The South African National Antarctic Programme (or SANAP) is the

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

n government's programme for research in the

Antarctic The Antarctic ( or , American English also or ; commonly ) is a polar region around Earth's South Pole, opposite the Arctic region around the North Pole. The Antarctic comprises the continent of Antarctica, the Kerguelen Plateau and other ...

and

Subantarctic The sub-Antarctic zone is a region in the Southern Hemisphere, located immediately north of the Antarctic region. This translates roughly to a latitude of between 46° and 60° south of the Equator. The subantarctic region includes many islands ...

. Three research stations fall under this programme: the Antarctica research station

SANAE IV SANAE IV is a current South African Antarctic research base located in Vesleskarvet, Queen Maud Land. The base is part of the South African National Antarctic Program (SANAP) and is operated by the South African National Antarctic Expeditio ...

, and one station each on the subantarctic islands Gough Island and Marion Island. These stations are managed and administered by the Directorate: Antarctic and Islands of the

Department of Environmental Affairs The Department of Environment, Forestry & Fisheries is one of the departments of the South African government. It is responsible for protecting, conserving and improving the South African environment and natural resources. It was created in 20 ...

. Borga Base was also operated by SANAP from 1969 to 1976. The mission of the South African National Antarctic Programme is to increase understanding of the natural environment and life in the Antarctic and

Southern Ocean The Southern Ocean, also known as the Antarctic Ocean, comprises the southernmost waters of the World Ocean, generally taken to be south of 60° S latitude and encircling Antarctica. With a size of , it is regarded as the second-small ...

through appropriate science and technology. South Africa is one of the original signatory states of the

Antarctic Treaty russian: link=no, Договор об Антарктике es, link=no, Tratado Antártico , name = Antarctic Treaty System , image = Flag of the Antarctic Treaty.svgborder , image_width = 180px , caption ...

Experiments

In April 2017, SANAP launched an experiment on Marion Island called Probing Radio Intensity at high-Z from Marion (PRIZM), searching for signatures of the

hydrogen line The hydrogen line, 21 centimeter line, or H I line is the electromagnetic radiation spectral line that is created by a change in the energy state of neutral hydrogen atoms. This electromagnetic radiation has a precise frequency of , w ...

in the early universe. There are other global experiments looking for the same signal, but PRIZM is set apart by its location on Marion Island, which, at 2000 km from the nearest permanent inhabitants, is one of the most remote locations on

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...

, allowing access to the full frequency range of the global signal without

radio-frequency interference Electromagnetic interference (EMI), also called radio-frequency interference (RFI) when in the radio frequency spectrum, is a disturbance generated by an external source that affects an electrical circuit by electromagnetic induction, electros ...

Notable people associated with the program

*Prof Bettine van Vuuren, zoologist

References

External links

Official SANAP websiteWiki site for Southern Ocean Islands and Antarctica
Antarctic agencies {{SouthAfrica-gov-stub

Experiments

Notable people associated with the program

See also

References

External links