Signy Research Station


Signy Research Station is an Antarctic research base on Signy Island, run by the British Antarctic Survey.

History

Signy was first occupied in 1947 when a three-man meteorological station was established in Factory Cove above the old whaling station. It was the second research base on the South Orkney Islands. In 1955, a new hut, Tønsberg House was built on the site of the whaling station. In 1963, it was turned into a laboratory for biological research. Initially operated year-round, since 1995/6 the station has been open from November to April each year.

Facilities

Today, the base has four buildings with capacity for 8 people. The main building, Sørlle House, provides living accommodation and laboratories. The other buildings are for storage and provision of power and water services. There are also four small huts around the island.

Research

Marine and terrestrial biology is carried out at Signy, particularly looking at the effects of climate change on the southern ocean ecosystems. Three species of penguin are monitored at the base.
To continue an original time series of visual sea ice observations after the station became summer-only, an automated sea ice camera now operates all year around, providing a continuous record of sea ice extent near the station for over 50 years.

Climate