Phoenix, Tall Tower and Lorne

It's been a busy, but very productive, couple of weeks now. We've now been to all four sites and have completed work at one (Tall Tower), nearly completed work at two others (Phoenix and Lorne) and the fourth (Willie) is about halfway done. We are actually running a bit ahead of schedule (almost unheard of down here, especially since other projects have been waiting almost a month to start due to bad weather in other locations around the continent) and still have two weeks to go.

One of my earlier blogs talked about Phoenix where the shield was falling apart. We took another trip dedicated to getting Phoenix ready for the winter and it took Mark and I another three hours of work at the site to get most everything back in shape for the next winter season. This included raising the white box that houses the data logger and the electronics as well as the precipitation detection sensor and the snow depth sensor. The precipitation detection sensor was less than a foot above the snow and the snow depth sensor was a little over a foot above the snow. Between the two of us, we also managed to raise the shield back into place around the precipitation gauge.

Final view of Phoenix installation for the next season

While we were at Phoenix, the C-17 landed next to us as we were working.

C-17 taxiing back up the skiway to drop the passengers and cargo off. Mt. Discovery can be see in the background

After Phoenix, we turned our attention to the remote sites. With good weather in the forecast, we got on the Twin Otter flight schedule and made it out to Tall Tower. The day we traveled to Tall Tower was sunny with almost no wind. Even though temperatures were in the upper teens (Fahrenheit), it was borderline hot and I ended working without my coat most of the time. We spent about 4 hours working at the site to get as much done as we could lest the next visit occur in less-than-ideal conditions. We completed nearly everything we could, but one of the instruments was being difficult so I ended up removing the white enclosure and the instrument to bring back to McMurdo for further testing.

Tall Tower site with the Twin Otter in the background

Tall Tower site with the tall tower in the background

After spending a few days in the lab working out the issues, we were ready to go back to Tall Tower. Because we weren't going to need much time there (maybe an hour or so putting everything back together), we asked flight ops if we could add a stop at Lorne on the way back. They were happy to oblige so we took off for the final trip to Tall Tower and what we hoped would be a single trip to Lorne. This trip was somewhat unique because there were actually six of us going to complete the work instead of the usual two or four that go. In addition to Mark and I, we had the two people from UNAVCO that support our power systems as well as two boondogglers (or morale trippers as they are also referred to). Boondogglers are workers from around town who have done a great job in whatever role they are working in (anything from washing dishes in the galley to driving fork lifts, to maintaining the electrical systems) and their supervisors recommend them to go out to the field with scientists for a day or two to help out. We had requested two boondogglers to go with us to help with digging and other odds and ends on the trip so things would move along faster. We had two women join us who were absolutely fantastic. Liz, who works in supply for the electrical and plumbing groups and "Shuttle Darcy", who drives one of the shuttle vans down here. I had met Liz prior to this trip and she was one of the people that I climbed Ob Hill with (more on that in a later post) so I was happy to see she was coming along with us.

We arrived for our Twin Otter flight around 8:30am and were airborne by 9:00. It took about 45 minutes to get to Tall Tower because of the stronger headwind.

Flying over White Island ... pressure ridges can be seen along the edges where the land meets the ice shelf

Lenticular clouds can be seen over the Transantarctic Mountains

Upon arrival, we noticed snow blowing across the landscape and the pilots informed us it was about 12 degrees Fahrenheit with 20 kt winds (good thing we took advantage of the good weather at Tall Tower on the last trip). We worked quickly and were able to get everything done in the roughly hour and a half we were on the ground. This included replacing one of the sections of the wind shield that I noticed had started to develop stress fractures in some of the metal fins. The plastic itself was holding up quite well, but the 100+ kt winds over the winter had clearly taken a toll on some of the metal fins.

Once we had everything done, it was time for some final pictures and then off to Lorne. Upon arrival at Lorne, we found the site to be in good shape overall. Wind had calmed down a bit (more like 12 kts) and temperatures had risen to around 16 degrees Fahrenheit. None of the instruments were buried here, but the snow level had clearly risen roughly a foot and a half, which meant we would need to raise the enclosure, the precipitation detection sensor and the snow depth sensor at this site as well.

Bridal Veil Falls

Now, allow me to explain that picture, which probably caused one of three reactions. First, for those of you who are actually reading my blog, you are now probably scratching your head wondering why I posted a picture of Bridal Veil Falls in New Zealand when I was just talking about the instruments at Lorne. "Did he post the wrong picture?" "Are there waterfalls and lush vegetation that far south?" "Is he actually on vacation and just telling everyone he is in Antarctica?" No, it's actually none of those. I posted the picture for the reaction to the group of people with the second reaction to that picture .. that reaction being "Wait, I was just looking through his post to see the pictures and not really reading anything because his posts are long and somewhat boring.... why is this picture in there suddenly? Perhaps I should read some of what he wrote" ... yup, those of you with that reaction, consider yourselves busted! Then there is the group of people with the reaction "ooh ... pretty picture" that will continue on looking at the rest of the pictures .... yeah, I'll catch you when you see me later and comment about the pretty waterfall picture in Antarctica!

Where was I? Oh yes ... Lorne ... we spent the rest of the afternoon working on Lorne and got most everything done that we needed. One thing that needed to be fixed I hadn't anticipated was another bad wind shield section. This time, the metal fins in one section had completely split apart along the bends. One piece had blown off altogether and we found it about 50 feet downstream of the site.

Damaged section of the Lorne precipitation gauge wind shield

Using some of the least damaged fins from Tall Tower and the undamaged fins from Lorne, we pieced together another section to replace the bad ones. After about 4 hours of work, Lorne was ready for the winter! Or so we thought. Upon arrival back at the lab, it appears two of the instruments got plugged in incorrectly so we'll need to do one more quick trip back to Lorne to swap them and fix them.

Final inspections of Lorne by the team

Pilots (in black) and the Boondogglers "Shuttle Darcy" in the middle and Liz to the right

With most of these site issues resolved, that leaves us time to turn our attention to Willie, which will be the subject of a future post. Here's a few more pictures from around the area (for those of you who just want the pictures).

Tall Tower site with Twin Otter

A panoramic view of Tall Tower that gives a much better view of what most of Antarctica is like ..... flat and white

The shadow of the Twin Otter can be seen as well as the track of the South Pole Traverse, which is a caravan of tractors that drag supplies and fuel to South Pole Station 1000 miles away