Hello everyone! We did a 9pm, 12am, and 3am sounding. The winds increased so the 6am launch was cancelled. Because the strong winds persisted throughout the day, we could not do any launches until 11:30pm tonight. So I made my usual rounds checking on all of the instruments, backing up all of the data, cleaned the dome of the above ground spectroradiometer, and reburried the fiber optic cables on the snow spectroradiometer because the strong winds are causing snow drift.
Our group (Summit, Greenland snow photochemistry and halogen group) had a data meeting today at 2pm. The principal investigators (Dr. Lefer (U of Houston), Dr. Jochen Stutz (UCLA), Dr. Blake (U. of Cal-Irvine), Dr. Greg Huey (GA Tech), Dr. Jack Dibb (U of New Hampshire), and Steve Brooks (NOAA)) have all left camp by now so all of us scrubs (post docs, PhD students, master students, two undergrads) are left! During the conference call, we discussed interesting data that each university has seen. Later, I will post some pics and descriptions of what each university is studying. Our server has been overwhelmed, and it takes a while to upload them.
I slept great again last night, and I think I am getting acclamated to the weather here. It is not bad if the wind is calm, but lately that has not been the case. Poor Nemo can only withstand winds less than about 12 knots.
For lunch, I had a Mediterranean salad, pork green chili (that was delicious!), chicken and vegetable soup, and a giant chocolate chip cookie (that I also ate for a snack later after nuking it at satellite camp).
Dinner was a Chinese theme although Jin said it really wasn't Chinese (think PF Chang's). We had pot stickers (so yummy), Chinese meatballs, rice, beef stir fry, vegetables, cucumber salad and an orange. It was sooo good!
Smell-oh-meter: 5...still doing pretty well...just so cold it doesn't seem to matter
Current Weather:
Temperature: 10F
Wind Chill: -3F
Tomorrow is Canada Day! We are going to celebrate with our lone Canadian, Tara (Univ. of Toronto). Will, the chef, is going to make poutine, a dish consisting of French fries topped with fresh cheese curds (which we will have to find another cheese substitute for because no curds at Summit!) and covered with gravy!!! Mmmmmmmmm mmmmmmmm
Monday, June 30, 2008
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Sun., June 29: NEMO IS UP AND FLYING HIGH!
Okay, I'm really tired and don't feel like writing this blog, but I just had to share the GREAT news. We used the silicone sealant on Nemo yesterday at 3pm and had to wait 24 hours for it to dry. This afternoon we (Craig and I) filled him up and so far so good!
We are going to launch him every 3 hours. Hopefully the winds will cooperate with us (need under about 16 knots at the surface).
Besides Nemo looking fit and ready to go, nothing that exciting happened today. Sundays are leftovers day so I had random things like: roasted potatoes, pizza, chicken sandwich, cucumber and tomato salad, goldfish (the cheddar kind).
One thing interesting that my friend Max told us today, "A 58 year-old woman was living undetected in a man's apartment closet for a year in Japan." Read this: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/05/30/2261056.htm
A few other things about today:
1. I accidentally threw my toilet paper in the toilet today and had to retrieve it...booooooo
2. My throat is getting sore
3. I realized there are a lot of English words that I didn't know existed (English not American English) when I got my butt kicked last night in Scrabble
I slept awesome last night. This morning I woke up sweating, which was a first.
No shower today. I'm thinking realistically Tuesday.
If you have any questions about Summit, feel free to ask them in the "Comments" below this post. I've had several people request more information about working on the traverse (Mom, Aunt Linda, Rob). Feel free to email your resume, but just to let you know...you CANNOT have a dance contest, drink and probably not paint your nails or knit while driving! haha. But don't let me discourage you!
Smell-oh-meter: 5...it's been one week since a shower
Current weather:
temp: 14F
wind chill: 2F
Take Care!
We are going to launch him every 3 hours. Hopefully the winds will cooperate with us (need under about 16 knots at the surface).
Besides Nemo looking fit and ready to go, nothing that exciting happened today. Sundays are leftovers day so I had random things like: roasted potatoes, pizza, chicken sandwich, cucumber and tomato salad, goldfish (the cheddar kind).
One thing interesting that my friend Max told us today, "A 58 year-old woman was living undetected in a man's apartment closet for a year in Japan." Read this: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/05/30/2261056.htm
A few other things about today:
1. I accidentally threw my toilet paper in the toilet today and had to retrieve it...booooooo
2. My throat is getting sore
3. I realized there are a lot of English words that I didn't know existed (English not American English) when I got my butt kicked last night in Scrabble
I slept awesome last night. This morning I woke up sweating, which was a first.
No shower today. I'm thinking realistically Tuesday.
If you have any questions about Summit, feel free to ask them in the "Comments" below this post. I've had several people request more information about working on the traverse (Mom, Aunt Linda, Rob). Feel free to email your resume, but just to let you know...you CANNOT have a dance contest, drink and probably not paint your nails or knit while driving! haha. But don't let me discourage you!
Smell-oh-meter: 5...it's been one week since a shower
Current weather:
temp: 14F
wind chill: 2F
Take Care!
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Sat., June 28: Nemo died today!
Yay, Saturday is pizza night!
Neil (British Antarctic Survey) enjoying a sled ride!
Criag (Montana) on hole #5 on the polar golf course (this was the hole I made!).
Chris the medic teeing off with Bonnie (GA Tech) waiting her turn behind him.
The crew at the beginning of the game!
After Jin (GA Tech) made us try some of her dried squid yesterday, we decided she should try some of our Gold Fish!
The scene of the accident with Craig (Montana) acting as a victim in a trauma drill for the Summit. It looked so real!
The team did a great job...there in under 4 minutes!
They put him in a sleeping bag, tarp, on a sled attached to an electric snow mobile and off to the warm green house.
Me trying to patch up Nemo at satellite camp! Let's hope I'm as handy as I like to think I am!
