Showa Station (Antarctica)
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Showa Station (昭和基地 Shōwa Kichi), also sometimes spelled Syowa,[1] is a Japanese research station on East Ongul Island in Queen Maud Land, Antarctica. It was built in 1957. Showa Station is named for the era in the Japanese calendar during which it was established, the Shōwa period.
Overview
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.
Historic monument
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.[2]
Climate
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 (1981–2010) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Average high °C (°F) | 2.0 (35.6) |
−0.5 (31.1) |
−4.3 (24.3) |
−7.6 (18.3) |
−10.7 (12.7) |
−12.1 (10.2) |
−14.1 (6.6) |
−15.8 (3.6) |
−14.9 (5.2) |
−10.8 (12.6) |
−4.0 (24.8) |
1.1 (34) |
−7.6 (18.3) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | −0.7 (30.7) |
−2.9 (26.8) |
−6.5 (20.3) |
−10.1 (13.8) |
−13.5 (7.7) |
−15.2 (4.6) |
−17.3 (0.9) |
−19.4 (−2.9) |
−18.1 (−0.6) |
−13.5 (7.7) |
−6.8 (19.8) |
−1.6 (29.1) |
−10.4 (13.3) |
| Average low °C (°F) | −3.7 (25.3) |
−5.5 (22.1) |
−9.2 (15.4) |
−13.0 (8.6) |
−16.6 (2.1) |
−18.7 (−1.7) |
−20.8 (−5.4) |
−23.3 (−9.9) |
−22.0 (−7.6) |
−17.2 (1) |
−10.4 (13.3) |
−4.6 (23.7) |
−13.7 (7.3) |
| Average snowy days | 11.0 | 14.2 | 19.3 | 20.1 | 18.5 | 17.2 | 18.9 | 19.3 | 18.2 | 20.2 | 13.9 | 10.7 | 200.6 |
| Average relative humidity (%) | 67 | 68 | 71 | 72 | 67 | 65 | 66 | 64 | 64 | 69 | 68 | 68 | 67 |
| Mean monthly sunshine hours | 375.7 | 203.2 | 120.1 | 58.0 | 17.7 | 0.0 | 4.8 | 64.1 | 136.5 | 191.0 | 316.0 | 434.6 | 1,925.9 |
| Source: Japan Meteorological Agency [3] | |||||||||||||
See also
References
External links
- Official website National Institute of Polar Research
- Syowa Base
- OpenStreetMap
- COMNAP Antarctic Facilities
- COMNAP Antarctic Facilities Map
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- Articles needing translation from foreign-language Wikipedias
- Pages with broken file links
- Outposts of Antarctica
- Outposts of Queen Maud Land
- Japanese Antarctic Program
- Buildings and structures completed in 1957
- Prince Harald Coast
- 1957 establishments in Antarctica
- Historic Sites and Monuments of Antarctica
