Space science research from Antarctica - Antarctica: Global Science from a Frozen Continent - page 221

Figure 7.8 Ward Helms, left, and Michael Trimpi, right,
record upper-atmosphere radio noise in a building
constructed under the ice at Byrd Station during
the International Geophysical Year. The Very Low
Frequency (VLF) hut at Byrd station was a buried vault
2135m north of the main station complex. These
Stanford University projects were related to what would
become the ongoing VLF projects that continue to this
day at the South Pole and other sites across the Antarctic
continent. VLF measurements are essential in remote
sensing the ionosphere and magnetosphere.
(Credit: NSF)

Figure 7.9 Space weather effects on technologies. (Credit: Alcatel-Lucent/New Versey Institute

of Technology)

frequencies can be measured in the Antarctic at much lower signal intensities
than generally possible in the northern hemisphere. In fact, the measurement
of VLF waves in the Antarctic enabled the discovery of the plasmapause before
spacecraft measurements were made of this magnetosphere feature.