellites. The most prominent feature is the 9-m full motion tracking antenna. The GARS O'Higgins station is comprised of a total of 35 20-feed ISO containers, subdivided into two separate units: a main building (15 containers) with living, sleeping and working facilities as well as the majority of the station technique. The second part is an infrastructure building (20 containers).
General research and databases	The GARS O’Higgins station is an unrivalled Antarctic station for acquiring earth observation data, satellite operations, geodetic measurements, researching change processes on the Antarctic Peninsula and enabling maritime services in this part of the world.
Human dimension	The station staff is performing the station operations, maintainance, upgrades etc. Usually no exploration activities in the surrounding area are performed.
Access	GARS can be reached by ship and by aircraft. Ship landings in the summer months depend on the sea ice conditions. Via aircraft, the station can be reached year-round: from Punta Arenas, Chile, to King George Island with Hercules C-130 transport machines of the Chilean, Braziliean or Uruguayan air force (Fuerza Aérea de Chile (FACh), Forca Aérea Brasileria (FAB), Fuerza Aérea Uruguaya (FAU), respectively), from King George Island to O'Higgins with DHC-6 Twin Otters (FACh) or helicopters (FACh).

Operator

Facility operator/manager	German Aerospace Center (DLR)
Type of entity	Government
Institution managing/operating the facility	German Aerospace Center (DLR)

Data Source

Date of last update

0000-00-00

Partner Institution

Partnership	Yes
Partner Institution Name (1)	Federal Agency for Cartography and Geodesy (BKG)

Location

Station code	CO1205
Geographical coordinates - Latitude	63° 19' 0'' S
Geographical coordinates - Longitude	57° 54' 0'' W
Region	Antarctic Peninsula
Antarctic Environmental Domain	A - Antarctic Peninsula northern geologic
Antarctic Conservation Biogeographic Region	3 North-west Antarctic Peninsula
Altitude of facility (m)	17
Min. altitude within study area (m)	0
Distance to nearest transport facility (airstrip/helipad/dock - km)	1
Distance to nearest station (km)	1
Type of surface facility built on	Ice-free ground

Climate

Permafrost	None
Climate zone	Coastal Antarctica
Precipitation type	Snow
Mean annual wind speed (km/h)	35
Dominant wind direction	N
Period of temperature measurements	01/01/1963 to 31/12/1999
Mean annual temperature (°C)	-3.9
Mean temperature in January (°C)	1
Mean temperature in February (°C)	0
Mean temperature in March (°C)	-1
Mean temperature in April (°C)	-4
Mean temperature in May (°C)	-6
Mean temperature in June (°C)	-8
Mean temperature in July (°C)	-9
Mean temperature in August (°C)	-8
Mean temperature in September (°C)	-6
Mean temperature in October (°C)	-4
Mean temperature in November (°C)	-2
Mean temperature in December (°C)	0
Snow free period	January; February; December

Features

Features in the facility area

Bird colonies; Coast; Fauna; Hill; Ice cap or glacier; Rock; Sea; Sea ice; Snow

Disciplines

Main science disciplines	Environmental sciences; Geodesy; Glaciology; Mapping
Other science disciplines	Remote Sensing, NRT Sea Ice Monitoring

Human Activities

Human activity	Yes
History of human presence in the area	Chilean station existing since 1948
Long term monitoring	No
Waste management	Yes
Hazard[ous] management	Yes
Fuel spill response capability	Yes

Infrastructure

Station code	CO1205
Area under roof (m2)	500
Scientific laboratories (m2)	50
Type of scientific laboratories	Other
Other type	Offices
Logistics (m2)	1500
Number of beds	10
Showers	Yes
Laundry facilities	Yes
Power supply (type)	Fossil fuel
Power supply (V)	220
Power supply (hours per day)	24
Hydroponics facilities	No data

Staff Capacity

Number of staff on station (peak/summer season)	10
Number of scientists on station (peak/summer season)	8
Number of staff on station (off peak/winter season)	4
Number of scientists on station (off peak/winter season)	2
Max number of personnel at a time (staff, scientists and other)	10
Number of tourists (annual average)	0

Scientific Equipment

Specific devices / Scientific equipment)	9 m radio teleskope, GPS, tide gauges, corner reflectors, meteorological instruments
Scientific services	Near-real time (NRT) service for sea ice monitoring
Long-term monitoring/observations	VLBI measurements, determination of the earth orientation parameters, observation of crustal motions of the northern Antarctic peninsula, Long term time series of EO data over Antarctic Peninsula

Medical Facilities

Medical facilities	No
Area of medical facility (m2)	0
Staff with relevant training	None
Beds	0
Closest emergency facility in Antarctica (km)	135
Compulsory safety equipment	1st aid equipment available
Medical research capabilities	No
Medical screening requirements	No

Vehicles

Land transportation

small transport vehicle available

Workshop facilities

Mechanical; Metal workshop

Communications

Computer; E-mail; Internet; Printer; Satellite phone; Telephone; VHF

Access

Air; Sea

Aircraft landing facilities

Description of airstrips	The airstrip used is belonging to the Chilean neighbour station Gen. Bernardo O'Higgins, located on the glacier above the stations.
Helipad	Yes

Transport and freight

Transport to facility	Airplane; Helicopter; Ship
No. of ship visits per year	0