Well, we found "Nemo" our tethersonde balloon today on the floor. We've been having very high winds from the North the past couple of days so we haven't been able to fly him for a few days. I met Craig at the ballon shed this morning at 7:30am, and we found a half way deflated balloon! This was very discouraging because today there were light winds from the east-northeast. We attempted to patch it up with some balloon tape, but after our first flight a lot of Helium had already seeped out. Out in the field we deflated Nemo and brought him into the satellite camp building to get him warm. Next, we removed the tape and added more using a different strategy. The hole is around the opening where the Helium is pumped in so it is very difficult to patch. We also used silicon sealant around the separation between the balloon and the Helium gas nozzle. It takes 24 hours to dry, so we will attempt to fly Nemo tomorrow! I am forecasting weaker winds turning from the north to the east-northeast from tonight through tomorrow.
This morning Chris, the medic, had a trauma drill for the staff. Craig, a member of the U of H crew, was chosen. Chris used bloody make-up on Craig's face, and it looked very real! The scene of the accident: Craig was walking to get the ballon out of the balloon barn and a piece of ice fell of the roof and smacked him in the head. The funny thing is, I didn't tell Craig I was going to meet him at the balloon barn. So when I showed up he was working on the balloon with Chris and I was so freaked out about the ballon being torn that I didn't even notice his face! After a few minutes I realized he had what I thought was real blood all over his face and almost freaked out again! About ten minutes later, Chris walky-talkied the call to Kathy, the Summit director about Craig's "accident". The team was at the scene within four minutes.
I learned a lot of new things as I was watching. A lot of them are common sense, but are guidelines that you could easily forget in a trauma situation. For example, when you first arrive at the scene, check to make sure that you are not in any danger (in this drill, make sure no ice will fall on you). Next, go through the ABCs with the victim: airway, breathing, circulation. Also, check for a pulse in the following order: wrist (means a pulse of at least 80), groin (means a pulse of at least 70), and carotid artery (means a pulse of at least 60). So pretty much if the victim does't have a pulse in the carotid artery...NOT GOOD! Most important in polar situations...get victim to a warm area!
All of our instruments are running pretty well (knock on wood!). Well, except for our little Nemo balloon! Hopefully the silicon sealant will work (fingers crossed).
I slept very well last night. Each night seems to get better, which is great! The winds were A LOT calmer last night so I didn't feel like my tent was going to take off into the great and frozen unknown!
Today for lunch we had chicken sandwiches, all types of relish including pickles (yummy!), salad, potato leak soup, some peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies. For dinner everyone was welcome to help the cook make the pizza of his or her choice. It was a lot of fun and of course I had to make one of my own! It was so good it was gone before the cook could even put it on the bar...well maybe not, but that's because it was one of the last ones baked! The greatest pizza ever included: carmelized onions, green bell pepper, sausage, pepperoni, mushrooms, and tons and tons of cheese! There were a lot of really tasty pizzas including an artichoke, mushroom, and pesto pizza and some crazy ones like the cashews, jalapenos, and some other vegetable I cannot remember.
After dinner six of us decided to play Polar Golf so we each made a hole outside of the Big House. Let's just say that you don't have to be the most skilled player to win! I will post some pics when I get a chance!
Tomorrow we are going to fly Nemo (the tethered balloon). We really really really really hope the patchwork will not tear!
Smell-oh-Meter: 4.5...not fresh by any means...third day wearing these long-johns...thinking I might shower tomorrow
Take Care!
Friday, June 27, 2008
Fri., June 27: The Wind is Killing Me!
"Ain't no Green in Greenland!"
This is a phrase Max (UCLA), and I came up with tonight for his blog for the UCLA student newspaper. We think it is really funny, but maybe that's because we are surrounded by snow!
So I slept very well last night. I slept from about 12am until 6am but didn't get up until about 8am. The wind was really whipping last night, and I thought the tent might come down. When I arrived at my tent last night, the front was covered half way up with snow! I had to dig my way through about three feet of snow...thank goodness it was light outside! I was very worried when I woke up at 6am that I would get snowed in! Last year, it took Katrine (UC-Irvine) 10 minutes to get out of her tent because of snow drift. But I remembered that I had a pocket knife, and if it came down to it, I could cut my way out...so I went back to sleep. :)
This morning I had an orange and some banana nut bread with chocolate chips. It is amazing how fresh the fruit is here! You would think they were growing it locally!
Today the winds have been ranging from 15mph to 31mph, which is too high for our tethered balloon (orange Nemo fish looking thing in the pictures) because it is attached to a rope and would be uncontrollable. Craig (Montana) and I figured we could attemp to fly it but a) the balloon would fly away b) we could hold onto the balloon and get dragged across the ice sheet likely never returning c) we could be really cool and go out to the runway wearing skis and get dragged across, but still likely not returning or d) not fly until it the winds are closer to 10 knots. We took a run at choice b), and I am sorry to report we lost Ben our undergraduate student. He did live 18 glorious years. We'll miss you buddy.
The wind is killing me! Not only is it not allowing us to fly the tethersonde, but we walk everywhere so talk about wind burn! Walking away from the Big House is great because we are walking with the wind, but walking to the Big House takes about ten more minutes because of the wind! Grrrrrr
The winds are predominantly from the North or Northeast, which is definitely frustrating a lot of people at Summit because that brings "camp pollution" from the generator and any flight that may come in at that time. Climatologically speaking, the winds are generally out of the southeast so this is definitely irregular, but has been presisting for about 8 days.
All of our instruments are running smoothly (knock on wood!). I have continued to back up all of the data at least once daily. Cables 3 and 4 of the snow spectroradiometer had to be reinserted into the snow because of the snow drift resulting from the high winds. Because we have not been able to fly the tethersonde, I have a little extra time on my hands to devote to data analysis. For example, this afternoon I did an in depth analysis of the state of the boundary layer on June 24th. On this particular day, most of the science groups saw interesting features (e.g. high levels of BrO). Our data showed that the boundary layer was very stable and had moist layer beginning at just below 50m. The group hypothesized after seeing some days with high BrO concentrations last year that the BrO was being produced photochemically in the snow (this is one reason why we are measuring the spectral irradiance at 5 depths within the snow). During stable conditions, the BrO remains close to the surface. So hopefully our intense boundary layer measurements will help everyone out too!
