by Ria Olivier | Jun 20, 2020 | Antarctica, International Days, Research, SANAE, SANAP, Science
“Auroras provide direct visual evidence that the atmosphere is shielding life on Earth from the radiation hazards of space.” – Michael Kosch, SANSA.
Today Overwintering Teams are celebrating Midwinter. With this in mind we would like to share some information on Aurora Australis. The research on Auroras in SANAP would be under the jurisdiction of SANSA. Although they do not currently have an aurora program, there is a possibility of doing research on it in the future. The spectacular and beautiful auroras, usually seen at polar latitudes, are caused by high energy particles bombarding the upper-atmosphere. These particles originate from the sun and travel across the void towards Earth as the solar wind, moving at around 500 km/sec.
About 10% of the solar wind becomes trapped on the Earth’s magnetic field lines in a process called magnetic reconnection, the rest is rejected and flows past the planet into deep space. The trapped particles accumulate, but this cannot go on forever. They are eventually released into the upper-atmosphere in a process called substorms, exciting the atomic oxygen and molecular nitrogen to produce the familiar green and red colours from oxygen, and sometimes the blue colour as well from nitrogen. Charged particles, such as electrons and protons, are constrained to follow the magnetic field lines, and since the Earth’s magnetic field is similar to a dipole bar magnetic, it is only in polar regions where the magnetic field lines reach down to the ground, which is why the auroras appear mostly in polar regions.
Auroras appear in the height range 100 to 300 km above the Earth’s surface, typically with red, green and blue appearing near the top, middle and bottom, respectively, of this height range. The height of the auroras, and therefore their colour, depends on the energy of the particles, with higher energy able to penetrate to lower altitudes. Auroras are rarely seen at lower latitudes such as South Africa except during major geomagnetic storms, an example of which occurred in 1989 when auroras were visible from Durban.
The following are a few articles in the South African Journal on Antarctic Research available on the Antarctic Legacy of South Africa (ALSA) digital repository
Geomagnetism and Aurora Programme in Antarctica – Short summary of the Aurora and Magnetic Programmes in Antarctica by G Kuhn
WAND auroral imager for SANAE written by G Hough and MWJ Scourfield.
Aurorae are optical emissions excited by the collisions of charged particles with the upper atmosphere at about 100 km, the altitude of the ionospheric E-region. In fact, the ionosphere has often been likened to a giant TV screen. For the latter, the electrons are fired from an electron gun, whereas the sources of high energy electrons that cause aurorae are located in the magnetosphere. One of the central problems in space physics is locating the sources and mechanisms causing the acceleration of auroral particles. The Wide Angle No Distortion (WAND) was designed, prototype built, and tested at SANAE-3 in 1993. The unique mirror optics removed the circular distortion of standard fisheye lenses, making the image of the sky recti-linear for a fixed latitude.
Magnetospheric electrons precipitating into the atmosphere by Pieter Stoker.
The International Magnetospheric Study (IMS) and the Antarctic and Southern Hemisphere Aeronomy Year (ASHAY) by JA Gledhill
Text for post provided by Michael Kosch of SANSA. Principal investigator in SANAP.
Images from ALSA repository contributed by Gareth de Villiers, Harm Moraal, Beneke De Wet and Mark St Quintin.
Article references provided by ALSA, all articles available on the ALSA repository.
Compiled by Ria Olivier, Antarctic Legacy of South Africa.
by Ria Olivier | Jun 3, 2020 | Antarctica, SANAE, Take-Over Operations
Watch the amazing video by Alexander Oeloefse made during the 2019 -2020 takeover period at SANAE IV. AN interview with the driver s of the Bulldozer equipment.
These driver teams are part of South Africa’s Antarctic Legacy. Read more about them on the ALSA webpage. The team during 2019-2020 was Thabang Tshupo, Bertus Roos, Andrew Kietzmann, Riaan Marx, Thabo Thebe, Thato Mareme and Markus Viljoen.
