Thinking in terms of heat absorption, wouldn’t black or darker colours be more appropriate, or at those temperatures would such an effect be too minimal to even consider?
Is it therefore for visibility, or is it just the colour of the uniform of the researchers/scientists?
Many thanks! <3
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It’s just for visibility
It increases the chances of being seen in harsh conditions, if you’re laying in a snow bank, etc
In blinding snow, bright colors still stick out… often even through an inch or three of snow.
Probably for identification. If you needed to be rescued, a red or brightly coloured jacket will decrease the time it takes for you to get noticed and found. If you needed to be rescued wearing white, it night take longer and you might expire in the time it takes to see/save you.
The parkas are bright red so you’re easy to see in a white out, or when they’re searching for your frozen corpse.
Others have mentioned color for visibility, but to the other part of your question: Absorption and emissivity are related such that things that absorb a wide range of light (e.g. dark clothing) tend to also radiate heat better than a highly-reflective material. This is part of why radiators and heatsinks tend to be coated black rather than left as bare shiny metal; the black finish radiates heat away. The night/dark is generally colder, so it’s more important to prioritize nighttime insulation.
Tl;dr if anything, the antarctic gear should be silvered to minimize its thermal radiation at night, rather than black to maximize daytime heat absorption.
High visibility.
Also, on most tourist ships the guides will wear a contrasting color, like blue.
This way, from a distance, anybody that is party of the operation can see how many guests/guides are in any area.
Its for visibility.
NZ uses orange USA uses Red, I haven’t seen other countries ones down there.
At a glance you can tell who is from where and for the NZ side there is a pool of like 1000 orange jackets for 200 people capacity.
Although everyone has already said it’s for visibility, I’d like to add on why it’s specifically red.
Red is the colour humans can see at the farthest distance, so at a distance or through dust/snow it is the MOST visible colour to the human eye.
It’s for visibility. If you actually **read** about what life is like in Antarctica, especially wintering in Antarctica…it’s terrifyingly easy to lose your way, even very close to home. And you don’t have long before staying out becomes dangerous.
Bright colours serve as guidance to find safety – whether it’s a teammate, a piece of equipment like a skidoo or some form of shelter, colours like that don’t occur naturally in the environment. If you see bright red, bright orange, bright green, you will know it for what it is.
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