Lower Erebus Hut
Antarctic base
Lower Erebus Hut in 2005
Lower Erebus Hut Location of Lower Erebus Hut in Antarctica
Coordinates: 77°30′41″S 167°08′34″E / 77.511294°S 167.142847°E / -77.511294; 167.142847[1]
Country	United States
Location in Antarctica	Mount Erebus Ross Island Antarctica
Administered by	United States Antarctic Program
Established	1992 (1992)
Elevation	3,402 m (11,161 ft)
Type	Seasonal
Period	Summer
Status	Operational

The Lower Erebus Hut (LEH) is a permanent field facility located on Mount Erebus on Ross Island, Antarctica. The hut served as the seasonal base of the Mount Erebus Volcano Observatory (MEVO), run by New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology (NMT). The installation comprises two huts, one kitchen and recreation building and one working and storage building.

History

The permanent LEH was built in November 1992 as a replacement for the Upper hut and other semi-permanent Jamesway huts.

Location

LEH is located on the northern side of Mount Erebus within its caldera rim. The location facilitates trips to the crater rim where the volcano's persistent lava lake is visible.

Science

Major support for all operations at LEH are conducted through McMurdo Station run by a division of NSF, the United States Antarctic Program (USAP).

LEH is used as a base of operations for the monitoring of Mt Erebus, other scientific studies, and maintenance of such equipment. The work force at LEH, which is composed of senior research scientists, professors and graduate students, maintains both scientific and logistical equipment on the mountain. Past research has included gaseous emission concentration, composition and flux as well as thermal image stills, visible and IR video, seismic, and infrasonic studies of the volcano.