Video credit: Alexander Oelofse
Ria Olivier, Antarctic Legacy of South Africa.
by Ria Olivier | Apr 17, 2020 | Antarctica, Legacy, SA Agulhas II, SANAE, SANAP, Science, Take-Over Operations, Women in Science
Jess Verheul grew up in Johannesburg, South Africa and has always had an affinity for the outdoors, wild and remote places, exploring, surviving and adventuring. She believes she might have been inspired and influenced by her grandparents being farmers; “we spent much time playing outside growing up. I loved being on the farm, and my parents took us on some great safari holidays when we were younger too”. She graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree, specialising in Geography and Environmental Management. In her third year (2009), her mom showed her an article in an old girls school newsletter, an article by a fellow former school girl, who had been in Antarctica as the overwintering Medical Doctor. This sparked a conversation which in turn started a personal obsession…Mission Antarctica, by any means necessary. Her sense of adventure and the will to explore, or a search for depth and resilience to struggle and experience the elements for one’s-self sparked this obsession.
Jess completed her Master’s Degree in Environmental Management in 2012 and started working in the corporate consulting world. She relocated to Cape Town in 2014 and got involved as a volunteer firefighter and started experimenting more with creative hobbies like drawing and painting. In 2018 she was offered a volunteer position for the summer takeover to SANAE IV, South Africa’s Antarctic station located on the Vesleskarvet nunatak in Dronning Maud Land. She joined the South African National Space Agency (SANSA) team as a volunteer for the summer takeover expedition. As a member of a team of 10 people for SANSA undertaking upgrades and maintenance at SANAE IV over the summer takeover period from December 2018 to March 2019.
“Lacking a good camera but having a desire to experience this incredible place to the fullest, and knowing that drawing is a fantastic meditation; I treated myself to a blank sketchbook and some fine-liner pens before departing on our journey. I like creative expression. It helps me clear my head and experience a place or a situation more deeply.”
The SANSA Team didn’t have to do any work for the 11-day ship journey South, so she spent her time reading several books and did a bit of sketching. On the 19th of December the S.A. Agulhas II was close to the Fimbul Ice-shelf in Dronning Maud Land. Over the summer Jess spent approximately 100 hours in between work and chores, helping out and socialising; drawing, painting and studying the landscapes. “It was an unforgettable experience, one that still feels like a dream. I am ever grateful for the incredible opportunity. Since having spent all that time observing the place, I will remember it deeply for the rest of my days.”
ANT{INK}TICA : There were initially no plans to publicise her art, but the opportunity was presented by the archivist at Antarctic Legacy of South Africa (ALSA) to publish it in a coffee table book. This is the first art publication from the Antarctic Legacy of South Africa. The book consists of 49 sketches and 3 poems, depicting scenes experienced by Jess during her Antarctic Expedition. Only 100 publications are available and will be signed by the artist. This publication will be a unique addition to Art Book Collections and Antarctic publications. Visit the website www.justjiggs.com to read more about the publication and place an order or contact riaolivier@sun.ac.za for more details.
Jess’ message to you: “To get out there, challenge yourself. To believe in yourself and your ability. To try new things. Try harder, to judge yourself less and to never give up. To appreciate the experiences and lessons you’ve been endowed with and to help others along their way”. . Jess’ hope is that this book will shine a light for you, to show you that anything is possible. That persistence pays. Magic exists. And every day is a gift. Life is short, don’t waste a second.
Text: Jess Verheul Photo credits: Jess Verheul, Colin de la Harpe, ALSA
by Ria Olivier | Mar 20, 2020 | Antarctica, Discover, Environment, SANAE, SANAP, SEAmester, Take-Over Operations
Our mid-Month Series also include those people that has become part of the SANAP community and do a lot of freelance and volunteer work for SANAP. Alexander Oelofse is becoming a well-known name within the SANAP community. His videos of SEAmester give a real insight to the SEAmester program. ALSA realized that as freelancer he can be of great service to the community and to ALSA. During the Departure of SANAE59 an agreement was reached to compile videos during takeover. Ria Olivier met with him after his expedition at Iziko during the Sentinels of the South exhibition launch and possibilities were discussed of his contributions toward the Antarctic legacy of our country.
ALSA asked him when he got interested in photography?
What started off as a childhood dream turned into a reality on the 2019/2020 Antarctic relief voyage. I have always had a deep love for the ocean and knew from a young age that I would want to be in, or surrounded, by the ocean as much as possible. I wanted to study marine biology for a long time. Until job shadowing a marine biologist and realising much of the work would be lab-based. I couldn’t imagine that for myself. I then decided to pursue my other passion; photography. Being a member of the photographic society in high school sparked my interest. This led to me studying fine art photography at Michaelis in Cape Town. At Michaelis, I continued to create art centering around the environment.
