1996-97 Photos -Finishing ARO

After the basic shell of what would be named the Atmospheric Research Observatory was erected in 1995-96, the work in 1996-97 would involve mostly interior architectural, mechanical, and electrical work, along with the completion of the exterior siding/doors/windows. Many of these photos include people...if you recognize anyone, let me know so I can give them recognition. Also...note that at the bottom of the page is a link to the NOAA virtual tour of the facility, which includes the floor plans as well as photos of the rooms in use as of 2000 or so.
I'll start here in the large first floor office area in the northwest corner of the building. The vertical chase in the wall is for a return air duct...and the motor control center would be installed along the wall at right.	A bit later...the walls are finished, and the MCC is installed. That's probably Bobby Dunn.
Staying on the first floor, this is the air sampling room in the northeast corner of the building. Here on its west wall is a cabinet to house some of the air sampling pumps.	Looking through the outside door into the first floor mechanical room, this is the main air handler. All electric heat, of course.
Looking at the main entrance door. The door to the stairway to the second floor is at right.	So let's go upstairs. Here we are looking east from near the top of the stairs.
Taking the first right from the top of the stairs, this is an office area and "BSI room" in the southwest corner of the building. Ethan Hardy is at right in the blue Pole sweatshirt and hat.	Another look...this view shows the access hatch (with folding attic-type stairs) into a small penthouse which houses the BSI UV monitoring equipment.
BSI operated the project at all 3 USAP stations until 2009--I was involved with the original 1988 equipment installation at Palmer Station in Clean Air (it is now in Terralab). NOAA took over the project in 2009, although BSI is still involved with its equipment.
Going back, and taking the first left from the top of the stairs, here we are looking west in the LIDAR room.	Beyond the end of the cable tray in the photo at left is a smaller air handler...this one is for cooling, with cold glycol circulating from an outside coil (a closer look).
Going back out into the hall, here's the door into the LIDAR room. And across the hall, the rest room...which is still fully plumbed with water and sewage holding tanks etc. which have never been used--liquid containers and plastic bags are provided for your use (my 2005 photo).	Continuing down the upstairs hall, the second room on the right (well, after the rest room) was originally designated as a "future science/office area." I seem to remember that by 2008 a light-tight enclosure had been installed in here for another project that looked out through the roof.
Last room on the right...the Dobson room, with openable windows as well as a roof hatch...after all, the purpose of the Dobson spectrophotometer is to analyze the amount of ozone in the atmosphere. Here's a photo of one of the windows before it was installed.	The southeast corner of the large room in the northeast corner of the second floor...officially the "aerosols and surface ozone area," and also the site of slushies during my 2005 winter.
Here we're looking southeast from the same spot as the previous photo...looking back toward the hallway to the stairs.	My March 2005 photo from about the same location as the photo at left. A few differences...one being that the "future science" room at left has been enclosed...another that there seems to be a fairly abundant supply of adult beverages.
The facility was dedicated on 12 January 1997 as described in this February 1997 Antarctic Journal article (which, sadly, was the last contemporary Antarctic Journal issue). At right is the official NOAA photo taken at dedication time...it also happens to be the link used for their virtual tour of the facility. Check that out!. In January and February 1997 the NOAA equipment was migrated from CAF to the new facility. The old CAF would sit empty for the winter, it was demo'd in 1997-98.

Above, my 2005 photos of the plaques outside the main entrance and inside the door. All of the photos on this page are from Chris Rock unless otherwise indicated. And Scott Konu helped with a couple of the names.