On the morning of November 2nd, China’s 35th Antarctic expedition team set sail from Shanghai on the research icebreaker Xuelong for a 162-day journey. QIAO Gang, an associate professor from the College of Surveying and Geo-Informatics of Tongji University, joined the expedition following rounds of selections by the Ministry of Natural Resources. QIAO will be mainly responsible for field mapping and remote sensing of the runway in the new airport at Zhongshan Station. TENG Yuyang, a graduate student from the School of Ocean and Earth Science of Tongji University, will be responsible for obtaining sediment samples in climate-sensitive areas of the Ross Sea and the Amundsen Sea.
It is the first Antarctic expedition after the establishment of the Ministry of Natural Resources. The expedition aims at completing major national infrastructure projects through multidisciplinary observation of land, ocean, atmosphere, ice shelves and biology and by making full use of ship-based, ice-based, marine-based, land-based, space-based and station-based platforms. It is expected to provide routine support, transportation of supplies, project construction, fixed-wing aircraft inspection and international cooperation for researchers to prepare for the construction of the new station on Inexpressible Island, to complete the second phase of Taishan Station, to construct observation and monitoring network in the Antarctic, to do a survey of marine environmental protection and improve the environment at the station area.
Tongji University plans to build a Three-Polar Science Research Institute with joint efforts from eight schools and colleges of the university. It will take its comprehensive advantages in polar remote sensing, marine, environment, engineering and policy to serve the national polar science research and national strategy by injecting Tongji strengths into China's polar expedition and frontier research.
