I am at the end of another journey to Antarctica, completing my fifth trip to the coldest, windiest, and driest continent. It is still hard to believe such trips have become sort of a regular occurrence as that is not what I set out to do, and I really don't ever want such experiences to be "regular". The travel off of Antarctica went exceptionally smooth, especially for Antarctic standards. We met at 1:00PM on Monday for transport to Pegasus Airfield on "Ivan the Terra Bus". You can think of Ivan as a monster-truck version of a school bus. It took about an hour to get to Pegasus as Ivan is much slower than a van. The C-17 arrived right on time at 2:20 PM. With 115+ people on the southbound flight, it took little effort to offload southbound and load northbound cargo. In fact, much of the C-17 was outfitted with seats that were now being filled with only 21 people. 30 minutes after the C-17 landed we walked to, and boarded, the plane. Another half hour later we were in the air going to Christchurch. It was a little over five hours to get to Christchurch and we were on the ground by 8:30 PM. Less than 8 hours from transport to Christchurch is really unheard of when it comes to northbound travel.
I spent about 36 hours in Christchurch before continuing my journey back to Colorado on commercial airlines. I requested a full day in Christchurch to provide an opportunity to rest, slow down, and acclimate back to non-Antarctic life. One of the post-ice trip highlights is a walk in the Christchurch Botanical Garden. It is always special to sense colors, sounds, and scents of nature that I've not experienced in over 5 weeks. I can't even imagine what that must be like for those who are in Antarctica for 8+ months. The time in Christchurch is also nice for getting some good food. After nearly seven weeks together, John and I finished off our journey with a great dinner. The travel back to Colorado was relatively smooth without any delays or drama and a total door to door travel time of about 24 hours.
It is still far too early for me to process and really put much of this past trip into perspective. That will happen in the coming weeks once I get a chance to slow down, as well as have conversations with family and friends. I have come up with a summary of some of the main storylines from the journey. These are not exhaustive, nor in any order, and I am probably missing some, but at this stage they present a good wrap-up to the season.
We were able to complete 33 flights over 10 days of flying the UAVs. This is a fraction of the number of flights that we had hoped to complete. However, the observations that we were able to capture represent a good range of atmospheric conditions and will provide a number of interesting cases to better understand the lowest part of the Antarctic atmosphere. The typical Antarctic field season is that you are fumbling around and facing setbacks and delays to start the season. Things come together for the last week or two and you come away feeling good about how the season ended. Our season was the reverse of that experience with the most productive and best field work at the onset. Yet in our case, this reverse operation was by far preferable because it was in those early weeks, when the transition from winter was the most pronounced, that provided the most interesting meteorological cases.
The entire trip turned on the night of the accident where the UAV hit John's hand and resulted in two deep cuts requiring stitches. In the days leading up to the accident, we were remarkably successful and completed nearly two-third of our flights in the initial week and a half. We had two days of five flights each. Things were never the same after the accident. We never flew more than three flights in a single day and we had some days where we sat at the passenger terminal for hours without getting in a single flight. The first UAV was totaled in two successive crashes on our first day out at Pegasus after the accident. In hindsight the UAV was likely damaged in the accident. After losing that plane, and the accident, we were more cautious and seemed to be continually fighting a lack of wind.
One of the events that sticks out to me is what I am calling "the 10 lost days" in the middle of the trip. These 10 days occurred between the accident and our presentation for the Sunday science lecture. (I talked about these days in more detail in a previous email/blog post.) Time seemed to stand still during those 10 days and yet after the 10 days were over it was a challenge to identify where all of that time went. It was also in those 10 days that I feel we transitioned from the "polar night" to the "polar day" as the sun was much higher in the sky, McMurdo was no longer in the shadow, and the temperatures were warmer. At the end of these 10 days I felt I got a better grasp of keeping track of the day to day activities. We still faced some setbacks after these 10 days but they did not feel like they were lost days.
Similar to previous trips, I had a fun time meeting many of the different friends and personalities in McMurdo. This was a different trip from the past in that we were two of only 10 scientists at the station during WinFly. That means nearly all of the 326 residents were contract workers with varying jobs from administrative to outdoor specialist to specific trades. There were some first years in the mix but most of the contract workers were people who have been doing it from two to 20 years. The last Saturday of my trip was highlightfed with the party held at the Carp (carpentry) Shop work center. The party is a tradition for the close of WinFly and it was a very fun night and a chance to spend time with new and old friends.
Those are some of the early storylines from this years trip. I will be sending out one more quick message in a week or two when I have posted all of the photos from the trip. Thanks again for following along on my journey to Antarctica. The next trip is scheduled for November 2017, although the details of that trip won't be determined until around March.
Wednesday, October 5, 2016
Sunday, October 2, 2016
Q&A - Answers
The southbound flight from Christchurch is in the air and I will soon be leaving for transport to Pegasus. I am never certain but it is looking likely that I will be leaving on my scheduled northbound day. I'll have more confidence once we leave the ground.
About two weeks ago I sent out an email asking for questions about Antarctica. I received a number of questions and I am finally getting around to answering them. Many of the questions came from the kindergarten / 1st grade students that I Skyped with last week.
Q: How often does McMurdo experience Condition 1 weather?