Oh yeah, today my friend Jin (GA Tech) gave everyone out at satellite camp some dried squid. I am always up for trying things at least once (grant it, the piece I chose was about 1/2 an inch long!), but ooooooooooh I didn't like it! It was very "fishy" to say the least. Everyone at the camp nick named it squid jerky. Although it kind of looked like onion straws! It is funny because the night before we left for Kanger, Greenland from Schnectady, NY, Jin and I went to an Italian restaurant. Needless to say she didn't like the place I picked out! So I guess we are even!
Congratulations to Liz Johnson for getting the trivia question correct last night (although I might need a little convincing that she didn't look it up!)!
Current weather:
14F with a -3F wind chill
For dinner tonight we had:
grilled tuna steaks with pineapple salsa, roasted potatoes, steamed cauliflower, salad, veggie soup, beef soup, homemade bread, Lemon Raspberry Cakes (surprisingly yummy even though I don't like lemon too much)
Smell-oh-Meter: 3.75...not too much of an increase today...thanks to the cold and the fact that you cannot get dirty here (everything is water (frozen), no dirt or soot)
Well, I guess that's all FOLKS!
This is a phrase Max (UCLA), and I came up with tonight for his blog for the UCLA student newspaper. We think it is really funny, but maybe that's because we are surrounded by snow!
So I slept very well last night. I slept from about 12am until 6am but didn't get up until about 8am. The wind was really whipping last night, and I thought the tent might come down. When I arrived at my tent last night, the front was covered half way up with snow! I had to dig my way through about three feet of snow...thank goodness it was light outside! I was very worried when I woke up at 6am that I would get snowed in! Last year, it took Katrine (UC-Irvine) 10 minutes to get out of her tent because of snow drift. But I remembered that I had a pocket knife, and if it came down to it, I could cut my way out...so I went back to sleep. :)
This morning I had an orange and some banana nut bread with chocolate chips. It is amazing how fresh the fruit is here! You would think they were growing it locally!
Today the winds have been ranging from 15mph to 31mph, which is too high for our tethered balloon (orange Nemo fish looking thing in the pictures) because it is attached to a rope and would be uncontrollable. Craig (Montana) and I figured we could attemp to fly it but a) the balloon would fly away b) we could hold onto the balloon and get dragged across the ice sheet likely never returning c) we could be really cool and go out to the runway wearing skis and get dragged across, but still likely not returning or d) not fly until it the winds are closer to 10 knots. We took a run at choice b), and I am sorry to report we lost Ben our undergraduate student. He did live 18 glorious years. We'll miss you buddy.
The wind is killing me! Not only is it not allowing us to fly the tethersonde, but we walk everywhere so talk about wind burn! Walking away from the Big House is great because we are walking with the wind, but walking to the Big House takes about ten more minutes because of the wind! Grrrrrr
The winds are predominantly from the North or Northeast, which is definitely frustrating a lot of people at Summit because that brings "camp pollution" from the generator and any flight that may come in at that time. Climatologically speaking, the winds are generally out of the southeast so this is definitely irregular, but has been presisting for about 8 days.
All of our instruments are running smoothly (knock on wood!). I have continued to back up all of the data at least once daily. Cables 3 and 4 of the snow spectroradiometer had to be reinserted into the snow because of the snow drift resulting from the high winds. Because we have not been able to fly the tethersonde, I have a little extra time on my hands to devote to data analysis. For example, this afternoon I did an in depth analysis of the state of the boundary layer on June 24th. On this particular day, most of the science groups saw interesting features (e.g. high levels of BrO). Our data showed that the boundary layer was very stable and had moist layer beginning at just below 50m. The group hypothesized after seeing some days with high BrO concentrations last year that the BrO was being produced photochemically in the snow (this is one reason why we are measuring the spectral irradiance at 5 depths within the snow). During stable conditions, the BrO remains close to the surface. So hopefully our intense boundary layer measurements will help everyone out too!
Oh yeah, today my friend Jin (GA Tech) gave everyone out at satellite camp some dried squid. I am always up for trying things at least once (grant it, the piece I chose was about 1/2 an inch long!), but ooooooooooh I didn't like it! It was very "fishy" to say the least. Everyone at the camp nick named it squid jerky. Although it kind of looked like onion straws! It is funny because the night before we left for Kanger, Greenland from Schnectady, NY, Jin and I went to an Italian restaurant. Needless to say she didn't like the place I picked out! So I guess we are even!
Congratulations to Liz Johnson for getting the trivia question correct last night (although I might need a little convincing that she didn't look it up!)!
Current weather:
14F with a -3F wind chill
For dinner tonight we had:
grilled tuna steaks with pineapple salsa, roasted potatoes, steamed cauliflower, salad, veggie soup, beef soup, homemade bread, Lemon Raspberry Cakes (surprisingly yummy even though I don't like lemon too much)
Smell-oh-Meter: 3.75...not too much of an increase today...thanks to the cold and the fact that you cannot get dirty here (everything is water (frozen), no dirt or soot)
Well, I guess that's all FOLKS!
More pictures!
Sun dogs (aka Parahelia, colored, luminous spots caused by the refraction of light by six-sided ice crystals in the atmosphere. These bright spots form in the solar halo at points that are 22 degrees on either side of the sun and at the same elevation as the sun) and sun pillar (vertical shaft of light extending upward or downward from the sun that forms when sunlight reflects off the surfaces of falling ice crystals associated with thin, high-level clouds) over tent city around 9:30 at night.
View from the back door of the Big House. To the left is the dish washing area and to the right is the kitchen.
View from the kitchen looking out to the tables.
View from the front door. Kitchen to the back left and dish washing area to the back right. Around the corner to the back right is the bathroom, sink, and shower.
Looking out the back door from the satellite camp (my office). Yesterday, the snow level was at the building floor. This happened over night!
