Getting Busy

The field season is starting to get busy with actual time spent in the field. In addition to Wednesday's helo visit to White Island, we had a Twin Otter flight back to Cape Hallett on Friday and a Twin Otter visit to AWS sites Vito and Emilia on Saturday. You might recall in my last post I had commented that the weather forecast model was predicting a reasonably significant storm for the weekend. It was not until late Thursday night, as I was seeing the storm fizzle in the forecast model, that I realized we might get out on Friday. I was still confident enough that part of the storm would remain that I was doubtful that we'd get out on Saturday. In fact, I convinced some colleagues to stay up late playing cards Friday night under the premise that we'd probably not fly. I was wrong once again. In both of these cases, I'll be happy to be wrong if it involves getting out into the field to repair one of the weather stations.

Looking towards Mount Erebus, the predominant peak on Ross Island, at the start of the flight to Cape Hallett.

On Friday we had the return visit to Cape Hallett AWS. We had visited Cape Hallett a week earlier and when we got back to the office we learned that the transmission by satellite phone was not working as we had hoped. A fair amount of time was spent during the week and a half in between visits to learn, test, and troubleshoot the operation of the modem that was being installed at Cape Hallett AWS. This time we installed a modem that has the capability to update the datalogger program remotely, hopefully avoiding a return trip if some other problem would emerge. The Twin Otter flight to Cape Hallett was another outstanding flight along the Transantarctic Mountains. The Twin Otter landed further away from the weather station, requiring a longer walk, but we didn't mind as the weather was very nice (about 14F) and light winds. We installed the new modem, updated the datalogger program, and verified the transmission by calling a colleague back in Madison. Everything was working as we had hoped and we were free to spend some time enjoying the sights and the Adelie penguin colony at Cape Hallett. Whenever we have available seats and weight on our flights, we are generally asked to bring some "boondogglers" along for the ride. The boondoggler program is in place as a reward for the contract workers who are performing well and it gives them a chance to get out of McMurdo. On this flight we had three boondogglers and they received an extremely special flight and visit. Oftentimes, we have work, such as digging snow, for the boondogglers to do. This time we did not and they were simply able to enjoy the visit. On the walk back to the Twin Otter we were given a bonus as one of the penguins escorted us back to the plane.

Some sea ice formations near Cape Hallett.

The Adelie penguin colony at Cape Hallett. This picture can be compared to some of the pictures from the earlier post on Cape Hallett. The number of penguins dramatically increased during the week and a half between visits.

Three penguins sitting and lying on their nest made of rocks. Also, notice the large number of penguins on the hillside in the background.

A line of penguins at Cape Hallett.

Hero shot in front of the Cape Hallett AWS with the penguin colony in the background.

As we were walking back to the Twin Otter we turned around and discovered a follower.

When we initially stopped, the penguin escorting us back to the Twin Otter stopped as well. When we stopped a second time to take more pictures of our little friend, the penguin kept on going right by us.

Sometimes the penguins slide on their belly and can move faster than walking.

The penguin escorted us all of the way back to the Twin Otter. Unfortunately, our little friend didn't hop on board to fly back with us.

Instead, the penguin stuck around for a few minutes and then took off walking in another direction.

The flight on Saturday was a little more complicated. Originally, we were scheduled as the second backup for a flight to Elaine AWS, on the southern Ross Ice Shelf. After a two hour weather delay, it was concluded that site, as well as the primary and first backups sites, had poor enough weather to cancel those trips. Instead the Fixed Wing Ops proposed we go to one of the AWS sites only about 140 miles from McMurdo. That morning we had received the necessary cargo allowing us to make the trip and we agreed. There are two sites within 60 miles of each other on the Ross Ice Shelf, both required only relatively quick maintenance visits, so we decided to visit both. The repair went well. We replaced the aerovane (wind measurement system) at Emilia AWS and tried to fix a transmission problem at Vito AWS. We were not able to fix the transmission problem so we removed the datalogger electronics and brought it back to the lab to test and troubleshoot. If all goes well, we will install the datalogger electronics on another trip out on the Ross Ice Shelf.

The AWS sites on the Ross Ice Shelf are dramatically different than the scenery at Cape Hallett. Every direction that you look you see flat white ice and snow. This is what most of Antarctica looks like.

Generally, if I go days between posts, it either means things are really slow and I have nothing to say or things are super busy and I don't have time to write. Immediately after getting back from Saturday's flight, I left to go o the dorm to do badly needed laundry and a shower. I tried to keep a relatively quiet Sunday to give me chance to slow down and recover. There is a chance for another busy week. We will be going on another helo flight in about an hour and there is a chance for another 2-3 flights later this week.

Lastly, the weather has improved dramatically. We not only made double-digits for the first time yesterday but it also made it past 20F. The winds have also died down which makes a big difference.