A: I asked one of the long-term contractors this question and he told me very rarely does it go to Condition 1 in McMurdo. It certainly varies from year to year but it seems that generally it is no more than a few times a year and sometimes never in a year. He said one of the key reasons for going Condition 1 in town is because people are essentially placed in lock down and it keeps everybody indoors and away from the dangerous flying debris due to the high winds. This friend has been in McMurdo for just over a year and he recently agreed to stay around for another month.
Q: Any fun friends?
A: The McMurdo community is an interesting bunch. There is a tremendous community and bond amongst the people here, especially those that come down year after year. This tight community will be especially evident in the coming week with people from all over the world converging back in a place that many of them now call home. Yet within that tight community, there are also some that never seem to come out from hiding. I was told that this year at the mid-winter dinner, with a static population of about 135 for most of the winter, there were people that arrived that looked like strangers. Getting to know the people of McMurdo and making new friends is always a highlight for me with my trips to Antarctica.
Q: What types of animals do you see during WinFly?
A: WinFly is not the time of the year to see animals. The sea ice edge and open water are a long distance away from McMurdo with it being at the end of winter. That means that most wildlife, especially the penguins, are far away from McMurdo. On top of that, there are no helicopter or twin otter flights at this time of the year so there are no flights to where the penguins live, like I had a year ago. The only wildlife that is seen are Weddell seals. The Weddell seals are also not the most exciting animals to see as about all that you see is them lying around on the sea ice. There are scientists who have been down at WinFly, and more coming soon, who are here to study the Weddell seals.
Q: Are there blizzards there? If so, how do you know?
A: Yes, there are blizzards here and it is mostly driven by the strong winds that can be experienced in Antarctica. The strong winds in combination with the infinite supply of snow results in tremendous amount of blowing snow. Such conditions are especially true out on the sea ice, the ice shelf, and the ice sheets. The blizzards can be the result of a storm that is also precipitating (falling) snow or it can be a ground blizzard with blue skies above and only the result of the strong winds.
Q: Do animals get confused with no sun and then lots of sun?
A: Yeah, I have no idea on this question. You have to love kinder questions. I stumbled through this answer during the Skype session. Hopefully, they don't remember what it was that I said but you know that will not be the case.
Q: Do you drink a lot of hot chocolate?
A: Well, I am no fun with this answer because I have never been a hot drink person, of any type. I will say that drinking hot drinks in Antarctica is very common and often very wise as it is one of the few ways to warm your body from the inside. I have decided that I should find a hot drink that makes me happy for that very reason.
Thanks for all of the questions.
About two weeks ago I sent out an email asking for questions about Antarctica. I received a number of questions and I am finally getting around to answering them. Many of the questions came from the kindergarten / 1st grade students that I Skyped with last week.
Q: How often does McMurdo experience Condition 1 weather?
A: I asked one of the long-term contractors this question and he told me very rarely does it go to Condition 1 in McMurdo. It certainly varies from year to year but it seems that generally it is no more than a few times a year and sometimes never in a year. He said one of the key reasons for going Condition 1 in town is because people are essentially placed in lock down and it keeps everybody indoors and away from the dangerous flying debris due to the high winds. This friend has been in McMurdo for just over a year and he recently agreed to stay around for another month.
Q: Any fun friends?
A: The McMurdo community is an interesting bunch. There is a tremendous community and bond amongst the people here, especially those that come down year after year. This tight community will be especially evident in the coming week with people from all over the world converging back in a place that many of them now call home. Yet within that tight community, there are also some that never seem to come out from hiding. I was told that this year at the mid-winter dinner, with a static population of about 135 for most of the winter, there were people that arrived that looked like strangers. Getting to know the people of McMurdo and making new friends is always a highlight for me with my trips to Antarctica.
Q: What types of animals do you see during WinFly?
A: WinFly is not the time of the year to see animals. The sea ice edge and open water are a long distance away from McMurdo with it being at the end of winter. That means that most wildlife, especially the penguins, are far away from McMurdo. On top of that, there are no helicopter or twin otter flights at this time of the year so there are no flights to where the penguins live, like I had a year ago. The only wildlife that is seen are Weddell seals. The Weddell seals are also not the most exciting animals to see as about all that you see is them lying around on the sea ice. There are scientists who have been down at WinFly, and more coming soon, who are here to study the Weddell seals.
Q: Are there blizzards there? If so, how do you know?
A: Yes, there are blizzards here and it is mostly driven by the strong winds that can be experienced in Antarctica. The strong winds in combination with the infinite supply of snow results in tremendous amount of blowing snow. Such conditions are especially true out on the sea ice, the ice shelf, and the ice sheets. The blizzards can be the result of a storm that is also precipitating (falling) snow or it can be a ground blizzard with blue skies above and only the result of the strong winds.
Q: Do animals get confused with no sun and then lots of sun?
A: Yeah, I have no idea on this question. You have to love kinder questions. I stumbled through this answer during the Skype session. Hopefully, they don't remember what it was that I said but you know that will not be the case.
Q: Do you drink a lot of hot chocolate?
A: Well, I am no fun with this answer because I have never been a hot drink person, of any type. I will say that drinking hot drinks in Antarctica is very common and often very wise as it is one of the few ways to warm your body from the inside. I have decided that I should find a hot drink that makes me happy for that very reason.
Thanks for all of the questions.
Coming to a Close
I am in what should be my final 18 hours in Antarctica. I say should because there is always an unknown when it comes to weather and Antarctic flights. I checked in my bags for transport this afternoon in a process referred to as "bag drag" and I am down to my carry-on bag. I have cleaned my dorm room and passed the housing inspection. The only remaining thing to do is to wait for the transport time when we are taken to Pegasus Airfield for our C-17 flight to Christchurch. I am estimating the transport time will be shortly after lunch.