On Wednesday afternoon, the first ever Greenland traverse arrived at Summit! The traverse vehicles consisted of two snow tractors hauling sleds with supplies and fuel. The four people who completed the traverse left Thule, Greenland, in May and made their way to Summit. Apparently, the first part of the traverse was quite treacherous and slow due to crevasses and soft snow, but as they reached the interior of the ice sheet they were able to obtain a max speed of 50 miles per day. Below are some pictures Katrine took when they pulled in to Summit camp. In the first picture you can see both vehicles and their sleds. The second picture is of one of the vehicles, which hauled the living quarters and other supplies behind it. (Katrine Gorham)
Close-up of the traverse. Attached is the kitchen. (photo by Katrine Gorham)
The Circumzenithal Arc, also known as the "smile in the sky" (photo by Craig Clements)
22 degree halo, Parhelic circle, and Parhelia (photo by Craig Clements)
The fair weather on June 20th made it a good day for digging snow pits. Jeff, Luke, and Tony dug a meter deep snow pit. Below is a picture of Jeff wearing a "bunny suit" (which is used to prevent contamination) working in the snow pit. He collected snow sample every 3 centimeters, which will be analyzed over the next few days using Ion Chromatography. (Katrine Gorham)
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Ooops!
Sorry, but I've had several request from my blog fans (haha) to report the temperature at the time of my post.
Temperature: 10F
Wind Chill: -8F
"I said brrrrrrrrrrrr...it's cold in here, there must be some torros in the atmosphere!!!"...name that movie! Answer in the comments by clicking on "comments" on the line below. First person to get the answer correct gets a Polar Prize! (not to be confused with Pulitzer Prize)
Temperature: 10F
Wind Chill: -8F
"I said brrrrrrrrrrrr...it's cold in here, there must be some torros in the atmosphere!!!"...name that movie! Answer in the comments by clicking on "comments" on the line below. First person to get the answer correct gets a Polar Prize! (not to be confused with Pulitzer Prize)
Thurs., June 26: I think I can, I think I can...
I've almost completed my second full day here at Summit camp! Yippppeeee!
So last night when Dr. Lefer and I were calibrating the spectroradiometer...it was very cold (duh), and I was using an allen wrech to remove some of the screws holding the dome in place. Because I was about ten feet up on a ladder and leaning over to reach the dome...leaving my hands the following duties 1) hold on! 2) collect the screws 3) hold on to the allen wrench 4) be prepared to catch the dome if it falls (mucho dinero!), after I removed the first screw I was clearly thinking I was in Houston and immediately put it in my mouth! Yes, I am an idiot! Immediately, Dr. Lefer screamed out, "Get that screw out of your mouth!" Its temperature was around 5F, the same as outside and almost stuck to my mouth! That really really would've been embarrassing going to see Chris the medic with a screw frozen to my mouth! Whew...close one!
We celebrated the "first leg" of the Summit crew last night because they left camp this morning at 7am. Among those leaving was my advisor, Dr. Lefer, and Dr. Clements (both from U of Houston). It is really easy to forget what time it is here because it is bright 24 hours a day...most people ended up drinking beer and visiting until about 3:30am. One GREAT thing about this is at this time it is warmer than around 11pm - 3am. So by the time I turned into my tent, it was warm, and I slept a whole lot better!
Today I relocated the five fiber optic cables in the snow spectroradiometer because northerly winds have dominated the past couple of days, and the instrument was located to the north of the cables, therefore creating a "snow drift" behind it. I decided to insert them into the snow (important for measuring UV radiation at different depths so we can identify the amount of radiation needed to form certain gaseous compounds in the snow such as NOx) to the east of the instrument because the forecast calls for north to east winds for the next few days.
The rest of the day was spent downloading and backing up (always want to have at least two copies of the data!) the data from the above ground spectroradiometer, snow spectroradiometer, sky camera, and snow ozone instrument. I have also been working on some code to process and plot the tethersonde data. For the tethersonde, we are mostly interested in temperature, dew point, and potential temperature so that we can identify the stability of the boundary layer (normally averaging anywhere from 200m to 300m in Summit). If the boundary layer is stable (temperature inversion is present, i.e., temperature is increasing with height), gaseous compounds such as BrO, NOx, and ozone are not able to be vertically mixed (turbulent mixing is very small, which inhibits air parcels from rising).
Lunch: Enchiladas, salad, Spanish rice, some type of Spanish bean Heaven with meat in it, Spanish pork verde...tasted sooo good when it touches your lips!, freshly baked chocolate chip cookies at least 5.5 inches in diameter...hmmmm maybe I'll have another right now!
Dinner: Meatloaf (kind of weary about this one because I haven't had it since I was like 5, but it was delicious!), baked potatoes, onion and mushroom gravy for anything and everything, freshly baked wheat bread, zesty broccoli, tofu for the vegetarians, warm and moisty brownies with walnuts, apple and oatmeal pie cake thing that was surprisingly good
Today I saw a sun halo and sun pillar. Very cool! I will post more pics as soon as I get a chance.
Hope everyone has a wonderful day!
Smell-oh-meter: a strong 3.5...not a whole point because I did change my long underwear and socks today...booooyah!
So last night when Dr. Lefer and I were calibrating the spectroradiometer...it was very cold (duh), and I was using an allen wrech to remove some of the screws holding the dome in place. Because I was about ten feet up on a ladder and leaning over to reach the dome...leaving my hands the following duties 1) hold on! 2) collect the screws 3) hold on to the allen wrench 4) be prepared to catch the dome if it falls (mucho dinero!), after I removed the first screw I was clearly thinking I was in Houston and immediately put it in my mouth! Yes, I am an idiot! Immediately, Dr. Lefer screamed out, "Get that screw out of your mouth!" Its temperature was around 5F, the same as outside and almost stuck to my mouth! That really really would've been embarrassing going to see Chris the medic with a screw frozen to my mouth! Whew...close one!
