| Signy Research Station | |
| Settlement Type: | Antarctic base |
| Pushpin Map: | Antarctica |
| Pushpin Relief: | yes |
| Pushpin Mapsize: | 250 |
| Pushpin Map Alt: | Location of Signy Research Station in Antarctica |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location of Signy Research Station in Antarctica |
| Coordinates: | -60.7083°N -45.595°W |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: |  |
| Subdivision Type1: | British Overseas Territory |
| Subdivision Name1: | British Antarctic Territory |
| Subdivision Name2: | Signy Island |
| Subdivision Type3: | Administered by |
| Subdivision Name3: | British Antarctic Survey |
| Established Title: | Established |
| Elevation M: | 5 |
| Population As Of: | 2017 |
| Population Footnotes: | [1] |
| Population Blank1 Title: | Summer |
| Population Blank1: | 14 |
| Population Blank2 Title: | Winter |
| Population Blank2: | 0 |
| Blank Name Sec1: | Type |
| Blank Info Sec1: | Seasonal |
| Blank1 Name Sec1: | Period |
| Blank1 Info Sec1: | Summer |
| Blank2 Name Sec1: | Status |
| Blank2 Info Sec1: | Operational |
| Blank Name Sec2: | Activities |
| Code1 Name: | UN/LOCODE |
| Code1 Info: | AQ SGN |
Signy Research Station (originally Station H)[2] is an Antarctic research base on Signy Island, run by the British Antarctic Survey.
Signy was first occupied in 1947 when a three-man meteorological station was established in Factory Cove above the old whaling station.[3] [2] It was the second research base on the South Orkney Islands (after the Argentine Orcadas Base in 1903). In 1955, a new hut, Tønsberg House was built on the site of the whaling station. In 1963, it was turned into a laboratory for biological research. Initially operated year-round, since 1995/6 the station has been open from November to April each year (southern hemisphere summer).
Today, the base has four buildings with capacity for 8 people.[1] [3] The main building, Sørlle House (named after the whaling captain Petter Sørlle, who himself named Signy Island), provides living accommodation and laboratories. The other buildings are for storage and provision of power and water services. There are also four small huts around the island.
A light railway was constructed in 1963 for unloading stores and large items of machinery. When built, this was the southernmost railway in existence. It was later extended up a hill to reach the fuel tanks.[4] [5]
Marine and terrestrial biology is carried out at Signy, particularly looking at the effects of climate change on the southern ocean ecosystems. Three species of penguin (Adélie, chinstrap and gentoo) are monitored at the base.[3]
To continue an original time series of visual sea ice observations after the station became summer-only, an automated sea ice camera now operates all year around,[6] providing a continuous record of sea ice extent near the station for over 50 years.
Signy Research Station has a tundra climate (ET according to the Köppen climate classification), because all twelve months have a mean temperature under . Signy Research Station has very long, cold winters (although they are mild for Antarctic standards) and short, cool summers. It has only three months with the average temperature above freezing point. The temperature is consistently cold year-round, with August, the coldest month, having a mean of and an average low of . February is the warmest month, with a mean of and an average high of . The highest temperature ever recorded was on 30 January 1982, which is the highest temperature recorded anywhere south of 60°S,[7] and the lowest recorded temperature was in June.