A newly developed snow vehicle (SM100S) for Antarctica V. Result of general performance tests

Abstract

This paper describes the results of the fundamental and the general performance tests for a newly developed snow vehicle, which will be used for the deep ice coring project at Dome Fuji, East Antarctica. The result of the tests showed that the vehicle generally satisfied the expected performance and the purpose of the systems design, but was partially unsatisfactory in its structure. The tests were carried out on the concrete pavement where its reproducibility is capable of comparing with the performance of similar vehicles and on the compacted snow surface which has the simulated hardness of the Antarctic snow.