Casey Blue Ice Runway Survey Report 2002 - 2003

Construction of a suitable runway near Casey was a major objective of the Air Link from Hobart to the Australian Antarctic Territory and the main focus of the 2003/03 season's fieldwork. The 2001/2002 summer season's Air Transport Study identified several 'Blue Ice' runway sites and undertook a detailed investigation at a site named R3 in the upper Peterson Glacier (UPG) region approximately 50 km south east of Casey Station.This season a six-member team was assembled to undertake additional investigation work and initial site and runway surface construction capable of supporting wheeled aircraft conducting inter-continental flights from Hobart. The Air Transport Project team members included:George Blaisdell - Civil Engineer Aaron Read - SurveyorSeane Hall - Mechanic Simon Larkman - Communications Technician Leigh Maclagan - Plant Operator Rob Sheers - Mechanical EngineerThe objective for this season’s survey was to undertake further work on R3 and if it was not suited for constructing a runway surface, then locate and map a site that met the criteria for a blue ice runway. From Landsat 7 satellite imagery it was evident that larger and higher elevated patches of blue ice were visible south of the R3 and within these areas a potential runway site might be located. A suitable runway site was located about 65 km south east of Casey and this report documents the work undertaken in locating and mapping this site.Additional to the runway survey a number of other tasks were also carried out in support of science programs being undertaken at Casey.The report covers the survey field work undertaken by Air Transport Project (ATP) during the 2002/2003 ANARE Summer Field Season. Data collected in support of other scientific programs has been included in this report primarily as a record of work undertaken by the mapping program. These data have been supplied to the various scientists for inclusion in their studies.

在凯西（Casey）站附近修建一条适配跑道，是霍巴特至澳大利亚南极领地航空联运航线的核心目标，亦是2003/03年度野外科考作业的主要任务重点。2001/2002夏季航空运输研究项目已遴选出多处「蓝冰（Blue Ice）」跑道候选场址，并在凯西站东南约50公里的上彼得森冰川（UPG）区域内的R3场址开展了详细勘察。
本季科考组建了一支6人团队，负责开展补充勘察工作，并完成初始场址勘测与跑道表面施工，以保障可从霍巴特起飞的洲际轮式起降飞机的运行需求。本次航空运输项目（ATP）团队成员如下：
乔治·布莱兹代尔（George Blaisdell）——土木工程师
亚伦·里德（Aaron Read）——测量师
肖恩·霍尔（Seane Hall）——机械技工
西蒙·拉克曼（Simon Larkman）——通信技术员
利·麦克拉根（Leigh Maclagan）——设备操作员
罗布·希尔斯（Rob Sheers）——机械工程师
本季勘测的核心目标为：进一步针对R3场址开展作业，若该场址不适宜修建跑道，则另行选址并绘制符合蓝冰跑道建设标准的场址分布图。通过陆地卫星7号（Landsat 7）的遥感影像可见，R3场址南侧存在面积更大、海拔更高的蓝冰区域，此类区域或存在潜在跑道场址。最终在凯西站东南约65公里处选定了一处适宜的跑道场址，本报告详细记录了该场址的勘察与测绘工作全过程。
除跑道勘测工作外，团队还完成了多项其他任务，以支持凯西站开展的各类科学考察项目。本报告涵盖了航空运输项目（ATP）在2002/2003年度澳大利亚南极研究探险队（ANARE）夏季野外作业期间开展的全部勘测野外工作。为支持其他科学项目所采集的数据已纳入本报告，主要作为测绘项目工作成果的存档记录，相关数据已提交给对应领域的科研人员，以供其在研究中使用。