Base General Bernardo O'Higgins Riquelme, also Base Libertador General Bernardo O'Higgins Riquelme, or shortly Bernardo O'Higgins, named after

Bernardo O'Higgins Bernardo O'Higgins Riquelme (; 20 August 1778 – 24 October 1842) was a Chilean independence leader who freed Chile from Spanish rule in the Chilean War of Independence. He was a wealthy landowner of Basque people, Basque-Spanish people, Spani ...

, is a permanently staffed

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

research station Research stations are facilities where scientific investigation, Data collection, collection, analysis and experimentation occurs. A research station is a facility that is built for the purpose of conducting scientific research. There are also man ...

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. ...

and the capital of

Antártica Antártica is a Chilean commune in Antártica Chilena Province, Magallanes y la Antártica Chilena Region, which covers all the Chilean Antarctic Territory (the territory in Antarctica claimed by Chile). It ranges from 53°W to 90°W and from t ...

Commune. It lies at an

elevation The elevation of a geographic location (geography), ''location'' is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational equipotenti ...

of 13 m, about 30 km south-west of Prime Head, the northernmost point of the

Antarctic Peninsula The Antarctic Peninsula, known as O'Higgins Land in Chile and Tierra de San Martin in Argentina, and originally as Graham Land in the United Kingdom and the Palmer Peninsula in the United States, is the northernmost part of mainland Antarctica. ...

, at Cape Legoupil.

History

The base was established on 18 February 1948 by the

Chilean Antarctic Expedition The First Chilean Antarctic Expedition (1947–1948) was an expedition to Antarctica mounted by the Chilean government and military to enforce its territorial claims against British challenges, namely Operation Tabarin. Among other accomplishmen ...

, and is one of the Antarctic bases with the longest times of continuous operation. The winter population is 24, and the peak population in the Antarctic summer is usually 52, although up to 60 persons can be accommodated. The base is operated by the Chilean Army. It is also known as ''Puerto Covadonga'' after the

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manch ...

on which it is located. The German Antarctic Receiving Station (GARS) was established at O'Higgins in 1991 by the DLR. It is a

satellite A satellite or an artificial satellite is an object, typically a spacecraft, placed into orbit around a celestial body. They have a variety of uses, including communication relay, weather forecasting, navigation ( GPS), broadcasting, scient ...

ground station sited in Antarctica to enable reception of data from satellite-based sensors within the south polar region that might otherwise be lost. High

bandwidth Bandwidth commonly refers to: * Bandwidth (signal processing) or ''analog bandwidth'', ''frequency bandwidth'', or ''radio bandwidth'', a measure of the width of a frequency range * Bandwidth (computing), the rate of data transfer, bit rate or thr ...

sensors such as SAR generate too much data to be stored on board the satellite for transmission to ground stations elsewhere. GARS was sited at O'Higgins because of the

geology Geology (). is a branch of natural science concerned with the Earth and other astronomical objects, the rocks of which they are composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Earth ...

infrastructure Infrastructure is the set of facilities and systems that serve a country, city, or other area, and encompasses the services and facilities necessary for its economy, households and firms to function. Infrastructure is composed of public and pri ...

and accessibility of the base. Three dozen

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

cases were reported on the research base on December 22, 2020. These are the first reported cases on the continent.

Historic site

The O’Higgins Historic Site on Cape Legoupil comprises structures of historical significance: * The original base was established on 18 February 1948 by the President of the Republic of Chile,

Gabriel González Videla Gabriel Enrique González Videla (; 22 November 1898 – 22 August 1980) was a Chilean politician and lawyer who served as the 24th president of Chile from 1946 to 1952. He had previously been a member of the Chamber of Deputies from 1930 ...

, the first head of state in the world to visit Antarctica. * The Capitán General Bernardo O ́Higgins Riquelme Bust was erected in 1948 opposite the base. * A plaque was erected on 12 August 1957 in memory of Lieutenants Oscar Inostroza Contreras and Sergio Ponce Torrealba. * The Virgen del Carmen Grotto, near the base, was built in the early 1970s to serve as a place of spiritual withdrawal for the staff of various Antarctic stations and expeditions. It was designated a Historic Site or Monument (HSM 37), following a proposal by Chile to the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting.

Climate

Bernardo O'Higgins Base experiences a borderline polar

tundra climate The tundra climate is a polar climate sub-type located in high latitudes and high mountains. It is classified as ET according to the Köppen climate classification. It is a climate which at least one month has an average temperature high enough ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

''ET'') that is extremely close to a polar

ice cap climate An ice cap climate is a polar climate where no mean monthly temperature exceeds . The climate generally covers areas at high altitudes and Polar regions of Earth, polar regions (60–90° north and south latitude), such as Antarctica and some of ...

(

''EF''). Average annual precipitation amounts to , and is distributed fairly evenly throughout the year, typically peaking marginally during the austral spring. Temperatures are frigid all year round; the warmest month is January with an average monthly temperature of , while the coldest month is July with an average monthly temperature of .

Notes

References

External links

*
Base General Bernardo O'Higgins

Official website Instituto Antartico Chileno

Antarktis Station
a personal website about life at GARS O'Higgins.
COMNAP Antarctic Facilities

COMNAP Antarctic Facilities Map
Gabriel Gonzalez Videla-Antartica