In my last post, I shared about our long night of fighting the lack of winds and completing three flights in 15 hours. Those three flights ended up being our last flights of the field season. The following night we were both exhausted and the winds were once again light. On Friday, we went out to Pegasus for one last try. We arrived and the winds were marginal and the atmospheric conditions were less than ideal. After some thought, we agreed to not fight the light winds and end the flights for the season. We packed all of our gear and equipment from the passenger terminal and went back to McMurdo.
The remainder of Friday and Saturday were spent returning gear, packing cargo, and completing checkout procedures to finalize the field season. All of that didn't take too long and much of the time was spent either doing research for work back in Colorado, getting my things ready to go home, and spending time with friends in McMurdo. Saturday night was spent at a party held by one of the work centers. The party was a great sendoff for me, and more significantly many of the people who have been in McMurdo all winter and heading north for the first time in 6+ months.
McMurdo Station and the surrounding facilities are now looking more like main body season than the more dormant state that we saw a few weeks ago. It is clear the station is getting ready for the influx of people and science activities. The current population of 326 will double in the next week and it will reach a population of around 1000 for much of the season between mid-November to late January. Tomorrow's southbound C-17 flight is scheduled to have 114 people on the flight and there is another flight the following day with 99 more.
I am still working on, and struggling with, putting this field season into context. I am trying to sort through all of the experiences that I have been able to see and do. The early conversations that I have with friends and family, after returning to Colorado, will likely be a struggle in trying to explain the field season in a succinct and nicely organized story. I feel like I have not been able to capture so many of the dramatic changes and events that are associated with WinFly. Yet I also think we did a very good job in stopping and enjoying the moment whenever we saw something that interested us. My early conclusion is that you just can't see and capture it all. I'll be working on a better description.
In my last post, I shared about our long night of fighting the lack of winds and completing three flights in 15 hours. Those three flights ended up being our last flights of the field season. The following night we were both exhausted and the winds were once again light. On Friday, we went out to Pegasus for one last try. We arrived and the winds were marginal and the atmospheric conditions were less than ideal. After some thought, we agreed to not fight the light winds and end the flights for the season. We packed all of our gear and equipment from the passenger terminal and went back to McMurdo.
The remainder of Friday and Saturday were spent returning gear, packing cargo, and completing checkout procedures to finalize the field season. All of that didn't take too long and much of the time was spent either doing research for work back in Colorado, getting my things ready to go home, and spending time with friends in McMurdo. Saturday night was spent at a party held by one of the work centers. The party was a great sendoff for me, and more significantly many of the people who have been in McMurdo all winter and heading north for the first time in 6+ months.
McMurdo Station and the surrounding facilities are now looking more like main body season than the more dormant state that we saw a few weeks ago. It is clear the station is getting ready for the influx of people and science activities. The current population of 326 will double in the next week and it will reach a population of around 1000 for much of the season between mid-November to late January. Tomorrow's southbound C-17 flight is scheduled to have 114 people on the flight and there is another flight the following day with 99 more.
I am still working on, and struggling with, putting this field season into context. I am trying to sort through all of the experiences that I have been able to see and do. The early conversations that I have with friends and family, after returning to Colorado, will likely be a struggle in trying to explain the field season in a succinct and nicely organized story. I feel like I have not been able to capture so many of the dramatic changes and events that are associated with WinFly. Yet I also think we did a very good job in stopping and enjoying the moment whenever we saw something that interested us. My early conclusion is that you just can't see and capture it all. I'll be working on a better description.
Wednesday, September 28, 2016
Long Day / Night
I am at the end of a very long day, or night, depending on how you want to call it. We left McMurdo at around 1:30 PM yesterday afternoon. The plan was to do unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) flights through the afternoon and evening. If things were going well we’d keep going into the night. We got back to McMurdo around 6:30 AM. During that entire time at Pegasus we were only able to get in three flights. We were fighting a lack of wind the entire rest of the time. There were two times where we loaded up the van and drove onto the runway. We got out of the van, verified the winds were good to launch, went back into the van to do the pre-flight checklist, and when we went outside to launch there was not enough wind. During the first time that it happened, we stood with our faces into the wind for five minutes, ready to launch, and waiting for the winds to increase. I even have video of those five boring minutes of us standing and waiting (we were hoping to make a video of the launch). The second time, around midnight, we launched the UAV but it did not have enough lift. Fortunately, John was able to do a controlled landing and there was no damage done to the UAV. We didn’t get another shot at a launching the UAV until 5:00 AM. The data from the three flights will likely be interesting and useful, however, the more flights we have the better. By the time we were done with the third flight, we decided it was time to return to McMurdo. I also had an appointment to do a Skype session with kindergarten class at 8:00 AM.
The reality is that such a scenario, as we had during the last 24 hours, is the life of field work, especially in Antarctica. Instead of doing flights every two hours as we had hoped, we did a total of three in 15 hours (6 hours in between the first two and 9 hours in between the last two). This experience was also very representative of our last 2 1/2 weeks since the accident. It has been a continual battle in getting enough wind. During other years, there have been WinFly field seasons where the scientists and contract workers have continually battled too much wind. You never know what you are going to get and how it will impact your field work. The key is you have to roll with whatever comes your way, and hopefully keep your sanity in the process. The second part is the trickiest.
