| Port-aux-Français | |
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| — Village — | |
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Port-aux-Français
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| Coordinates: | |
| Country | France |
| Territory | Kerguelen Islands |
Port-aux-Français is the capital settlement of the Kerguelen Islands, French territory in the south Indian Ocean. The port station is located on the Gulf of Morbihan, at . It has about 60 inhabitants in winter, which can rise to more than 120 in summer.
The station was selected because of its sheltered position which was suitable for a runway that was never built. From 1955 to 1957, and using Australian equipment, a French slaughterhouse company called Sidap constructed a sealing factory. The factory opened following the first marriage on the islands, that of Marc Pechenart and Martine Raulin on 16 December 1957. The factory closed in 1960, and the equipment was sent to Réunion in 2005.
Contents |
Port-aux-Français has a shallow seaport and a quay for unloading supply ships, including the Marion Dufresne. The station, in addition to logistics necessary to its operation, consists of scientific laboratories (biology, geophysics), technical installations (meteorology, telecommunications, satellite tracking, et cetera), and a small medical centre.
The base of Port-aux-Français is equipped with a recently installed marigraphic station, having 3 measuring devices:
The two marigraphs and the radar send data to a local server, which relays them hourly to the Internet via the Argos satellite system.
The climate is subpolar oceanic, much the same as in Reykjavík, Iceland or Kodiak, Alaska.
| Climate data for Port-aux-Français, Kerguelen Islands | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 22.3 (72.1) |
22.3 (72.1) |
20.6 (69.1) |
23 (73) |
16.8 (62.2) |
14.5 (58.1) |
13.4 (56.1) |
14.4 (57.9) |
15.8 (60.4) |
19.1 (66.4) |
21.3 (70.3) |
21.6 (70.9) |
23 (73.4) |
| Average high °C (°F) | 11.1 (52.0) |
11.5 (52.7) |
10.5 (50.9) |
9 (48) |
6.7 (44.1) |
5.2 (41.4) |
4.7 (40.5) |
4.6 (40.3) |
5.3 (41.5) |
7 (45) |
8.6 (47.5) |
10.1 (50.2) |
7.86 (46.14) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 7.8 (46.0) |
8.2 (46.8) |
7.3 (45.1) |
6.1 (43.0) |
4.2 (39.6) |
2.8 (37.0) |
2.2 (36.0) |
2.1 (35.8) |
2.5 (36.5) |
3.9 (39.0) |
5.3 (41.5) |
6.8 (44.2) |
4.93 (40.88) |
| Average low °C (°F) | 4.4 (39.9) |
4.7 (40.5) |
4.1 (39.4) |
3.2 (37.8) |
1.5 (34.7) |
0.4 (32.7) |
−0.3 (31.5) |
−0.4 (31.3) |
−0.2 (31.6) |
0.7 (33.3) |
2 (36) |
3.4 (38.1) |
1.96 (35.52) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −1.5 (29.3) |
−1 (30) |
−0.9 (30.4) |
−2.7 (27.1) |
−5.9 (21.4) |
−8.3 (17.1) |
−8 (18) |
−7.3 (18.9) |
−7.7 (18.1) |
−5 (23) |
−3.7 (25.3) |
−1.2 (29.8) |
−8.3 (17.1) |
| Precipitation mm (inches) | 72.2 (2.843) |
49.5 (1.949) |
57.5 (2.264) |
59.6 (2.346) |
59.9 (2.358) |
75.9 (2.988) |
62.9 (2.476) |
63.4 (2.496) |
62.3 (2.453) |
59.3 (2.335) |
51.9 (2.043) |
55.1 (2.169) |
727 (28.62) |
| Source: Weatherbase [1] | |||||||||||||