Various Technologies Guiding McMurdo Development

Developing, Refining, and Ultimately Building Designs that are Responsive to the Antarctic Environment

April 22, 2016

Several technologies are being employed as part of the planning and design process for the re-build of McMurdo Station. Among them is snow deposition modeling. This particular modeling allows us to not only predict snow accumulation patterns at McMurdo, but also guide us in adjusting our designs to reduce snow build-up in certain areas, thereby reducing maintenance requirements.

Snow build-up is inevitable in this environment, and although we can't eliminate snow removal altogether, our goal is to manage that necessary effort effectively and efficiently. For example, we are interested in ensuring that entrances and access points for both pedestrians and vehicles are naturally scoured by wind, or able to be easily maintained by equipment. Snow removal using heavy equipment or even hand shoveling can be costly and time consuming, so we are focusing on minimizing such effort, and maximizing natural scouring based on good design and engineering.

Using this important tool, along with others, enables us to further develop, refine, and ultimately build our designs that are responsive to their immediate environment. Stay tuned for more on the development of McMurdo.