The TALos Dome Ice CorE (TALDICE) is a European ice core research project (Italy, France, Germany, Switzerland, United Kingdom) aimed at retrieving an ice core reaching back through the previous two interglacials (about 250,000 years), from a peripheral dome of East Antarctica, and want to reconstruct a reliable chronology, thanks to the presence of numerous layers of volcanic dust given the proximity of several volcanoes. Talos Dome is an ice dome (159°11'E - 72°49'S, 2316 m asl) on the edge of the East Plateau of Antarctica, about 290 km from the Southern Ocean, 250 km from the Ross Sea, 275 km from Mario Zucchelli Station, 550 km North of Taylor Dome , 1500 km NW of Simple Dome, and 1100 km East of Dome C. The TALDICE project started in the field in November 2004 and ended on December 23, 2007, at the final depth of 1620.20 m. Ice Thickness 1795 m Mean annual temperature -41°C Mean annual atmospheric air pressure 721±10 hPa Ice velocity 0.14 m yr-1

Purpose: The project aims to study the super-cold currents of the Ross Sea by combining the performance of the SARA Submarine Robot with the navigation support provided by the RAS land vehicle, used in parallel cruises under and above the ice, respectively. Year 2005 In Antarctica: no activities. In Italy: completion of activities planned in PEA 2003. Preparation of a test campaign of the systems developed for SARA; installation of a CTD sensor on board; evaluation of the performance of the navigation system, measurement of the effective usability of an acoustic communication channel.

Since 1998, ENEA (Italian National Agency for New Technology, Energy and the Environment) has been carrying on researches to develop a plant based greenhouse facility for producing plant fresh food at the Italian bases of TNB (Terra Nova Bay) and Dome C (Concordia base) in Antarctica. Accordingly, at the base TNB “Mario Zucchelli” was installed a sustainable closed greenhouse facility PULSA (Plant-based Unit for Life Support in Antarctica). PULSA has been in operation during four campaigns in Antarctica. 1) A complete automatic hydroponics system for plant cultivation in artificial environmental (C.H.G.S., Closed Hydroponic Greenhouse System); 2. A closed module PULSA Unit. A prototype greenhouse module has been conceived and designed as a transportable unit made of a standard container, dimensions of 6055 (l)*2435(w)*2585(h) mm. The installed microclimate conditioning unit included an air heater of about 6.0 kW which can also act as inside air cooling as well as dehumidifier for removing the internal humidity (up to 2.5 kg/h of water) by forcing the air into a drying service. An air ventilation device composed of two fans each of 400 W and air capacity exchanging of 1200 m3/h was also installed to keep necessary air exchange and CO2 concentration. 3) A treating and recycling wastes unit for the purification of water and for the recycling of residual biomass wastes from the hydroponic cycles, 4) A complete automated and remote-controlling system for the germination and the production of the plantlets (Box-Nursery); 5) A simulator for the growth and the yield production of lettuce (SLS) in function of the temperature and the light applied to the crops. Other prototypes still under developing are: a) the multilevel hydroponics design; b) the solar photovoltaic system of 1.1 kWp, to optimize the yield and the autonomy of the enclosed growing volume using artificial and/or Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) as light sources for plant crop growth. Considerations and comments are reported on the on-going challenge to use PULSA as scientific platform for implementing activities of research and demonstration on plant growth technologies for Space.

It is a program that, by means of surface crossings thousands of kilometers long, collects information on the behavior of the ice sheet and the related changes in the global sea level as a result of climatic and environmental changes over the last 200 years. Aims of the projects are: Determine the environmental variability in Antarctica over the last 200 yrs, and where the data are available the last 1000 years. Environmental proxies could include: sea ice variation, ocean productivity, anthropogenic impacts; and other, extra-Antarctic continental influences

The project aims to determine the mass balance components in the Dome C drainage area and to study and monitor local glaciers in Victoria Land. The goal is to define the mass balance of the ice cap through the analysis of its altimetric variation with satellite systems and through the determination of the values of the positive (snow accumulation) and negative (flow of glaciers to the anchor line) components of the balance mass. Trought the study of the snow cores (collected as part of the ITASE project (XVII/XVIII expedition)), was determined the annual stratigraphy and evaluated the snow accumulation, the isotopic temperature and the chemical composition of the snow cores. Moreover analysis of geophysical data (GPR, GPS, RES, spectroradiometry) and remote sensing data were carried out for the study of the variability of snow accumulation, of the dynamics of the ice cap and of the flow of glaciers to the anchor line.

