Hand Auger, Kovacs

The hand auger is the most basic of the mechanical drills and is driven from the surface by extensions that are added as drilling proceeds into the ice.

IDP primarily deploys three types of hand augers:

• IDDO: 3-inch (76 mm) and 4-inch (101 mm) cores
• Kovacs: 3.54-inch (90 mm) and 5.5-inch (140 mm) cores
• SIPRE: 3-inch (76 mm) core

The SIPRE, Kovacs, and short IDDO systems take half-meter cores, while the long IDDO systems take one-meter cores. IDP also has two remaining PICO 3-inch hand auger kits in inventory, which are occasionally requested for drilling in blue ice. Much of the PICO equipment has aged beyond its useful life and several PICO drills kits were decommissioned in early 2022. The maximum depth to which hand augers can be used without power assistance (see Sidewinder) is approximately 20 meters. Hand augers are typically operated by investigators without assistance from IDP equipment operators.

Hand augers are individually packed and assigned to investigators, depending on project needs. Augers for users traveling through McMurdo Station are individually packed by IDP and sent to the BFC (Berg Field Center) for distribution to the specified field project. Drills for use elsewhere are shipped directly to the individual investigators or to the field sites. 

The Kovacs hand augers are manufactured by Kovacs Enterprise. IDP has two Mark II systems and one Mark V system in its inventory. The Mark II coring system retrieves a 90 mm diameter ice core up to one meter long. The Mark V coring system retrieves a 140 mm diameter ice core up to one meter long.

IDP maintains one Kovacs Mark V kit (14 cm/5.5 in core) and approximately five Kovacs Mark II kits (9 cm/3.5 in core).