An adventurous Manx student has returned to warmer climates after spending six weeks in the Antarctic. Whilst most people were at home enjoying time with their families and friends during the festive season, Joe was embarking on an epic research trip to the South Pole with the British Antarctic Survey. His research aims to improve the way the Global Positioning System (GPS) works by producing detailed data highlighting possible disruptions to radio waves high in an area of the earth's atmosphere called the ionosphere. Disturbances to the ionosphere caused by storms on the surface of the sun can disrupt GPS signals, causing problems for satellite communication equipment. Joe, a PhD student at the University of Bath, said: “GPS is now an essential tool in modern society, and has countless global applications. We use GPS for everyday Sat-Navs in our cars, for migrational tracking of endangered species, and even in monitoring climate change through sea-level and ice thickness measurements made from space. “The ionosphere poses real problems to the GPS, so it’s important that we continue to study periods of atmospheric turbulence to help reduce its impact on GPS performance.” Joe’s research closely monitors atmospheric disturbances in the magnetically dense Polar Regions, where incoming energetic particles from space can play catalyst to a host of interesting phenomena. These include the spectacular auroras of the Northern and Southern Lights, and are particular to the Earth’s high latitudes. The long term study of these Polar conditions has allowed him to collect data that will now be used to develop a greater understanding of the ionosphere aimed at improving the way we use GPS on earth. The trip lasted six weeks, during which time Joe and his team flew between a number of remote and isolated field sites, camping out for weeks at a time. Joe said: “Before we left the UK we went through intensive physical training; you have to be fit because the high altitude at the South Pole makes the air very thin and you can easily be exhausted just climbing a couple of steps. “Jet lag is also a problem for field parties in the Antarctic as there are multiple time zones. Our team was travelling between various field camps on Antarctic Survey Time, to the South Pole which is on New Zealand Time, with a 13-hour difference!” Preparations also included advanced first aid training as although the team had radio contact with one doctor, the group would have had to handle any emergencies themselves. They also completed a week of snow training on arrival in the Antarctic, acclimatising to the bright conditions and -35 degree centigrade temperature. Joe added: “I couldn’t really imagine how bright it was going to be until I got there – I wore goggles with an orange tint to take the glare off the snow whenever I was outside, and had factor 50 suncream on all the time. Even then my skin would feel as though it was burnt at the end of the day because ultra violet light is so strong in the Antarctic.” There were also some elements of the trip Joe wasn’t as prepared for: “There were a few scary moments on the trip, including a couple of bumpy airplane landings on the sea ice and a takeoff in which we had to dig the runway first, but overall it was an experience of a lifetime and I did really enjoy it.” “I was lucky enough to have some free time when I was dropped on an island where few people are allowed to go alone. I tentatively walked amongst an Elephant seal colony - they are absolutely enormous and really smell! I also saw killer whales, Adelie and Gentoo penguins, fur seals, Skua birds and a whole variety of other wildlife during the trip.” Asked about missing Christmas, he said: “We were actually at the South Pole for Christmas which was a fantastic experience. It was my first Christmas away from home so it was a bit surreal not to be with family but we had a really nice day and celebrated with a candle lit dinner. “The windows were blacked out because it is currently summer time in the Antarctic and there is 24-hour daylight, so it was really nice to finally feel it was evening!” Joe kept in touch with the project headquarters and his tutor at the University of Bath by satellite email and telephone. “We emailed the headquarters each day with updates and results, and I managed to call my parents once too. I probably could have called more but I was busy and enjoying the work,” he said. The PhD student has always had a passion for adventure, volunteering in Ghana as a teenager and kayaking in the open sea around his home on the Isle of Man. It therefore fits that his research should take him to exciting places. Joe added: “Very few people get to go to the Antarctic, and to be so early in my career and given the responsibility of being the project manager within an experienced team of people made the opportunity even more meaningful. “I have had a great deal of support from my supervisor Professor Cathryn Mitchell at the University of Bath, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), and the Isle of Man Government for which I am really grateful.” During the trip Joe became the first person from the Isle of Man to have ever reached the South Pole. The South Pole project is an Antarctic Funding Initiative (AFI) collaboration between the University of Bath and the British Antarctic Survey. Video footage is also available: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9btnkPOYWVU Ends