Jinnah Antarctic Station
Encyclopedia
The Jinnah Antarctic Station (JAS) is an Antarctic
Antarctic
The Antarctic is the region around the Earth's South Pole, opposite the Arctic region around the North Pole. The Antarctic comprises the continent of Antarctica and the ice shelves, waters and island territories in the Southern Ocean situated south of the Antarctic Convergence...

 scientific research station operated by the Pakistan Antarctic Programme
Pakistan Antarctic Programme
The Pakistan Antarctic Programme is a scientific administrative division of the Ministry of Science and Technology of Pakistan Government which represent its presence in the continent of Antarctica. The program coordinates the research and the operational scientific research in the region...

.
It is located in the vicinity of Sør Rondane Mountains, Queen Maud Land
Queen Maud Land
Queen Maud Land is a c. 2.7 million-square-kilometre region of Antarctica claimed as a dependent territory by Norway. The territory lies between 20° west and 45° east, between the British Antarctic Territory to the west and the Australian Antarctic Territory to the east. The latitudinal...

 in Eastern Antarctica.

Description and history

Pakistan signed Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research
Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research
The Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research is an interdisciplinary body of the International Council for Science . It was established in February 1958 to continue the international coordination of Antarctic scientific activities that had begun during the International Geophysical Year of 1957-58...

 (SCAR) in 1991. And, the programme was launched by the scientists of National Institute of Oceanography
National Institute of Oceanography (Pakistan)
The National Institute of Oceanography, commonly known as NIO, is an executive and federal department of Pakistan Government, and a major research institute of Ministry of Science and Technology. The NIO is a science and research executive organization located in Karachi, Sindh province of Pakistan...

, with the full fledged support of Ministry of Science and Technology
Ministry of Science and Technology (Pakistan)
The Ministry of Science and Technology , is a Cabinet-level ministry of government of Pakistan concerned with science and technology in Pakistan and in general, Pakistan's science policies, planning, coordination and directing of efforts to initiate and launch scientific and technological programs...

 of Pakistan Government
Government of Pakistan
The Government of Pakistan is a federal parliamentary system, with an indirectly-elected President as the Head of State and Commander in Chief of the Pakistani Armed Forces, and an indirectly-elected Prime Minister as the Head of Government. The President’s appointment and term are...

. The program was led the Pakistan Navy as it had provided the logistic support to the programme. In 1991, the Jinnah Antarctic Station was established. Pakistan maintains two summer research stations and one weather observatory in the vicinity of SOR Rondane Mountain Range.

The facilities were quickly expanded by the NIO. Government advisors belonging to Ministry of Science and Technology
Ministry of Science and Technology (Pakistan)
The Ministry of Science and Technology , is a Cabinet-level ministry of government of Pakistan concerned with science and technology in Pakistan and in general, Pakistan's science policies, planning, coordination and directing of efforts to initiate and launch scientific and technological programs...

 frequently visited the area. Pakistan Naval engineers and scientists oversaw the development of the base. By the 1994, the base was technologically made advanced. In, 2001, the data operational system was connected to Badr-B
Badr-B
Badr-B The Badr-B payload was equipped with several CCD cameras, compact dosimeter, a telemetry system, charge detector and a temperature control unit...

 satellite. The satellite sends digital imagery of the region to NIO's Headquarter. In 2002, SUPARCO scientists visited the base, where they had installed and set up the advanced supercomputer equipped Control room
Control room
A control room is a room serving as an operations centre where a facility or service can be monitored and controlled. Examples include:*in television production, the master control is the technical hub of a broadcast operation common among most over-the-air television stations, television networks...

, directly ran by the NIO and SUPARCO's scientists. Later, communication gears were set up with United States' Antarctic Program. In 2005, Air Force
Pakistan Air Force
The Pakistan Air Force is the leading air arm of the Pakistan Armed Forces and is primarily tasked with the aerial defence of Pakistan with a secondary role of providing air support to the Pakistan Army and the Pakistan Navy. The PAF also has a tertiary role of providing strategic air transport...

engineers and scientists built a small airstrip, and a control room to monitor the flights. As of today, the JAS is frequently visited by the US scientists who conduct their research with their Pakistani counterparts. As of 2010, the Pakistan Government has given a green light to expand the JAS facility into permanent lead operational base.

External links

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