German Antarctic Receiving Station (GARS) O'Higgins

The German Antarctic Receiving Station GARS O'Higgins is located on Cape Legoupil, ca. 30 km southwest of the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula on Isabel Riquelme Islet, also known as Peninsula Schmidt. GARS O'Higgins is in the vicinity of the Chilean Base General Bernardo O'Higgins. At low tides, there exists a connection to the mainland.

GARS was opened in 1991 at this place, because of the good geological conditions and the good satellite visibility for receiving satellite data. The station's nearness to the South Pole means more frequent contacts with polar orbiting satellites. The most prominent feature is the 9-m full motion tracking antenna. The GARS O'Higgins station is comprised of a total of 35 20-feed ISO containers, subdivided into two separate units: a main building (15 containers) with living, sleeping and working facilities as well as the majority of the station technique. The second part is an infrastructure building (20 containers).

The island is 150 m wide and 200 m long and is covered by rock and debris areas. The station was build on rock, which enables geodetic long-term observations.

The station staff is performing the station operations, maintainance, upgrades etc. Usually no exploration activities in the surrounding area are performed.

Near-real time (NRT) service for sea ice monitoring

GARS can be reached by ship and by aircraft. Ship landings in the summer months depend on the sea ice conditions. Via aircraft, the station can be reached year-round: from Punta Arenas, Chile, to King George Island with Hercules C-130 transport machines of the Chilean, Braziliean or Uruguayan air force (Fuerza Aérea de Chile (FACh), Forca Aérea Brasileria (FAB), Fuerza Aérea Uruguaya (FAU), respectively), from King George Island to O'Higgins with DHC-6 Twin Otters (FACh) or helicopters (FACh).