iButtons
iButtons are small, round metal discs, about the shape and size of a coat button (16 mm) that have a simple computer chip inside that can be programmed. The iButtons we use have temperature and relative humidity sensors inside, which we program to record up to 2000 individual temperature measurements over the course of the year. We use them because they are small, light, hardy, and relatively cheap instruments that, when put in the right places, can tell us a lot about the Antarctic environment when we are not there.

Ian McDonald deploying iButtons in the Miers Valley. -Craig Cary

iButton deployment locations have their coordinates recorded and are marked by an orange stake. -Mark Stevens

At the beginning of the field season, we plant the iButtons in various parts of the valleys at various depths, program them to begin recording surrounding temperatures at a certain time intervals, and collect them again the next year to download the data. Programming and downloading data is done with a small, USB device that plugs directly into our field laptops on one end and comes in contact with the iButton on the other. The iButtons come with software that we use to set the frequency of data recording, along with other parameters. The software will also read the iButton data when it is connected to the computer through the USB device.