Being out at Pegasus all night also allowed me to experience and see just how much the conditions have changed since I arrived 4 1/2 weeks ago. The temperature at Pegasus Airfield was a few degrees above 0F overnight. That is in comparison to the -40sF that we were experiencing 2 1/2 weeks ago. The length of the day is now around 14 hours and the sky never went completely dark. In fact, at about 3:00 AM there was a little aurora australis in the sky but because the sky was not fully dark, the aurora was difficult to see.
The first priority for today (Thursday) is to get some sleep. We might go back this evening or delay until tomorrow afternoon and into the evening. Either way, we have concluded that we have one more attempt to get in a series of UAV flights. Saturday is reserved for packing the cargo, returning equipment/supplies, and cleaning the lab. Sunday is an off day for most everybody in town and Monday is the day I am scheduled to fly north to Christchurch to end the season. This WinFly field season is coming to a close very quickly.
The reality is that such a scenario, as we had during the last 24 hours, is the life of field work, especially in Antarctica. Instead of doing flights every two hours as we had hoped, we did a total of three in 15 hours (6 hours in between the first two and 9 hours in between the last two). This experience was also very representative of our last 2 1/2 weeks since the accident. It has been a continual battle in getting enough wind. During other years, there have been WinFly field seasons where the scientists and contract workers have continually battled too much wind. You never know what you are going to get and how it will impact your field work. The key is you have to roll with whatever comes your way, and hopefully keep your sanity in the process. The second part is the trickiest.
Being out at Pegasus all night also allowed me to experience and see just how much the conditions have changed since I arrived 4 1/2 weeks ago. The temperature at Pegasus Airfield was a few degrees above 0F overnight. That is in comparison to the -40sF that we were experiencing 2 1/2 weeks ago. The length of the day is now around 14 hours and the sky never went completely dark. In fact, at about 3:00 AM there was a little aurora australis in the sky but because the sky was not fully dark, the aurora was difficult to see.
The first priority for today (Thursday) is to get some sleep. We might go back this evening or delay until tomorrow afternoon and into the evening. Either way, we have concluded that we have one more attempt to get in a series of UAV flights. Saturday is reserved for packing the cargo, returning equipment/supplies, and cleaning the lab. Sunday is an off day for most everybody in town and Monday is the day I am scheduled to fly north to Christchurch to end the season. This WinFly field season is coming to a close very quickly.
Monday, September 26, 2016
A Week in McMurdo
Life in McMurdo, or anywhere in Antarctica for that matter, can make the days all blur together and suddenly a week goes by where you are not sure how it was spent. Each day runs into the next and oftentimes one day does not distinguish itself from others. With the six day work week in town there is little time for the weekends to be unique. Part of the reason for days blending together is that there is a fairly small area where you live and what you see every day becomes very repetitive. I look back at the last two weeks and it feels like they have flown by and it is difficult to believe that I am down to one week until I leave McMurdo. This past Saturday I tried to think through my week and I was confused on what we did on several days. John and I had to pool our memories to determine which days we flew the UAVs, which days we went out to Pegasus and did not fly, and which days we never left town. I thought people might enjoy the results as a snapshot into the day to day life of a little over a week in McMurdo.
Saturday - September 17:
We returned to flying the UAVs after the accident that cut John's hand. We went out to Pegasus in the morning after breakfast and promptly crashed the UAV (SUMO2) twice, rendering it no longer able to fly after the second attempt. We went back to McMurdo to get the backup plane and returned to Pegasus by mid-afternoon. We got in a couple flights, the winds turned light and variable, and we returned back to McMurdo by mid evening feeling happy with the two completed flights. (The UAV is difficult to launch with no wind to help provide lift at takeoff.) I was also happy to make it back to town to go to a "birthday blowout" party hosted by the plumbing shop.
Sunday - September 18:
We had thoughts of flying for the day but were hesitant because the forecast was for light winds. We agreed to meet at noon and evaluate our options. Sundays are the one day off during the week in town so the meals are condensed to a brunch and dinner. I had brunch, John and I met in the lab, and we were uncertain of the winds so we decided to wait and see how they would respond. We ended up staying in town the whole day. I remember going to the gym and getting in a treadmill run that afternoon.
Monday - September 19:
For this day we decided to do some flights ranging from early evening to the early morning hours. I spent the beginning of the day getting some research done for a project back in Colorado. We had an early dinner (right after the Galley opened at 5:00PM) and then drove out to Pegasus. We were able get in two flights and then the winds went to light and variable. We waited a couple hours and then ended the night early realizing we were not going to get in anymore flights.
Tuesday - September 20:
The plan for the day was to switch to more of a daytime schedule. We left McMurdo around mid-morning to do flights from mid-morning until around dinner. The first UAV flight crashed because of a bad throw and the winds were too light. We had to go back to McMurdo, without a successful flight, in order to repair the UAV. We made it back in time for lunch and spent the remainder of the day doing other work and I got in another treadmill run at the gym.
Wednesday - September 21:
We weren't sure of our plans for the day but the forecast was calling for it to be windy at Pegasus. The forecast verified and there was Condition 2 weather at Pegasus, which meant it was too windy and too low of visibility at Pegasus to do any UAV flying. We spent the day in McMurdo getting other work done. I was able to get in my longest treadmill run of the season late that evening.
