IceChaser: Chasing Snow in Antarctica

It is amazing the difference a week can make in Antarctica. Especially a week where the weather remains relatively mild. Last week at this time, we had just turned power on at one site (even though the instruments weren't ready, we wanted to test the communications) and we had partially installed another two. As of today, three sites are 100% operational and the fourth needs only one more instrument and the wind shield installed around the precipitation gauge. That also means this week has been, well, fast-paced is a good way to put it. Before I dive into some updates on the sites, I wanted to give a shout out to the amazing galley staff here in McMurdo. As I had mentioned before, Thanksgiving is celebrated here on Saturday instead of Thursday so that everyone has a two day weekend. (Normal working hours and days here are 7:30am to 5:30pm Monday through Saturday, with Sunday the only day off for the regular staff here). We signed up for dinner Saturday evening at 7:00pm. As we we...

Contrary to what the title may imply, I did not fall through the sea ice and go for a swim. I did, however, get to go for a view of McMurdo sound under the sea ice. Each year, there are a number of research projects going on that focus on the aquatic life. Dive teams regularly go diving under the ice, which sounds freakishly dangerous but they've all said it's the easiest diving they have ever done. This is typically done using diving huts that they drag out onto the sea ice and place over holes they've drilled in the ice. Looking at the sea floor through the bottom of the dive hut. A concrete block can be seen, as well as sponges and other assorted sea life (white spots). The dive teams typically go out once a day and go diving for 30 minutes to an hour each time. I happened to be out there when a group of artists were preparing to dive under the ice to do sketches of some of the different sea life. Divers prepare to enter the water. So how did I get a view...

Since we are now actively deploying sites in the field, I wanted to create a post explaining a little bit more about how we are doing our snowfall measurements. I know most of you don't have science degrees so I promise this post won't be super "sciencey" and full of buzz words that no one will understand. With that said, let's start with the basics. There are two ways to measure snowfall. The method most of you are familiar with is to measure the depth. Go out, stick a ruler in five or more different locations in a given area, average those measurements and you have your snow depth! (Or you can cheat like the television newscasters and find the deepest snow drift and take your measurement there). While depth measurements are certainly useful (that is one of the automatic measurements we are taking at our sites), what really matters in the world of science and transportation applications is the amount of water in the snow. Most of you will recall I covered this in...

In a prior blog post, I had made mention of the pressure ridges that form in the sea. Because the sea ice is always moving, the pressure ridges form when the sea ice near land slows down and starts to get squeezed. This squeezing of the ice leads to ridges and crests that form in the ice. If the pressure continues, these ridges eventually buckle and break, thrusting ice upwards along the ruptures. Normally these areas can be dangerous to be near (for obvious reasons), but the mountaineers from the New Zealand Base (Scott Base, which is only a mile or so from McMurdo) scout out and flag paths that you can walk on next to these pressure ridges. Personnel from McMurdo then offer tours to people and take them out for an up-close experience with the ridges. These tours are very popular and fill up quickly so it can be hard to get on them. I managed to catch the signup list right after they posted it this past weekend and signed up for the Tuesday night tour. The group met after dinner and w...

We are almost at the halfway point in the field and things are steadily coming together. We were able to make it out into the field this past week to begin some of the site installations at the Willie airfield site and the Phoenix airfield site. There are technically three different airfields here near McMurdo (not counting the helicopter pads). Phoenix is the primary site where the Intercontinental flights from Christchurch takeoff and land (usually the C-17 aircraft). Willie Field is where the LC-130 aircraft, the Twin Otter aircraft and the Basler BT-67, which is just a refurbished DC-3, are based. Pegasus airfield was used until December of last year, but operations were moved to the new Phoenix airfield due to excessive melting issues during the summer months at Pegasus. For the aviation buffs following my blog, I've posted a few pictures of some of the aforementioned aircraft below. A row of the LC-130 "Hercules" aircraft. The Basler DC-3 aircraft. Yester...