How did he become involved in SANAP?
While at University I already started trying to find a way onboard the S.A. Agulhas II. I had to see this stark, extreme and yet breathtakingly beautiful landscape for myself. It took a few years of applying, without succeeding, until I could get onboard the SEAmester III as a lecturer after my studies. Onboard students from various universities around South Africa get the opportunity to experience oceanographic research at its best, out in the field, onboard the S.A. Agulhas II. To have the privilege to experience SEAmester as a student must be absolutely amazing, but more importantly, the eye-opening experience that can lead some students to follow their passions in the marine studies field.
Opportunity to go to Antarctica:
After doing two SEAmester Expeditions the opportunity came up to go down to Antarctica with UCT. He grabbed the opportunity with both hands. He departed on the first leg of the relief voyage of 2019/2020. I can’t really say I had any expectations, to be frankly honest. AS he has never seen a place like the Antarctica and not having any expectations, it lead to some of his best experiences. He admits that sailing down for 9 days to reach the ice shelf definitely adds to the anticipation and the surprise that is Antarctica. Visit his website to see his collection of Antarctic Images
“Seeing the ice shelf for the first time left me speechless. I became quite emotional, realising my dream had come true”.
“One of my highlights was getting to sit on the back of a snowmobile and traverse the snowy landscapes. Being the passenger allowed me to, despite the icy breeze, absorb the sublime landscapes that we passed through. This image was captured at 02:00 am. You could see the sun dip ever so slightly but never setting. I could get used to that. It made life seem endless, like there was no rush”
Alex Oelofse is looking forward to working alongside ALSA to inspire youth and spread the information about the amazing program that South Africa runs all the way down in Antarctica.
His contributions will soon be available on the ALSA archive and see in next Mid-Month series one of his videos.
All Images copyright Alexander Oelofse
Visit his website https://www.alexanderoelofse.com/ and Instagram
by Ria Olivier | Mar 3, 2020 | Antarctica, Environment, Gough Island, Marion Island, Research, SANAE, SANAE Gallery, Science, Southern Ocean
On World Wildlife Day 2020, we will celebrate the special place of wild plants and animals in their many varied and beautiful forms as a component of the world’s biological diversity. World Wildlife Day in 2020 is celebrated under the theme “Sustaining all life on Earth”, encompassing all wild animal and plant species as key components of the world’s biodiversity. This aligns with UN Sustainable Development Goals 1, 12, 14 and 15, and their wide-ranging commitments on alleviating poverty, ensuring sustainable use of resources, and on conserving life both on land and below water to halt biodiversity loss. On 20 December 2013, at its 68th session, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) proclaimed 3 March – the day of signature of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) in 1973 – as UN World Wildlife Day to celebrate and raise awareness of the world’s wild animals and plants.
Azorella selago (Photo Credit: Niek Gremmen)
Antarctic Tern (Photo Credit: Tom McSherry)
The South African National Antarctic Programme (SANAP) plays a crucial role in conserving this living laboratory – – the coldest, windiest and driest place on Earth. Studies done in the Antarctic, sub-Antarctic and Southern Ocean are inextricably linked to our understanding of the entire Earth system and signals in Antarctica indicate past and future global changes. SANAP recognises the global and national importance of safeguarding the environment of the Antarctic and Southern Ocean and protecting the integrity of ecosystems, both marine and terrestrial, in the region.
Weddell Seal – Photo Credit: Chris Oosthuizen
Photo Credit: Ben van der Walt
SANAP slogan “Understands, Develop and Conserve is celebrating World Wildlife Day 2020. See amazing images on the SANAP website under galleries of the different stations of South Africa. Go to the ALSA archive and look for the interaction images of man and the environment
by Ria Olivier | Feb 27, 2020 | Announcement, Antarctica, News, SA Agulhas II, SANAE, Take-Over Operations, Team member
S. A. Agulhas II will be back in Cape Town Harbour at East Pier tomorrow 28 February 2020.
SANAE 58 will return to Cape Town Harbour tomorrow after more than 14 months away from home. With them the takeover team consisting of Department of Environment, Forest and Fisheries, Department of Public Works an Infrastructure and researchers. ALSA is looking forward add their legacy of images to the digital archive.
If you want to know more about what they have been doing while in Antarctica read all their newsletters available on the ALSA digital archive. SANAE 58 departed in December 2018 read more about S.A. Agulhas II heading south with SANAE58 on the SANAP website.
