Halley VLF receiver, Halley VI, Brunt Ice Shelf, Caird Coast

Position
Lat. 75°34'5"S, Long. 25°30'30"W

The Halley VLF receiver listens to very-low frequency radio waves as part of a network of receivers located all over the polar regions. The data gathered by this network is used by more than 35 institutions around the world to:

  • record and map, in real-time, lightning strikes around the world
  • use the upper atmosphere as a gigantic energetic particle detector to find out about interactions between our atmosphere and particles from the solar wind
  • listen to powerful VLF communication transmitters located in mainland USA, Hawaii, Europe (including the Lake District) and study changes caused by solar flare, solar eclipses and explosions on other stars
  • record and analyse whistling tones originating from lightning in America – this inputs into space weather models used to protect satellites from the harsh radiation environment of space
A large ship in a body of water.

Halley Automation

This innovative, multi-year, project aims to provide a micro-turbine power supply and datalink to a suite of autonomous scientific instrumentation around the Halley VI Research Station and on the Brunt …

A chart

‘Sounds of Space’

Using a Very Low Frequency receiver at Halley Research Station we can pick up radio waves made by our planet. We use these waves to investigate the science of space …