Thursday - September 22:
John had a Skype session in the morning with his daughter's elementary class. With that commitment we planned to do early afternoon to evening flights at Pegasus. We started to leave at 1:30 but did not get very far. We brought in our van to the vehicle maintenance facility to have the fluids topped off. They took care of the fluids and then decommissioned the van because it was leaking too much power steering fluid. It was not until 3:30 that we got a replacement van and were able to leave for Pegasus. The van problem was not much of a delay because we got to Pegasus and the winds were too light to fly. We waited at Pegasus for about four hours and determined the wind was not going to be increasing anytime soon. We decided to end the day and returned to McMurdo without any flights.
Friday - September 23:
Friday had a significant storm that was very well forecast. The storm verified with Condition 2 in McMurdo and Condition 1 at Pegasus Airfield. The weather stayed about the same the entire day. After a run of a few days of pushing the pace and getting nowhere, I decided to slow down and take it easy the first half of the day. I was able to do my laundry that morning. That evening I made it to Gallagher's (the one bar open during the winter) where it was Open Mic night. I was able to see some fantastic performances by some of the workers in McMurdo.
Saturday - September 24:
We decided to stick with the plan for flights from early afternoon through the evening hours. That allowed me to do another treadmill run in the morning. We left for Pegasus at noon and were treated with some near ideal winds to fly the UAV. We completed two flights back-to-back (we generally do flights every two hours). The winds were too light to fly when we wanted to do the third flight. We tried again an hour later with no change. We waited another hour and found the winds acceptable and completed a third flight. After the third flight, we concluded that the winds were likely going to be light for the rest of the night, we were happy to get in three good flights, and we decided it was best to return to McMurdo. We were back in McMurdo by mid-evening.
Sunday - September 25:
The forecast was for light winds throughout the day. We also had the weekly general science lecture in the evening. It was a rare day where we left the lab the night before with no plans to fly for the day. We also had daylight savings go into effect overnight. (While there is no need for daylight savings in Antarctica, McMurdo Station, South Pole, and most of the US Antarctic Program follows the time of Christchurch, New Zealand which switched to daylight savings.) I went to the non-denominational church service at the Chapel of the Snows and then the weekly brunch. Most of the afternoon was fairly quiet until late afternoon when I took some time to prepare for my portion of the science lecture. The evening was dinner and the science lecture, which went well.
By the end of the week I was able to remember that we had a couple days with a couple flights, a couple days with no flights due to no wind, and a couple days with no flights due to a storm. The difficult part was putting the days in order because it all seemed to blend together.
Saturday - September 17:
We returned to flying the UAVs after the accident that cut John's hand. We went out to Pegasus in the morning after breakfast and promptly crashed the UAV (SUMO2) twice, rendering it no longer able to fly after the second attempt. We went back to McMurdo to get the backup plane and returned to Pegasus by mid-afternoon. We got in a couple flights, the winds turned light and variable, and we returned back to McMurdo by mid evening feeling happy with the two completed flights. (The UAV is difficult to launch with no wind to help provide lift at takeoff.) I was also happy to make it back to town to go to a "birthday blowout" party hosted by the plumbing shop.
Sunday - September 18:
We had thoughts of flying for the day but were hesitant because the forecast was for light winds. We agreed to meet at noon and evaluate our options. Sundays are the one day off during the week in town so the meals are condensed to a brunch and dinner. I had brunch, John and I met in the lab, and we were uncertain of the winds so we decided to wait and see how they would respond. We ended up staying in town the whole day. I remember going to the gym and getting in a treadmill run that afternoon.
Monday - September 19:
For this day we decided to do some flights ranging from early evening to the early morning hours. I spent the beginning of the day getting some research done for a project back in Colorado. We had an early dinner (right after the Galley opened at 5:00PM) and then drove out to Pegasus. We were able get in two flights and then the winds went to light and variable. We waited a couple hours and then ended the night early realizing we were not going to get in anymore flights.
Tuesday - September 20:
The plan for the day was to switch to more of a daytime schedule. We left McMurdo around mid-morning to do flights from mid-morning until around dinner. The first UAV flight crashed because of a bad throw and the winds were too light. We had to go back to McMurdo, without a successful flight, in order to repair the UAV. We made it back in time for lunch and spent the remainder of the day doing other work and I got in another treadmill run at the gym.
Wednesday - September 21:
We weren't sure of our plans for the day but the forecast was calling for it to be windy at Pegasus. The forecast verified and there was Condition 2 weather at Pegasus, which meant it was too windy and too low of visibility at Pegasus to do any UAV flying. We spent the day in McMurdo getting other work done. I was able to get in my longest treadmill run of the season late that evening.
Thursday - September 22:
John had a Skype session in the morning with his daughter's elementary class. With that commitment we planned to do early afternoon to evening flights at Pegasus. We started to leave at 1:30 but did not get very far. We brought in our van to the vehicle maintenance facility to have the fluids topped off. They took care of the fluids and then decommissioned the van because it was leaking too much power steering fluid. It was not until 3:30 that we got a replacement van and were able to leave for Pegasus. The van problem was not much of a delay because we got to Pegasus and the winds were too light to fly. We waited at Pegasus for about four hours and determined the wind was not going to be increasing anytime soon. We decided to end the day and returned to McMurdo without any flights.
