On the night of Thursday, the charter plane from the airline Norse Atlantic landed on Troll with 45 passengers and 12 tons of research equipment. Director of the Norwegian Polar Institute, Camilla Brekke, says this is a major operation and a milestone for air traffic to Queen Maud Land. – Taking down such a large aircraft opens up completely new possibilities for the logistics of Troll, which will also help strengthen Norwegian research in Antarctica, says Brekke in a press release. – Environmental benefit The Norwegian Polar Institute operates the research station located in Jutulsessen in Dronning Maud Land, approximately 235 kilometers from the coast. Annually, they bring down between 6 and 8 planes of various sizes to Troll, but this is the largest so far. – The most important thing is the environmental benefit we can achieve by using large and modern aircraft of this type for Troll. This can help to reduce total emissions and the environmental footprint in Antarctica, says Brekke. The Troll station in Antarctica Troll is Norway’s research station in Antarctica, and is located on ice-free bedrock at 72 degrees south, 1275 m above sea level. and 200 kilometers from the coast in Dronning Maud Land. It is owned by Statsbygg and operated by the Norwegian Polar Institute. The station was built as a summer station in 1990. In January 2003, then Minister of Environmental Protection Børge Brende visited Troll, as the first Norwegian minister. Later that year, he announced that Troll would have year-round operation. The year-round station was opened on 12 February 2005 by Queen Sonja. She also opened Troll Airfield, a 3,000 meter long airstrip on the blue ice a couple of kilometers from the station. King Harald visited Troll in connection with the tenth anniversary in 2015. Troll is a base and starting point for biological, glaciological and geological fieldwork in the summer season and a year-round base for long-term monitoring within meteorology, radiation, atmosphere, environmental toxins and seismology. Six people spend the winter at Troll, and keep the station in operation throughout the winter. From the end of February to the beginning of November, they are completely isolated, with no flight connection (only telephone and internet contact with the outside world). In the summer, it is high season at Troll, with around 45 people in activity (operating personnel). In addition, there are researchers working on various projects. The Trollhaugen observatory, a measuring station for air and atmosphere, is run by the Norwegian Institute for Air Research (NILU), and is located 1 kilometer from the research station. The Norwegian Meteorological Institute has a meteorological station here. Kongsberg Satellite Services (KSAT) operates TrollSat, which was opened by then Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg on 19 January 2008. Data downloaded here is used, among other things, for research, weather forecasting, climate and environmental monitoring, ship monitoring, search and rescue, navigation, defense activities and observation of space weather. The Norwegian Polar Institute also operates the field station Tor, located in the Svarthamaren conservation area, 90 kilometers from Troll. It was established in 1992 and is the base for long-term monitoring of Antarctic petrels. Source: Norwegian Polar Institute Troll Arfield is made on the ice. The airstrip is 3,000 meters long and is open during the Antarctic summer season between October and March. – An air operation at this level will also make the Norwegian Polar Institute more attractive as a partner and provider of air services for other nations that operate in Antarctica. On the plane that landed last night, there were passengers from several nations who were going on to other stations, says director of the operations and logistics department at the Norwegian Polar Institute, John Guldahl. Several of the plane passengers were going on to the German research station Neumayer III. In the proposal for next year’s state budget, the government allocated NOK 25 million to start work on a new research station in Antarctica. The Troll station, which was built in 1990, is to be replaced with a brand new station, which is scheduled to be completed in seven to eight years. The station will cost around NOK 2 billion.
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