The expedition took six days, said Braun, five days up the mountain and one day back. Weather records from the station will aid in Thompson's plans for the ice cores to be removed next spring from the summit by hot air balloon. Meteorological data from the station will be closely tied to the results of annual snow pit studies carried out in the vicinity of the station. Such studies will identify isotopic signals in the precipitation. Any form of water has isotopic properties.
Isotopic signals can also reveal details about human activity.
The ice cap core, which will show annual increments of snow fall like the age rings of a tree, will also be tested for isotopic signals. The meteorological data for each annual increment, however, is unknown. The Geosciences team will attempt to infer that data by constructing parallels between isotopic signals in the core samples and in the samples they collect, since they will have meteorological data for the latter. When put together, data collected by the team and data collected by the Byrd Center will reveal an entire story about the past and current climactic conditions in a remotely tropical, high-alpine area. The weather station will operate for at least three years and will be complemented by data from another station which the Geosciences team will install next spring on a peak in the Cordillera Real of central Bolivia.