Showa Station (Japanese: 昭和基地, Hepburn: Shōwa Kichi), sometimes alternately spelled Syowa Station,[1] is a Japanese permanent research station on East Ongul Island in Queen Maud Land, Antarctica. Built in 1957, Showa Station is named for the era in the Japanese calendar during which it was established, the Shōwa period.
This article may be expanded with text translated from the corresponding article in Japanese. (June 2015) Click [show] for important translation instructions.
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Showa
昭和基地 | |
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Antarctic base | |
Shōwa Kichi | |
Coordinates: 69°00′16″S 39°34′54″E | |
Country | Japan |
Location in Antarctica | East Ongul Island Queen Maud Land Antarctica |
Administered by | Japanese Antarctic Program |
Established | 1957 (1957) |
Elevation | 29 m (95 ft) |
Population | |
• Total |
|
Time zone | UTC+3 (SYOT) |
Type | All-year round |
Period | Annual |
Status | Operational |
Facilities | 60 separate buildings |
Website | National Institute of Polar Research |
Showa Station serves as a research outpost for astronomy, meteorology, biology and earth sciences. It comprises over 60 separate buildings, large and small, including a 3-storey administration building, living quarters, power plant, sewage treatment facility, environmental science building, observatory, data processing facility, satellite building, ionospheric station, incinerator, earth science building, and radiosonde station. Also present are fuel tanks, water storage, solar panels, a heliport, water retention dam, and radio transmitter.
Showa station is home to the Program of the Antarctic Syowa Mesosphere–Stratosphere–Troposphere/Incoherent Scatter (PANSY) incoherent scatter radar, which took its first measurements in 2017.[2]
The station was founded by the inaugural Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition in 1957. This expedition was airlifted out after a storm made deploying the second team impossible in February 1958. In January 1959, the third team returned to the station and found that, of 15 sled dogs that had been left by the previous team, two, Taro and Jiro, had survived.
A cairn and plaque at the station commemorate Shin Fukushima, a member of the 4th Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition, who died in October 1960 while carrying out his duties. The cairn, which contains some of his ashes, was erected on 11 January 1961 by his colleagues. It has been designated a Historic Site or Monument (HSM 2) following a proposal by Japan to the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting.[3]
The climate is classified as an Ice cap climate (Köppen: EF), since there are no months where the average temperature exceeds 0.0 °C (32.0 °F).
Climate data for Showa Station (1991−2020 normals, extremes 1957−present) | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
Record high °C (°F) | 10.0 (50.0) |
8.0 (46.4) |
3.6 (38.5) |
0.5 (32.9) |
2.8 (37.0) |
−0.7 (30.7) |
−2.5 (27.5) |
−2.8 (27.0) |
−1.1 (30.0) |
2.6 (36.7) |
7.3 (45.1) |
9.4 (48.9) |
10.0 (50.0) |
Average high °C (°F) | 1.8 (35.2) |
−0.6 (30.9) |
−4.5 (23.9) |
−7.8 (18.0) |
−10.6 (12.9) |
−11.9 (10.6) |
−14.3 (6.3) |
−15.2 (4.6) |
−15.0 (5.0) |
−10.5 (13.1) |
−3.5 (25.7) |
1.1 (34.0) |
−7.6 (18.3) |
Daily mean °C (°F) | −0.8 (30.6) |
−2.9 (26.8) |
−6.8 (19.8) |
−10.4 (13.3) |
−13.5 (7.7) |
−15.2 (4.6) |
−17.6 (0.3) |
−18.8 (−1.8) |
−18.3 (−0.9) |
−13.3 (8.1) |
−6.3 (20.7) |
−1.5 (29.3) |
−10.5 (13.1) |
Average low °C (°F) | −3.7 (25.3) |
−5.6 (21.9) |
−9.7 (14.5) |
−13.4 (7.9) |
−16.9 (1.6) |
−18.7 (−1.7) |
−21.4 (−6.5) |
−22.8 (−9.0) |
−22.3 (−8.1) |
−17.1 (1.2) |
−9.9 (14.2) |
−4.6 (23.7) |
−13.8 (7.2) |
Record low °C (°F) | −12.6 (9.3) |
−18.2 (−0.8) |
−25.2 (−13.4) |
−35.9 (−32.6) |
−40.5 (−40.9) |
−38.3 (−36.9) |
−42.7 (−44.9) |
−42.2 (−44.0) |
−45.3 (−49.5) |
−34.7 (−30.5) |
−25.0 (−13.0) |
−12.9 (8.8) |
−45.3 (−49.5) |
Average relative humidity (%) | 70 | 70 | 71 | 73 | 69 | 68 | 69 | 68 | 67 | 70 | 68 | 70 | 69 |
Mean monthly sunshine hours | 346.7 | 186.9 | 118.4 | 59.8 | 22.4 | 0.0 | 6.2 | 65.0 | 144.4 | 194.1 | 320.5 | 414.2 | 1,894.4 |
Source: Japan Meteorological Agency[4] |
Showa | |||||||||||
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Summary | |||||||||||
Airport type | Private | ||||||||||
Serves | Syowa | ||||||||||
Location | East Ongul Island | ||||||||||
Time zone | (+3) | ||||||||||
Elevation AMSL | 95 ft / 29 m | ||||||||||
Coordinates | 69°00′22″S 39°35′24″E | ||||||||||
Map | |||||||||||
Showa Location of airfield in Antarctica | |||||||||||
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Research stations in Antarctica | |||||||||||||||||||
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Antarctica | ||||||||
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History |
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Politics |
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Society |
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Famous explorers |
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Historic Sites and Monuments in Antarctica | |
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South Pole |
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Coats Land |
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Queen Maud Land |
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Enderby Land | |
Kemp Land |
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Mac. Robertson Land | |
Princess Elizabeth Land |
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Queen Mary Land |
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Wilkes Land |
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Adélie Land |
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George V Land | |
Victoria Land |
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Ross Sea |
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Edward VII Land |
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Graham Land |
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South Shetlands |
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South Orkneys | |
Stonington Island |
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