We celebrated the "first leg" of the Summit crew last night because they left camp this morning at 7am. Among those leaving was my advisor, Dr. Lefer, and Dr. Clements (both from U of Houston). It is really easy to forget what time it is here because it is bright 24 hours a day...most people ended up drinking beer and visiting until about 3:30am. One GREAT thing about this is at this time it is warmer than around 11pm - 3am. So by the time I turned into my tent, it was warm, and I slept a whole lot better!
Today I relocated the five fiber optic cables in the snow spectroradiometer because northerly winds have dominated the past couple of days, and the instrument was located to the north of the cables, therefore creating a "snow drift" behind it. I decided to insert them into the snow (important for measuring UV radiation at different depths so we can identify the amount of radiation needed to form certain gaseous compounds in the snow such as NOx) to the east of the instrument because the forecast calls for north to east winds for the next few days.
The rest of the day was spent downloading and backing up (always want to have at least two copies of the data!) the data from the above ground spectroradiometer, snow spectroradiometer, sky camera, and snow ozone instrument. I have also been working on some code to process and plot the tethersonde data. For the tethersonde, we are mostly interested in temperature, dew point, and potential temperature so that we can identify the stability of the boundary layer (normally averaging anywhere from 200m to 300m in Summit). If the boundary layer is stable (temperature inversion is present, i.e., temperature is increasing with height), gaseous compounds such as BrO, NOx, and ozone are not able to be vertically mixed (turbulent mixing is very small, which inhibits air parcels from rising).
Lunch: Enchiladas, salad, Spanish rice, some type of Spanish bean Heaven with meat in it, Spanish pork verde...tasted sooo good when it touches your lips!, freshly baked chocolate chip cookies at least 5.5 inches in diameter...hmmmm maybe I'll have another right now!
Dinner: Meatloaf (kind of weary about this one because I haven't had it since I was like 5, but it was delicious!), baked potatoes, onion and mushroom gravy for anything and everything, freshly baked wheat bread, zesty broccoli, tofu for the vegetarians, warm and moisty brownies with walnuts, apple and oatmeal pie cake thing that was surprisingly good
Today I saw a sun halo and sun pillar. Very cool! I will post more pics as soon as I get a chance.
Hope everyone has a wonderful day!
Smell-oh-meter: a strong 3.5...not a whole point because I did change my long underwear and socks today...booooyah!
Finally Some More Pictures!!!
Tent City! The Big House is in the background on the right.
My tent on day one! I'm lucky because I got a cot with two pads (each about 3/4 inch thick). So basically...I'm the bomb jiggity!
Very roomy of course! Don't be jealous!
View from our satellite camp, which is about 800m from the Big House (center of photo) and 900m from tent city (to the left of the photo). The flags line the path to sat. camp in case of a snow storm.
Satellite camp! It offices the University of Houston, Georgia Tech, University of New Hampshire, and University of California-Irvine (the school flags are to the right of the wooden building. The yellow tent on the left has a bucket in it for using the restroom. It is recommended to make the 800m trek back to the Big House because you have to bag up whatever comes out and plus you have to crawl in it (the hole is only about two feet high). In the background is the Balley Building, which hosts our instruments.
HAPPY 26TH BIRTHDAY DAVE!!! (June 26th)
Looking outside my window!
This was taken around 11pm at night!
Me about to fly the tethersonde (we call him Nemo because he looks like a cute little orange fish) at "Balloon Island", which tells us temperature, specific humidity, dew point, potential temperature, wind speed, and wind direction with height. We have been getting them to about 600m on average and once up to over 900m!
Woooop wooooop!
Just before I got to fly the C130. This is Captain Shawn, and he said I was a natural!
Eager scientists ready to get to Summit and putting on their cold weather gear just before landing! From left to right: Jin from GA Tech, Max from UCLA, Adam from NOAA, Jocque and Katrine from the University of Colorado.
Yay, I made it to Summit!
Me with the spectroradiometer. Yesterday (Wednesday) Dr. Lefer and I calibrated it, which needs to be done about every week. The satellite building is in the background followed by the Big House behind it.
Unviersity of Houston crew outside of the Big House! Dr. Dave Tanner from GA Tech took this and surprisingly got everyone to smile by saying, "Houston sucks on three!!!". For some reason it made us crack up. From left to right: Dr. Lefer, Dr. Craig Clements (now at San Jose State University), Craig Beals, and me!
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Wed., June 25: First Full Day!
"Behind every tree in Greenland is a woman." Air Force Man
So I slept pretty darn horrible last night. I slept in: tank top, thermal top, wool sweater, fleece, thermal bottoms, ski bibs, and wool socks. Still I was cold! And the oxygen is 73% of what it is at sea level so it was definitely hard to breathe with my sleeping bag zipped up! Around 5:30am however, it warmed up, and I was able to unzip my sleeping bag and actually sleep! Yay!
The Danish Parliament visited this morning at 7am. Denmark used to rule Greenland, but in 1978 Greenland they granted them home rule. The Parliament wanted to visit to see the science going on at Summit camp. The tour lasted all of 45 minutes and one lady (possibly the Princess) experienced horrible altitude sickness. I'm talking bent over, throwing up, yelping like a dog!!! Don't worry though...Chris the medic helped her out!
We did two radiosonde launches today and got up to about 200mb. Barry and I also calibrated the above ground spectroradiometer and everything looked good. Our group also had a data meeting and it seems like everyone is busy.
This morning I heard a bird. I thought I was a) hallucinating b) altitude sickness or c) one of the other Summitiers was playing a joke on me. Sure enough, there actually was a sea gull that somehow made it to the center of Greenland at about 10,500 ft! We haven't seen him since. so he probably passed away :(
Lunch: Quiche four different ways (heard it was awesome but I unfortunately hate eggs)
Salad with every topping you could imagine
Dinner: Beef soup (had more beef than I have ever seen in a soup...I ate it with a fork)
Vegetable soup (actually added some of this to my beef soup)
Homemade rolls (mmmmmmmmmmm hmmmmmm)
Potatoes
Random tator tots
Blueberry pie
The first team is leaving tomorrow at 7am so we are having a few beers to celebrate their time at Summit.