Friday - September 23:
Friday had a significant storm that was very well forecast. The storm verified with Condition 2 in McMurdo and Condition 1 at Pegasus Airfield. The weather stayed about the same the entire day. After a run of a few days of pushing the pace and getting nowhere, I decided to slow down and take it easy the first half of the day. I was able to do my laundry that morning. That evening I made it to Gallagher's (the one bar open during the winter) where it was Open Mic night. I was able to see some fantastic performances by some of the workers in McMurdo.
Saturday - September 24:
We decided to stick with the plan for flights from early afternoon through the evening hours. That allowed me to do another treadmill run in the morning. We left for Pegasus at noon and were treated with some near ideal winds to fly the UAV. We completed two flights back-to-back (we generally do flights every two hours). The winds were too light to fly when we wanted to do the third flight. We tried again an hour later with no change. We waited another hour and found the winds acceptable and completed a third flight. After the third flight, we concluded that the winds were likely going to be light for the rest of the night, we were happy to get in three good flights, and we decided it was best to return to McMurdo. We were back in McMurdo by mid-evening.
Sunday - September 25:
The forecast was for light winds throughout the day. We also had the weekly general science lecture in the evening. It was a rare day where we left the lab the night before with no plans to fly for the day. We also had daylight savings go into effect overnight. (While there is no need for daylight savings in Antarctica, McMurdo Station, South Pole, and most of the US Antarctic Program follows the time of Christchurch, New Zealand which switched to daylight savings.) I went to the non-denominational church service at the Chapel of the Snows and then the weekly brunch. Most of the afternoon was fairly quiet until late afternoon when I took some time to prepare for my portion of the science lecture. The evening was dinner and the science lecture, which went well.
By the end of the week I was able to remember that we had a couple days with a couple flights, a couple days with no flights due to no wind, and a couple days with no flights due to a storm. The difficult part was putting the days in order because it all seemed to blend together.
Thursday, September 22, 2016
Slow Progress
I have previously commented that it is key with Antarctic field work to get the work done when you can because you don't know when you will have the next opportunity. Such an assessment of the situation has been proven during the past 10 days. We have had a very challenging, difficult, and at times frustrating last 10 days with minimal to no progress with the field work.
The difficulties started abruptly 10 days ago when we were about to start our third night of overnight flights. Our concerns at the start of the night were that it might have been too cold because the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) temperature sensor currently has a limit of -40F. At the surface we were well below that temperature but it might have increased quickly to above that temperature not far above the surface. In the end, we were never able to find out. On the first flight of that night the UAV propeller hit John's hand and resulted in two deep cuts. I was in the van monitoring the computer when he asked me to come back to help pick things up. I looked at his hand and it was obvious that we had to pack everything in the van and immediately return to McMurdo. We stopped in one building at Pegasus to find a first aid kit and were able to apply enough gauze and wrap to control the bleeding. From there, it was the 45 minute drive to McMurdo from Pegasus. It was an odd experience to call into the radio dispatch saying we were returning early and to please have medical ready when we arrive. John was handling everything extremely well so he did the radio calls while I drove. In the end, it was five stitches in one cut and four stitches in the other. Our night and the next few days were done for flying the UAVs. The weather was fairly poor for the next couple days so we didn't miss out on too much for opportunities to fly.
We returned to Pegasus four days after the accident. We came up with a new procedure. After the pre-flight checklist, John is on the RC and I throw the UAV for the launch. We are also now wearing cut-resistant gloves and safety glasses. For the first flight I throw SUMO-2 (the UAV we had been flying) and it immediately goes nose-up, stalls, goes nose-down, and crashes into the snow. Pieces of the SUMO scatter. Nothing was damaged so we put it back together and try it again. In the meantime, I am thinking "how did I mess up the throw, what should I have done differently". I throw it a second time and the UAV immediately goes nose-up, stalls, goes nose-down, and crashes into the snow. Pieces of the UAV scatter and this time SUMO-2 is not recoverable and we are done flying it. I'm feeling horrible trying to figure out what I am doing wrong. We go back to the passenger terminal (where we work at Pegasus) and we even watched the video that I took of a launch by John from the previous week. I throw the decimated SUMO-2 around to gain a sense of what I am doing wrong. I start to become convinced it is not me, it is the plane. I start to think that SUMO-2 was damaged in some unknown way during the accident with John's hand. It could be something as small as the motor/driveshaft being bent just a little and changing the thrust from balanced to nose-up or it could be in the avionics. We drive back to McMurdo to get SUMO-1 (a backup UAV). A sensor needed to be changed on SUMO-1 and scavenged from SUMO-2. The sensor is changed and we return to Pegasus. We were able to successfully launch SUMO-1 twice late that Saturday afternoon. I am now even more convinced it was SUMO-2 being damaged from the accident and not my throwing.
Unfortunately, that has not been the end of our run of difficulties. We have had a couple days of not enough wind where we did not even travel to Pegasus. There have also been a couple days of too much wind. Twice, including last night, we went out to Pegasus to reach the conclusion after hours of waiting that we were not going to see enough wind. On one day we did decide to launch the UAV, even though the wind was marginal. That was a bad move as the UAV crashed on launch with some damage, which has since been repaired. Yesterday, we were also delayed because they decommissioned our van due to a leak and we had to wait for a replacement. In total, we have gone out to Pegasus five days in the last 10 days since our run of successful flights at the beginning of the season. On each day we have returned earlier than anticipated and we have had a total of about four completed flights. There are 10 days remaining in our field deployment and we will likely stop flying a day or two before we are scheduled to leave. There is still a chance that we can get on another successful run of flights.
