File:SPSM.05.jpg

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English: Buildings (Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station pictured) under construction. They have to be built on stilts at the South Pole to prevent snow buildup. The ceremonial pole and flags can be seen in the background, slightly to the left of center, below the tracks behind the buildings. The actual geographic pole is a few more metres to the left. Flags and pole are more visible in en:Image:Amundsen-scott-south pole station 2006.jpg and en:Image:Ceremonial South Pole.jpg.
I'm amused with the discussion of the aerial picture of the new Elevated Station at South Pole. I took the picture around January 25 2005 at the request of the National Science Foundation. This is something done twice a year, once in October or early November and again in late January for the purpose of documenting the drifted snow and changes made to the station. This particular photo was one of nearly 500 taken during this aerial mission. It was the first or second time I have ever done this type of photography. All photos were taken from the right front seat of a Twin Otter and little time was available to set up the shot. It was taken at 500 ft elevation in a plane traveling at about 100 knots. I'm sure my collection included other shots at higher elevation with more of the station including the old structures, but this particular shot was intended only to capture an image of the Elevated Station structure from the back side of the station. I'm assuming this is a draft image I developed as a smaller size JPG. It's likely that there are better and more recent images available from the National Science Foundation. All my pictures during this mission were taken with a Nikon D100 or Canon Mark IID in Raw format.

I personally like the image, but do agree that its appeal is limited. The image was intended to be for archival purposes V/s artistic representation of the South Pole. The National Science Foundation is the owner of the images. As part of the privilege for flying the mission we, the photographers, sign the rights of the photos over to the NSF.

About the orientation of the geographical and the ceremonial; once a year, on January 1st, we add a new geographical pole marker approximately 10 meters (point is established yearly by surveyors from the USGS) from the one set the previous year. We relocate the ceremonial pole and flags every two or three years to keep the walking distance to the geographical pole to a minimum.

Bill Henriksen, former Winter Manager South Pole Station —Preceding unsigned comment added by Bill Henriksen (talk • contribs) 20:32, 21 November 2007 (UTC)

(preceding text copied from w:Wikipedia:Featured picture candidates/South Pole
Date
Source U.S. Antarctic Program, National Science Foundation, image SPSM.05.5.JPG.
Author Bill Henriksen, National Science Foundation
Permission
(Reusing this file)
Public domain This image is a work of a National Science Foundation employee, taken or made as part of that person's official duties. As a work of the U.S. federal government, the image is in the public domain.

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  • 2006-03-09 16:46 Rebroad 2756×2000×8 (4188033 bytes)

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current22:03, 27 March 2007Thumbnail for version as of 22:03, 27 March 20072,756 × 2,000 (3.99 MB)Evrik{{Information |Description=Buildings (en:Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station pictured) have to be built on en:stilts at the en:South Pole to prevent en:snow buildup. The ceremonial pole and flags can be seen in the background, slightly t

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