“Auroras provide direct visual evidence that the atmosphere is shielding life on Earth from the radiation hazards of space.” – Michael Kosch, SANSA.
About 10% of the solar wind becomes trapped on the Earth’s magnetic field lines in a process called magnetic reconnection, the rest is rejected and flows past the planet into deep space. The trapped particles accumulate, but this cannot go on forever. They are eventually released into the upper-atmosphere in a process called substorms, exciting the atomic oxygen and molecular nitrogen to produce the familiar green and red colours from oxygen, and sometimes the blue colour as well from nitrogen. Charged particles, such as electrons and protons, are constrained to follow the magnetic field lines, and since the Earth’s magnetic field is similar to a dipole bar magnetic, it is only in polar regions where the magnetic field lines reach down to the ground, which is why the auroras appear mostly in polar regions.
Auroras appear in the height range 100 to 300 km above the Earth’s surface, typically with red, green and blue appearing near the top, middle and bottom, respectively, of this height range. The height of the auroras, and therefore their colour, depends on the energy of the particles, with higher energy able to penetrate to lower altitudes. Auroras are rarely seen at lower latitudes such as South Africa except during major geomagnetic storms, an example of which occurred in 1989 when auroras were visible from Durban.
The following are a few articles in the South African Journal on Antarctic Research available on the Antarctic Legacy of South Africa (ALSA) digital repository
These driver teams are part of South Africa’s Antarctic Legacy. Read more about them on the 
Jess completed her Master’s Degree in Environmental Management in 2012 and started working in the corporate consulting world. She relocated to Cape Town in 2014 and got involved as a volunteer firefighter and started experimenting more with creative hobbies like drawing and painting. In 2018 she was offered a volunteer position for the summer takeover to 
“Lacking a good camera but having a desire to experience this incredible place to the fullest, and knowing that drawing is a fantastic meditation; I treated myself to a blank sketchbook and some fine-liner pens before departing on our journey. I like creative expression. It helps me clear my head and experience a place or a situation more deeply.”
ANT{INK}TICA : There were initially no plans to publicise her art, but the opportunity was presented by the archivist at Antarctic Legacy of South Africa (ALSA) to publish it in a coffee table book. This is the first art publication from the Antarctic Legacy of South Africa. The book consists of 49 sketches and 3 poems, depicting scenes experienced by Jess during her Antarctic Expedition. Only 100 publications are available and will be signed by the artist. This publication will be a unique addition to Art Book Collections and Antarctic publications. 
Jess’ message to you: “To get out there, challenge yourself. To believe in yourself and your ability. To try new things. Try harder, to judge yourself less and to never give up. To appreciate the experiences and lessons you’ve been endowed with and to help others along their way”. . Jess’ hope is that this book will shine a light for you, to show you that anything is possible. That persistence pays. Magic exists. And every day is a gift. Life is short, don’t waste a second.
freelance and volunteer work for SANAP. Alexander Oelofse is becoming a well-known name within the SANAP community. His 
realized that as freelancer he can be of great service to the community and to 
that I would want to be in, or surrounded, by the ocean as much as possible. I wanted to study marine biology for a long time. Until job shadowing a marine biologist and realising much of the work would be lab-based. I couldn’t imagine that for myself. I then decided to pursue my other passion; photography. Being a member of the photographic society in high school sparked my interest. This led to me studying 
While at University I already started trying to find a way onboard the S.A. Agulhas II. I had to see this stark, extreme and yet breathtakingly beautiful landscape for myself. It took a few years of applying, without succeeding, until I could get onboard the SEAmester III as a lecturer after my studies. Onboard students from various universities around South Africa get the opportunity to experience oceanographic research at its best, out in the field, onboard the 
He departed on the first leg of 
“Seeing the ice shelf for the first time left me speechless. I became quite emotional, realising my dream had come true”. 
“One of my highlights was getting to sit on the back of a snowmobile and traverse the snowy landscapes. Being the passenger allowed me to, despite the icy breeze, absorb the sublime landscapes that we passed through. This image was captured at 02:00 am. You could see the sun dip ever so slightly but never setting. I could get used to that. It made life seem endless, like there was no rush”
On 
See amazing images on the SANAP website 
S. A. Agulhas II will be back in Cape Town Harbour at East Pier tomorrow 28 February 2020.