The difficulties started abruptly 10 days ago when we were about to start our third night of overnight flights. Our concerns at the start of the night were that it might have been too cold because the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) temperature sensor currently has a limit of -40F. At the surface we were well below that temperature but it might have increased quickly to above that temperature not far above the surface. In the end, we were never able to find out. On the first flight of that night the UAV propeller hit John's hand and resulted in two deep cuts. I was in the van monitoring the computer when he asked me to come back to help pick things up. I looked at his hand and it was obvious that we had to pack everything in the van and immediately return to McMurdo. We stopped in one building at Pegasus to find a first aid kit and were able to apply enough gauze and wrap to control the bleeding. From there, it was the 45 minute drive to McMurdo from Pegasus. It was an odd experience to call into the radio dispatch saying we were returning early and to please have medical ready when we arrive. John was handling everything extremely well so he did the radio calls while I drove. In the end, it was five stitches in one cut and four stitches in the other. Our night and the next few days were done for flying the UAVs. The weather was fairly poor for the next couple days so we didn't miss out on too much for opportunities to fly.
We returned to Pegasus four days after the accident. We came up with a new procedure. After the pre-flight checklist, John is on the RC and I throw the UAV for the launch. We are also now wearing cut-resistant gloves and safety glasses. For the first flight I throw SUMO-2 (the UAV we had been flying) and it immediately goes nose-up, stalls, goes nose-down, and crashes into the snow. Pieces of the SUMO scatter. Nothing was damaged so we put it back together and try it again. In the meantime, I am thinking "how did I mess up the throw, what should I have done differently". I throw it a second time and the UAV immediately goes nose-up, stalls, goes nose-down, and crashes into the snow. Pieces of the UAV scatter and this time SUMO-2 is not recoverable and we are done flying it. I'm feeling horrible trying to figure out what I am doing wrong. We go back to the passenger terminal (where we work at Pegasus) and we even watched the video that I took of a launch by John from the previous week. I throw the decimated SUMO-2 around to gain a sense of what I am doing wrong. I start to become convinced it is not me, it is the plane. I start to think that SUMO-2 was damaged in some unknown way during the accident with John's hand. It could be something as small as the motor/driveshaft being bent just a little and changing the thrust from balanced to nose-up or it could be in the avionics. We drive back to McMurdo to get SUMO-1 (a backup UAV). A sensor needed to be changed on SUMO-1 and scavenged from SUMO-2. The sensor is changed and we return to Pegasus. We were able to successfully launch SUMO-1 twice late that Saturday afternoon. I am now even more convinced it was SUMO-2 being damaged from the accident and not my throwing.
Unfortunately, that has not been the end of our run of difficulties. We have had a couple days of not enough wind where we did not even travel to Pegasus. There have also been a couple days of too much wind. Twice, including last night, we went out to Pegasus to reach the conclusion after hours of waiting that we were not going to see enough wind. On one day we did decide to launch the UAV, even though the wind was marginal. That was a bad move as the UAV crashed on launch with some damage, which has since been repaired. Yesterday, we were also delayed because they decommissioned our van due to a leak and we had to wait for a replacement. In total, we have gone out to Pegasus five days in the last 10 days since our run of successful flights at the beginning of the season. On each day we have returned earlier than anticipated and we have had a total of about four completed flights. There are 10 days remaining in our field deployment and we will likely stop flying a day or two before we are scheduled to leave. There is still a chance that we can get on another successful run of flights.
Sunday, September 18, 2016
Q&A - Questions
The weather has warmed in McMurdo the last few days with temperatures generally in the positive single-digits to negative single-digits. There is a good chance that the real cold temperatures for the season are over. The sun is getting progressively higher and higher in the sky every day. McMurdo is now completely in the sun from late morning to late afternoon. We are approaching 12+ hours during the day with sunlight. The nights are turning more and more into long hours of twilight with only a few hours of complete darkness. The flying of the UAVs has been slow as of late with a couple setbacks last week. We will be going out this afternoon to try to get into a routine again with regular flights.
This post was originally motivated to be sent for teachers but I am opening it up to everybody. If you, or your students, have any questions about Antarctica and/or the experiences I am seeing during the field season, please send them to me. Later this week I’ll consolidate the questions that are sent to me and write a post providing answers, or attempts at answers, to the questions.
This post was originally motivated to be sent for teachers but I am opening it up to everybody. If you, or your students, have any questions about Antarctica and/or the experiences I am seeing during the field season, please send them to me. Later this week I’ll consolidate the questions that are sent to me and write a post providing answers, or attempts at answers, to the questions.
Friday, September 16, 2016
Condition 2
The United States Antarctic Program uses a weather classification system to identify when restrictions are put into place at a field camp or station. The classification systems is: Condition 3, Condition 2, and Condition 1. Condition 3 is normal weather conditions without any significant detrimental weather impacts, Condition 2 occurs with moderate weather presenting a concern, and Condition 1 indicates potentially hazardous weather for any form of travel.
The specifics are as follows:
Only one of the three criteria needs to be met to push the weather into Condition 2 or Condition 1. My experience is that it is the visibility that is the driving factor. The weather conditions are also defined for nine regions in the area around McMurdo Station (e.g. McMurdo, Williams Field, Pegasus Field, Road to Pegasus).