Shout out to Dr. David Paul Johnson...HAPPY 26TH BIRTHDAY tomorrow!
Smell-oh-meter: 3...cannot smell my conditioner anymore but not really stinkin at all! wooooop woooooop
Take care!
So I slept pretty darn horrible last night. I slept in: tank top, thermal top, wool sweater, fleece, thermal bottoms, ski bibs, and wool socks. Still I was cold! And the oxygen is 73% of what it is at sea level so it was definitely hard to breathe with my sleeping bag zipped up! Around 5:30am however, it warmed up, and I was able to unzip my sleeping bag and actually sleep! Yay!
The Danish Parliament visited this morning at 7am. Denmark used to rule Greenland, but in 1978 Greenland they granted them home rule. The Parliament wanted to visit to see the science going on at Summit camp. The tour lasted all of 45 minutes and one lady (possibly the Princess) experienced horrible altitude sickness. I'm talking bent over, throwing up, yelping like a dog!!! Don't worry though...Chris the medic helped her out!
We did two radiosonde launches today and got up to about 200mb. Barry and I also calibrated the above ground spectroradiometer and everything looked good. Our group also had a data meeting and it seems like everyone is busy.
This morning I heard a bird. I thought I was a) hallucinating b) altitude sickness or c) one of the other Summitiers was playing a joke on me. Sure enough, there actually was a sea gull that somehow made it to the center of Greenland at about 10,500 ft! We haven't seen him since. so he probably passed away :(
Lunch: Quiche four different ways (heard it was awesome but I unfortunately hate eggs)
Salad with every topping you could imagine
Dinner: Beef soup (had more beef than I have ever seen in a soup...I ate it with a fork)
Vegetable soup (actually added some of this to my beef soup)
Homemade rolls (mmmmmmmmmmm hmmmmmm)
Potatoes
Random tator tots
Blueberry pie
The first team is leaving tomorrow at 7am so we are having a few beers to celebrate their time at Summit.
Shout out to Dr. David Paul Johnson...HAPPY 26TH BIRTHDAY tomorrow!
Smell-oh-meter: 3...cannot smell my conditioner anymore but not really stinkin at all! wooooop woooooop
Take care!
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Tues., June 24: Damn it's cold!
We rolled out of Kanger at around 8:15am this morning and headed for Summit. Everyone was very eager and we only had around 18 people this time so there was A LOT more room. The flight time was about 2 hours and 15 minutes. About an hour into the flight I laid down on the floor and took a nap for about 45 minutes. It was definitely a very needed nap because the past three nights I have probably slept an average of 5 hours (and my body is more used to 8 hours!).
The plane skiied (yes that's right, the plane has both skis and tires) into Summit around 10:45am. We were all greeted by some current Summiters, including my advisor Dr. Barry Lefer. Everyone walked over to the "Big House" where we met Kathy the camp director. She told us some of the rules for Summit life and then we had a delicious meal...steak wraps, a relish tray including pickles...mmmmm...beef and vegetable soup, and pumpkin soup. It was sooooo very good! The Big House includes the kitchen, bathroom (where the sign on the door reads..."If it's yellow let it mellow, if it's brown flush it down!" and you can NEVER flush toilet paper), five long tables with chairs, stero system, tv for dvds and videos, a shower (remember only one 2 minute shower once a week), a washer and dryer, and the main office.
Following lunch, our team (me, Craig Beals, Dr. Craig Clements, and Barry) left for the satellite camp, which is about 800 meters away from the Big House. I participated in three tethersonde launches (one that had an ozonesonde on it) and one radiosonde launch today and got most of them up to 600m. A lot of clouds rolled in so most of the soundings followed the adiabatic lapse rate. The winds are out of the north, which isn't good because the "Big House", generator, and tent city (where all of our individual sleeping tents are located), are to the north of the satellite camp. So all of the NOx, Bromine, Ozone, and other chemical measurements are contaminated. We have a high pressure system dominating over the area, which is the cause of the northerly winds. Our team is also monitoring the spectroradiometer (SAFS) instrument that measures the UV radiation above the snow, the snowbird spectroradiometer that measures the UV radiation at 5 different depths within the snow, a sky camera, ozone measurement just below the snow surface, 10 thermocouples (measuring temperature), and one sonic anemometer (wind speed and wind direction) on the 50 meter meteorology tower. I will post pictures and descriptions of these probably tomorrow.
Dinner was at 6pm. We had lasagna with white sauce (with mushrooms, artichokes, bacon, and chicken), vegetarian lasagna, homemade bread, salad with balsamic vinegerette) and for dessert...the most amazing and addictive pecan cookies I have ever tasted! The food is maginficent and definitely makes the conditions more barrable. After that I went and downloaded some new programs necessary for data processing. We then had to walk the balloon back to the shed for storage over night. Right now it is 6F with a wind chill of -6F. Not too bad they say.
Summit is located at over 10,500 ft. Altitude sickness has hit a few people (headache, throwing up, dizziness, tiredness). I did feel a little light headed (kind of like I had two glasses of wine) and had a headache, but I took a couple of tylenols and felt better.
I am beat so I am off to bed. My tent has a cot, which is quite a luxury around here!
Good night!
Smell-oh-meter: 2...I can still smell the conditioner in my hair!
The plane skiied (yes that's right, the plane has both skis and tires) into Summit around 10:45am. We were all greeted by some current Summiters, including my advisor Dr. Barry Lefer. Everyone walked over to the "Big House" where we met Kathy the camp director. She told us some of the rules for Summit life and then we had a delicious meal...steak wraps, a relish tray including pickles...mmmmm...beef and vegetable soup, and pumpkin soup. It was sooooo very good! The Big House includes the kitchen, bathroom (where the sign on the door reads..."If it's yellow let it mellow, if it's brown flush it down!" and you can NEVER flush toilet paper), five long tables with chairs, stero system, tv for dvds and videos, a shower (remember only one 2 minute shower once a week), a washer and dryer, and the main office.
