On February 6, 2024, with the successful landing of the Snow Eagle 601 fixed-wing aircraft at Zhongshan Ice and Snow Airport, the 40th Chinese Antarctic Scientific Expedition successfully completed the international cooperation mission of the Scar Rings Action Group on the Antarctic Ice Sheet of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research, filling the key data gap along the ice sheet between Zhongshan Station in China and Princess Elisabeth Station in East Antarctica, which will provide an important basis for accurately assessing the ice flow and ice sheet instability in this sector. At the same time, it has also improved China's international influence in the field of Antarctic scientific exploration.
The Antarctic Ring Action Group was established in 2021 and currently has 82 scientists from 18 countries involved. The Antarctic Ring Action Group aims to obtain data on the ice thickness and subglacial topography of the Antarctic ice sheet through aerial observations, so as to provide a basis for assessing the changes in the total amount of material in the Antarctic ice sheet, the instability of the ice sheet and its impact on global sea level rise. After two years of preparation, in 2023, the Antarctic "Ring" Action Group launched the first international cooperation program for aerial observation of the coastal areas of the Antarctic ice sheet, the Queen Maud Land Enderbee International Cooperation Program. China is not only an important participant in the Antarctic "Ring" Action Group, but also the main initiator of the Empress Maud Di's international cooperation program.
Through cooperation with Norway, Belgium, Australia, Japan and other countries, during the 40th Antarctic expedition, relying on Zhongshan Station in China, Princess Elizabeth Station in Belgium and Mawson Station in Australia, the "Snow Eagle 601" fixed-wing aircraft successfully completed the mission of the International Cooperation Program of Queen Maude Land, and collected detailed data on ice thickness, subglacial topography, gravity, magnetism and other relevant data along the ice sheet between Zhongshan Station and Princess Elizabeth Station. In the future, these data will be gradually shared and cooperated with other countries, providing valuable information for scientists around the world to study the rapid change of the Antarctic ice sheet and global sea level rise.
The total length of the aerial survey line completed in this mission is about 7,200 kilometers, and the flight time is about 28 hours; In addition, two transfer flights were completed, with a cumulative flight distance of about 3,800 kilometers. "Snow Eagle 601" carried out two scientific flights with Zhongshan Ice and Snow Airport as the take-off and landing airport (one of which took the Ice and Snow Airport of Mawson Station in Australia as a stopover), and carried out three voyages of scientific observation with Princess Elizabeth Station Ice and Snow Airport in Belgium as the take-off and landing airport, and obtained valuable observation data.