A newly developed snow vehicle (SM100S) for Antarctica I. Necessity and process of the development

Abstract

Four types of snow vehicles have so far been employed in the Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition. These snow vehicles are mainly used on the inland ice sheet and on the sea ice. As for the inland traverses, the SM50S-type snow vehicle has been used, but the research area is now expanding to the much colder area, and the "Deep Ice Coring Project at Dome Fuji, East Antarctica" has recently been proposed. Therefore, a committee for the design of a new snow vehicle was organized in the special committee on logistics of National Institute of Polar Research. The committee made the design of a new snow vehicle capable of operating under very cold and low pressure conditions. The newly developed snow vehicle was operated on the Antarctic ice sheet in the winter of 1992,and the performance was almost just as expected.