Following lunch, our team (me, Craig Beals, Dr. Craig Clements, and Barry) left for the satellite camp, which is about 800 meters away from the Big House. I participated in three tethersonde launches (one that had an ozonesonde on it) and one radiosonde launch today and got most of them up to 600m. A lot of clouds rolled in so most of the soundings followed the adiabatic lapse rate. The winds are out of the north, which isn't good because the "Big House", generator, and tent city (where all of our individual sleeping tents are located), are to the north of the satellite camp. So all of the NOx, Bromine, Ozone, and other chemical measurements are contaminated. We have a high pressure system dominating over the area, which is the cause of the northerly winds. Our team is also monitoring the spectroradiometer (SAFS) instrument that measures the UV radiation above the snow, the snowbird spectroradiometer that measures the UV radiation at 5 different depths within the snow, a sky camera, ozone measurement just below the snow surface, 10 thermocouples (measuring temperature), and one sonic anemometer (wind speed and wind direction) on the 50 meter meteorology tower. I will post pictures and descriptions of these probably tomorrow.
Dinner was at 6pm. We had lasagna with white sauce (with mushrooms, artichokes, bacon, and chicken), vegetarian lasagna, homemade bread, salad with balsamic vinegerette) and for dessert...the most amazing and addictive pecan cookies I have ever tasted! The food is maginficent and definitely makes the conditions more barrable. After that I went and downloaded some new programs necessary for data processing. We then had to walk the balloon back to the shed for storage over night. Right now it is 6F with a wind chill of -6F. Not too bad they say.
Summit is located at over 10,500 ft. Altitude sickness has hit a few people (headache, throwing up, dizziness, tiredness). I did feel a little light headed (kind of like I had two glasses of wine) and had a headache, but I took a couple of tylenols and felt better.
I am beat so I am off to bed. My tent has a cot, which is quite a luxury around here!
Good night!
Smell-oh-meter: 2...I can still smell the conditioner in my hair!
Monday, June 23, 2008
Mon., June 23: We officially made it to Greenland!
Taking us from the Kanger Air Force Base to the KISS facility about 1.5 miles down the road.
Me and Jin in the back of the pick up!
Our dorm room for the night...which was surprisingly very clean! :)
The KISS facility (aka the dorms)
We went to the commercial airport for dinner and this was on the outside...pretty scary!
Bunks in the C130 with the Air Force guys sleeping...can you find all three?
On our way to Kanger from Schnectady, NY.
Tara (Univ. of Toronto) and Max (UCLA) enjoying the ride in the back of the truck.
The Stratton Air Force Base in Schnectady, NY.
Me and my friend C130!
National Science Foundation (NSF) sponsored field campaign.
Tight fit (43 total) on the Schnectady to Kanger flight. I had the 2nd best seat in the house though (read below)! And had plenty of leg room to stretch out.
Beautiful ocean
Today has been an exciting and adventurous day! The group met in the lobby around 4:45am and to my amazement the sun was already rising. I really wasn't expecting this and it was kind of funny when I stepped in the taxi and "Wonderful Tonight" was playing on the radio because it was light outside (maybe you had to be there).
We arrived at Stratton Air Force Base around 5:15am and did not leave until 9am. The air force people were very nice. We had a VERY full flight. 43 civilians. Fortunately for me though, I had the second best seat on the C130 according to Sergent Bill who was sitting next to me. The best seat was the bunk that the "loadmaster" (guy in charge of the flight) slept on during the flight. The flight was 3 hours to Goose Bay, Newfoundland where we gassed up, enjoyed complimentary ice cream (I had a nutty buddy bar (ice cream cone with vanilla ice cream and chocolate and nuts on top) which nobody else had heard of this particular name when I told a group which one I had). My seat was in the back of the plane. Nobody was sitting across from me so I could prop my legs up on some of the luggage and crates. Sergent Bill and the loadmaster were sitting to my left (closest to the back of the plane) and left their seasts as soon as were at a cruising altitude so I was able to almost fully lie down. Plus, Sergent Bill had a whole box of Oreos, which I helped him eat. He also offered me the bunk, but at this point I think everyone else was already somehwat jealous of my great seat, enjoyment of snacks, and proximity to the back windows. So although it was difficult, I regretfully declined the offer and settled into my seat.
As soon as I sat down on the plane, I inserted my earplugs, which they provided and Rob also gave me a pair just in case. I opened another book that Liz had recommended, "Secret Life of Bees". After reading the first paragraph, I realized that I had read it before. I was totally bummed because I had only carried on one book. My new friend Tara from the University of Toronto (a PhD in atmospheric chemistry) offered one of her books, a sci fi novel called "Drastic Dragon of Draco, Texas". Although I have never been that into sci fi stuff, it is quite interesting and the author Elizabeth Scarborough has quite an imagination.
So after refueling and eating ice cream and hot chocolate (yes I know kind of pointless), we headed from Goose Bay to Kangerlussuaq, Greenland...a 3 and a half hour flight. Did I mention how freezing cold it was on the plane? BRRRRRRRRRRRRRR is the word. I learned a lesson and next time will definitely wear more layers!!!!!!!!
About 2o minutes before we made our final descent into the Kanger the clouds parted and we laid eyes upon a spectacular view! At first we saw ice chunks in the Labrador Sea and then we were flying over land. Everything was frozen on land and the glaciers running through the mountain valleys looked almost like waterfalls. The water was crystal blue (if there is such a thing) and very tranquil. At one point, we flew over a plateau and the snow was so fresh, untouched, and soft looking...I had to focus to decipher what was snow and what was a cloud. It was breathtaking! Hopefully my pictures will turn out.
We landed and the excitement grew throughout the plane. I have met so many people from all over the U.S. and the world and have learned a lot about the current field campaigns in Greenland. One group from the University of California-Davis is traveling to the northern part of Greenland for an archaeology field study. That part of Greenland was settled about 400,000 years ago. Some others are from GA Tech, UCLA, Univ. of California Irvine, TREC, Univ. of Toronto, Germany, NOAA, University of New Hampshire, Colorado University.
