Station and ship person days, 1986-2016

This dataset was originally set up as a "State of the Environment" indicator - however, that application no longer functions at the Australian Antarctic Data Centre, so the data have been extracted and attached to this original metadata record for the indicator.Information was obtained from the ANARE Health Register. See Metadata record entitled ANARE Health Register.INDICATOR DEFINITIONHuman population in stations and ships expressed in person-days.RATIONALE FOR INDICATOR SELECTIONIt is generally accepted that the potential impact on the natural environment is proportional to the human population. This is the 'human footprint'. Human activities can cause disruption in physical, chemical and biological systems. As stated by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (1996): 'To understand the human impact on the Australian environment, it is necessary to know how many people live here, and how they are distributed across the continent.'This indicator reveals where the greatest direct pressures related to size of the human population (e.g. fuel usage, sewerage and other waste generation etc) occur.DESIGN AND STRATEGY FOR INDICATOR MONITORING PROGRAMSpatial scale: Antarctic and sub-Antarctic stations and ANARE ships travelling to and from these stations.Frequency: Monthly figures reported annually.Measurement technique: The Polar Medicine Branch collects data on all expeditioner movements. These data are entered into the Health Register and updated as personnel arrive on or leave a station.RESEARCH ISSUESNow that this figure is available, research is required to ascertain the quantitative relationships of station and ship population to other indicators such as fuel usage and waste generation. This measure may be able to deliver a quantitative estimate of human pressure on the Antarctic environment.The fields in this dataset are:LocationDatePopulation (person-days)Illness Rate (per 1000 person years)Injury Rate (per 1000 person years)