During the 2021-22 summer season, ASC will operate three staffed field sites to provide science support.

Siple Dome (SDM)

507 Nautical Miles From McMurdo Station

81° 39.840' S 149° 1.050' W

Siple Dome camp serves as the fueling point and weather observation location for aircraft operating between McMurdo Station and WAIS Divide. Three resident staff will provide weather observations, aviation support, and facility upkeep. No residential science projects are planned for this season. Siple Dome will support overnight KBA Twin Otter flight crews as needed.

Taylor Valley Camps

~50 Nautical Miles From McMurdo Station

77° 37.380' S 162° 53.990' E (Lake Hoare)

The Tylor Valley camps will open to provide support to ongoing science projects in the McMurdo Dry Valleys. All camps are supported by helicopter operations based at McMurdo Station. This year, two resident staff based at Lake Hoare and Lake Fryxell will oversee operations at Lake Hoare, Lake Fryxell, F6, Lake Bonney, and New Harbor camps. The multiple McMurdo Long Term Ecological Research (MCM LTER) science teams that typically operate under discrete event numbers will deploy under a single event number this season, C-505-M. This 10-perseon combined LTER team will work closely with Taylor Valley camp staff to complete priority LTER science given a constrained season.

WAIS Divide Camp (WSD)

891 Nautical Miles From McMurdo Station

79° 29.000' S 112° 5.000' W

The WAIS Divide camp, with eight resident staff will act as a regional aviation hub for West Antarctica. The camp will support the transit of two Thwaites Glacier science projects: C-445-M (Pettit-TARSAN) and C-446-M (Tulaczyk-TIME) from McMurdo Station to forward field sites. WAIS will also support two residential science groups: O-283-M (Lazzara-AWS) and G-079-M (Wilson-POLENET) with regional day-trips to service installed remote sensing instrumentation. Additionally, the WAIS camp will support the continued maintenance of WAIS Divide camp infrastructure.