After arriving, everyone loaded into the back of some pick up trucks and we drove about 1.5 miles to the KISS (Kangerlussuaq International Science Support) facility which are very similar to dorms. We went to eat at the commercial airport (which has one gate). I had a 1/2 chicken and fries, but next time will try the musk ox burger, which my friend Max had.
My legs felt kind of like goo from being on the plane the whole day so I decided to go on a run around 9:30pm (keep in mind it doesn't get dark here!!!! and don't worry I did remember my eye mask). After about 20 minutes, I decided to kick the soccer ball in front of the KISS facility. There were some younger kids playing too, but I could not communicate with them because of my lacking Danish speaking skills!
My roommate Jin and I went on a little walk, but it was getting chilly so we retired to the dorms. I took a long hot shower (my last for probably a week) and here I am.
One surprising thing of the day...the mosquitoes are horrible. I stopped for a second on my run and got ambushed by about ten of them! And they aren't no little things either...big suckers comparable to those in Louisiana!!! I don't think they pack much venom (or whatever the word is) because some of them must have bitten me but I have yet to have an itch!
Alrighty, must go to bed now...our flight leaves at 7:15 local time (+2 hours from EDT). As I look out the window and gaze upon the beautiful blue sky hovering over the mountains...I cannot even fathom that it is 11:45 at night!
Sorry internet is slow here so I will have to post the pictures tomorrow.
Smell-oh-Meter: 1...Zestfully clean!
We arrived at Stratton Air Force Base around 5:15am and did not leave until 9am. The air force people were very nice. We had a VERY full flight. 43 civilians. Fortunately for me though, I had the second best seat on the C130 according to Sergent Bill who was sitting next to me. The best seat was the bunk that the "loadmaster" (guy in charge of the flight) slept on during the flight. The flight was 3 hours to Goose Bay, Newfoundland where we gassed up, enjoyed complimentary ice cream (I had a nutty buddy bar (ice cream cone with vanilla ice cream and chocolate and nuts on top) which nobody else had heard of this particular name when I told a group which one I had). My seat was in the back of the plane. Nobody was sitting across from me so I could prop my legs up on some of the luggage and crates. Sergent Bill and the loadmaster were sitting to my left (closest to the back of the plane) and left their seasts as soon as were at a cruising altitude so I was able to almost fully lie down. Plus, Sergent Bill had a whole box of Oreos, which I helped him eat. He also offered me the bunk, but at this point I think everyone else was already somehwat jealous of my great seat, enjoyment of snacks, and proximity to the back windows. So although it was difficult, I regretfully declined the offer and settled into my seat.
As soon as I sat down on the plane, I inserted my earplugs, which they provided and Rob also gave me a pair just in case. I opened another book that Liz had recommended, "Secret Life of Bees". After reading the first paragraph, I realized that I had read it before. I was totally bummed because I had only carried on one book. My new friend Tara from the University of Toronto (a PhD in atmospheric chemistry) offered one of her books, a sci fi novel called "Drastic Dragon of Draco, Texas". Although I have never been that into sci fi stuff, it is quite interesting and the author Elizabeth Scarborough has quite an imagination.
So after refueling and eating ice cream and hot chocolate (yes I know kind of pointless), we headed from Goose Bay to Kangerlussuaq, Greenland...a 3 and a half hour flight. Did I mention how freezing cold it was on the plane? BRRRRRRRRRRRRRR is the word. I learned a lesson and next time will definitely wear more layers!!!!!!!!
About 2o minutes before we made our final descent into the Kanger the clouds parted and we laid eyes upon a spectacular view! At first we saw ice chunks in the Labrador Sea and then we were flying over land. Everything was frozen on land and the glaciers running through the mountain valleys looked almost like waterfalls. The water was crystal blue (if there is such a thing) and very tranquil. At one point, we flew over a plateau and the snow was so fresh, untouched, and soft looking...I had to focus to decipher what was snow and what was a cloud. It was breathtaking! Hopefully my pictures will turn out.
We landed and the excitement grew throughout the plane. I have met so many people from all over the U.S. and the world and have learned a lot about the current field campaigns in Greenland. One group from the University of California-Davis is traveling to the northern part of Greenland for an archaeology field study. That part of Greenland was settled about 400,000 years ago. Some others are from GA Tech, UCLA, Univ. of California Irvine, TREC, Univ. of Toronto, Germany, NOAA, University of New Hampshire, Colorado University.
After arriving, everyone loaded into the back of some pick up trucks and we drove about 1.5 miles to the KISS (Kangerlussuaq International Science Support) facility which are very similar to dorms. We went to eat at the commercial airport (which has one gate). I had a 1/2 chicken and fries, but next time will try the musk ox burger, which my friend Max had.
My legs felt kind of like goo from being on the plane the whole day so I decided to go on a run around 9:30pm (keep in mind it doesn't get dark here!!!! and don't worry I did remember my eye mask). After about 20 minutes, I decided to kick the soccer ball in front of the KISS facility. There were some younger kids playing too, but I could not communicate with them because of my lacking Danish speaking skills!
My roommate Jin and I went on a little walk, but it was getting chilly so we retired to the dorms. I took a long hot shower (my last for probably a week) and here I am.
One surprising thing of the day...the mosquitoes are horrible. I stopped for a second on my run and got ambushed by about ten of them! And they aren't no little things either...big suckers comparable to those in Louisiana!!! I don't think they pack much venom (or whatever the word is) because some of them must have bitten me but I have yet to have an itch!
Alrighty, must go to bed now...our flight leaves at 7:15 local time (+2 hours from EDT). As I look out the window and gaze upon the beautiful blue sky hovering over the mountains...I cannot even fathom that it is 11:45 at night!
Sorry internet is slow here so I will have to post the pictures tomorrow.
Smell-oh-Meter: 1...Zestfully clean!
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