Blue ice runway

The blue ice runway at McMurdo Station

A blue ice runway is a runway constructed in Antarctic areas with no net annual snow accumulation, so that the resultant ice surface is capable of supporting aircraft landings using wheels instead of skis. They are intended to make transferring materials to research stations simpler, since wheeled aircraft can carry much heavier loads than those which are ski-equipped.

Blue ice runways are created as a way of streamlining transport to the interior; without them, most heavy materials have to be brought by ship, then ferried inland by smaller aircraft equipped with skis. By using large wheeled aircraft to fly directly into the interior, time and money could be saved. In particular, they allow for rare medical evacuations to take place year round.

Because of the low coefficient of friction of ice, planes tend to brake by reverse thrust of the propellers, as opposed to traditional means of braking the wheels, and so runways are often several miles in length.

See also

• McMurdo Sound
• Sea ice runway
• Transportation in Antarctica
• Williams Field
• Patriot Hills
• Novolazarevskaya Station
• Wilkins Runway

External links

• Nation Science Foundation environmental review of blue ice and snow runways