The aim of the MAss LOst in wind fluX (MALOX) project is to better understand the phenomenon of snow transport over a coastal area characterized by strong winds. The automatic weather station AWS Lucia purpose is to contribute to the monitoring of global climate change monitoring standard meteorological parameters. The AWS is located at Larsen Glacier, (74° 57′ 2″ S - 161° 46′ 19″ E) at 1350 m a.s.l., and has been installed the 25 january 2007. It acquires, every minute, all year round, the meteorological variables by two sensors for wind velocity and wind direction, two sensors for temperature (at 1 and 3 meters) and for relative humidity, and finally one for atmospheric pressure. Moreover, the AWS acquires further data using radiation sensor (longwave and shortwave), driftometer for the snow transport and height snow sensor.

The Geodetic Observatory is based on continuous measurements of GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) data for the characterization of the neo-tectonics of a large area of ​​the Northern Victoria Land. Particularly for the definition of a three-dimensional reference (plano-altimetric), and tidal waves, for the definition of a local and global absolute altimetric reference model. The permanent GNSS station 'LRSN', has been set on Mount Larsen (74° 57' 02,0" S - 161° 46' 10,1" E), 948 m a.s.l during the antarctic campaign 2015 - 2016. LRSN records data of GPS and GLONASS constellations, with an acquisition interval equal to 30 s. It is equipped with Tocpon Net-G3 GNSS receivers and chokering antennas, Topcon CR-G5 model (radome TPSH ), installed on steel pillars.

The Geodetic Observatory is based on continuous measurements of GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) data for the characterization of the neo-tectonics of a large area of ​​the Northern Victoria Land. Particularly for the definition of a three-dimensional reference (plano-altimetric), and tidal waves, for the definition of a local and global absolute altimetric reference model. The permanent GNSS station 'INXP', has been set on Inexpressible Island (74° 56' 55,1" S - 163° 41' 06,3" E), 32 m a.s.l. during the antarctic campaign 2015 - 2016. INXP records data of GPS and GLONASS constellations, with an acquisition interval equal to 30 s. It is equipped with Tocpon Net-G3 GNSS receivers and chokering antennas, Topcon CR-G5 model (radome TPSH ), installed on steel pillars.

Data of the precipitation fallen during the summer months (November-December-January) on four expeditions, 2015-16, 2016-17, 2017-18, and 2018-19, in the Terra Nova Bay area, were obtained using a vertically pointing radar, disdrometer and snow gauge. The vertical pointing METEK Micro Rain Radar 2 (MRR) was installed in MZS at the end of November 2015. It records Doppler velocity spectra every 10 s at 32 range gates. The radar gate spacing was set to 100 m allowing the profiler to sound heights ranging from 100 to 3100 m above the surface. The raw K-band power spectra, collected by the MRR, were processed applying the method proposed by Maahn and Kollias (2012) to correct for noise and aliasing effects, making them suitable for snow observation. A Thies CLIMA laser disdrometer (LPM), has been operational since December 2014.The disdrometer can simultaneously count and measure the size and fall velocity of hydrometeors. A Total Rain weighing Sensor (TRwS) manufactured by MPS system was installed during the december 2018 - January 2019 campaign within the YOPP observing period. The TRwS is a total rain/snowfall weighing gauge with an orifice area of 400 cm2, a depth accuracy of 0.01 mm of w.e. and a one -minute sampling time resolution (Savina and others, 2012). The TRwS was protected by an alter shield in order to minimize wind effect over the accumulation inside the instrumentation.