Assessing PGC’s Absence in McMurdo 2025-26
Community Survey Highlights the Value of Embedded Geospatial Support in Antarctica
From April 1 through April 30, 2026, the Polar Geospatial Center (PGC) conducted a community survey to assess the impact of PGC’s absence from McMurdo Station, Antarctica during the 2025-26 field season. Historically, PGC has maintained an on-site presence at McMurdo Station from October through January to provide geospatial support to U.S. Antarctic Program (USAP) participants. Due to funding and personnel constraints, PGC was unable to deploy staff during the 2025-26 season.
The survey targeted all active participants in the USAP community, both deployed or stateside. Direct email invitations were sent to 136 individuals and 44 responses were received, representing a 32.4% response rate. Responses represented a cross-section of the Antarctic community, including researchers, logistics personnel, field technicians, students, and program support staff with varying levels of Antarctic experience. Researchers (PIs and Co-PIs) accounted for the largest respondent group (44%), followed by logistics personnel (24%), providing perspectives from both science and operational stakeholders.
The survey was designed to measure operational impacts associated with PGC’s absence, identify potential risks and efficiency implications, and better understand the often-overlooked coordination and support infrastructure that contributes to Antarctic field operations. The results reveal a clear narrative: what PGC contributes beyond geospatial products, what was lost when an on-site presence was unavailable, and why embedded expertise matters for collaboration, safety, and mission success. Several themes emerged from the findings, demonstrating the value of PGC’s on-site presence.
The results revealed three key takeaways:
- PGC is viewed as an operational partner, not just a data provider. Respondents described PGC as a contributor to project planning, logistics coordination, geospatial expertise, and operational decision-making in addition to providing maps, imagery, and data products.
- The absence of PGC had the greatest impact on those most dependent on operational support. Impacts were concentrated among personnel responsible for logistics, field support, and real-time decisionmaking, with reduced access to data, technical expertise, and informal consultation emerging as the most common consequences.
- PGC’s greatest on-site value is real-time collaboration, responsiveness, and risk reduction. Respondents consistently linked PGC’s on-site presence to improved communication, problem-solving, safety planning, and the ability to respond effectively to unexpected operational challenges in Antarctica.
Antarctic field operations are inherently dynamic and unpredictable, requiring rapid decision-making in response to changing weather, transportation constraints, evolving field priorities, and unforeseen operational challenges. Overall, the survey demonstrates that PGC’s value to the Antarctic community extends beyond data access but as a trusted operational partner that contributes expertise, coordination, planning support, and real-time problem solving that help enable safe, efficient, and successful Antarctic science and operations. Informed by these findings and supported by renewed NSF funding, PGC is planning to deploy two team members to McMurdo Station during the 2026-27 Antarctic field season to continue providing embedded geospatial support to the U.S. Antarctic Program community.