Sky-Blu Field Station

Sky-Blu Research Station is one of our most important logistics facilities, supporting our polar capabilities and deep-field operations in southern Palmer Land, Antarctica.

Blue ice advantage

Sky-Blu has become vital to our work because of its groomed blue ice runway. This allows wheeled aircraft such as the four-engined Dash-7 to operate deep in the Antarctic interior. 

The Dash-7’s greater freight capacity gives us clear fuel and load-carrying benefits compared with the smaller Twin Otter aircraft. They previously carried out most deep-field flights.

Sky Blu field station and blue ice runway

The runway is formed on naturally occurring blue ice. This is extremely hard and dense ice that has lost the air bubbles that normally cloud glacier ice. When conditions are right, the runway can be up to 1.2 kilometres long and 50 metres wide. It’s permanently marked with flags to help pilots judge distance and contrast during landings.

Location

Sky-Blu is located on an area of blue ice close to the Sky-Hi Nunataks in southern Palmer Land. This setting makes it particularly well suited for use as an ice runway for larger wheeled aircraft operating far from the coast.

Life and operations

A year-round main camp supports the runway and sits approximately 1.5 kilometres south-west of the runway apron. The camp includes a distinctive red fibreglass melon hut for accommodation, along with pyramid tents, a garage, food depot, radio aerial and toilet facilities.

Sky Blu field station living space in the weather-haven tent

Life at Sky-Blu is simple and often demanding. Much of the day is spent clearing snow drifts from the runway using snow blowers, grooming the ice surface, and moving fuel drums and equipment. When the weather closes in, work shifts indoors. We pass time there reading, writing, chatting, or waiting for flying conditions to improve.

Sky Blu – accommodation tent and melon hut

We usually staff the camp with a small team of two or three people, including a mechanic. Although it is remote and austere, Sky-Blu plays a crucial role in helping us move people, equipment and fuel between Rothera Research Station and field sites across Antarctica.

History

We first identified Sky-Blu during the 1993-94 field season. It became fully operational as a logistics facility in 1997-98, replacing an earlier high-latitude depot at the Sky-Hi Nunataks, which we later decommissioned.

Since then, Sky-Blu has become an essential part of our logistics network, allowing us to fly larger aircraft further south and extend the reach of our science. Its role continues to grow as our deep-field research programmes expand.

Supporting Antarctic science

Sky-Blu supports a wide range of scientific work by acting as a forward operating base for fuel storage, equipment handling and aircraft operations. By helping us reach remote regions reliably, the station underpins research into:

• climate
• ice dynamics
• geology
• sub-glacial environments across Antarctica

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