Condition 2 presents restricted pedestrian traffic between buildings and limited vehicular traffic in an enclosed vehicle with required radio checkout at all times and locations. Condition 1 is the most limiting as everybody is confined to their current building or nearest shelter. I have never experienced Condition 1 in Antarctica. In fact, there have only been a few times where I have experienced Condition 2.
During the last two days we had a storm move through the region. For a few hours Thursday evening we went to Condition 2 in McMurdo. I had been watching the storm in the weather forecast model for a few days leading up to the actual storm. The fact that we went Condition 2 for a few hours made it a reasonable storm, although overall there was not much to the storm. About a week ago, we had Condition 2 weather on the drive back from Pegasus but we were the only ones on the road so it was not officially classified as Condition 2. I also experienced a Condition 2 storm at WAIS a year ago.
After a few days off from flying the UAVs, due to the weather and to rest, we are planning on returning to some morning to afternoon flights the next few days. I have also passed the midway point of my time in Antarctica, provided there are not significant delays in the flight back to Christchurch.
The specifics are as follows:
- Condition 3: Winds less than 48 knots; Visibility great than 1/4 mile; Wind chill warmer than -75F
- Condition 2: Sustained winds between 48 and 55 knots; Visibility between 1/4 mile and 100 feet; Wind chill between -75F and -100F
- Condition 1: Sustained winds greater than 55 knots; Visibility less than 100 feet; Wind chill colder than -100F
Only one of the three criteria needs to be met to push the weather into Condition 2 or Condition 1. My experience is that it is the visibility that is the driving factor. The weather conditions are also defined for nine regions in the area around McMurdo Station (e.g. McMurdo, Williams Field, Pegasus Field, Road to Pegasus).
Condition 2 presents restricted pedestrian traffic between buildings and limited vehicular traffic in an enclosed vehicle with required radio checkout at all times and locations. Condition 1 is the most limiting as everybody is confined to their current building or nearest shelter. I have never experienced Condition 1 in Antarctica. In fact, there have only been a few times where I have experienced Condition 2.
During the last two days we had a storm move through the region. For a few hours Thursday evening we went to Condition 2 in McMurdo. I had been watching the storm in the weather forecast model for a few days leading up to the actual storm. The fact that we went Condition 2 for a few hours made it a reasonable storm, although overall there was not much to the storm. About a week ago, we had Condition 2 weather on the drive back from Pegasus but we were the only ones on the road so it was not officially classified as Condition 2. I also experienced a Condition 2 storm at WAIS a year ago.
After a few days off from flying the UAVs, due to the weather and to rest, we are planning on returning to some morning to afternoon flights the next few days. I have also passed the midway point of my time in Antarctica, provided there are not significant delays in the flight back to Christchurch.
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| Limited visibility due to blowing snow and ice fog on the road going from Pegasus Airfield to McMurdo Station about a week ago. |
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| Signs are placed throughout McMurdo indicating the weather condition. The weather condition is also indicated on the station webpage and a TV channel. This is me in front of the sign for this week's Condition 2. |
Wednesday, September 14, 2016
Overnight Flights
One of the goals for the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) flights is to observe the atmosphere evolve over the course of a day. The lowest part of the Antarctic atmosphere is known for its frequent characteristic of the temperature being coldest near the surface and then increasing in temperature with height over the lowest few hundred feet. This characteristic is referred to as a temperature inversion because it is the inverse of the general condition of the temperature decreasing with increasing height (in the part of the atmosphere with all of the weather). The cooling at the surface is most pronounced during the nighttime hours when there is no heating from the sun. This means that one of the periods of day that we are interested in observing is during the overnight hours. This is when it is most expected to see such a temperature inversion and we are interested in how it changes during the nighttime hours. We completed UAV night flights this past Sunday evening through early Monday morning as well as the following overnight.
The operation of the UAVs at night is not much different than during the day. The launching and landing of the UAV is the only tricky times during the flight. We do all of the pre-flight checkouts while remaining in the van. When it comes time to launch, John goes outside and I remain in the van to monitor the autopilot controls on the computer. Once the UAV is launched, it is actually easier to track the UAV at night because the lights on the UAV make it easier to identify in the nighttime sky. For the landing, it is key that John is able to make out the surface. With the light from the moon and white snow everywhere, it doesn't take much to see the surface clearly. If needed, I'll also turn on the headlights of the van to light up the surface for landing.
The temperatures in McMurdo were in the -30Fs when we went out to Pegasus Airfield Tuesday evening. That indicated that the temperatures were even colder at Pegasus. I placed my handheld thermometer out the window at one point during the drive and recorded an air temperature (not wind chill) of -56.7F. We stopped the van not long after that and I measured -54F. That sets a personal record for me that will be difficult to ever surpass.
We are into a routine with the UAV flights and we were able to complete 21 flights in five days. We are not anticipating to be flying over the next few days as some stormy weather is forecast to be moving through the area. In the future we will likely be doing flights from the early morning hours, before sunrise, through early afternoon to see the changes as the sun rises in the horizon.
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| Flight path of the UAV in the early night sky. This was approximately a 12 second photograph. |
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| Time lapse photograph of the launch of the UAV at night. The lights are indicating different parts on the UAV. |
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| Time lapse photograph of the flight of the UAV near the highest point of the profile. The UAV continues to fly in circles as it ascends and descends the flight path. |
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| The flight path of the UAV as it is getting closer to the surface. Stargazers might be interested in noticing that that constellation in the center of the photo, just to the left of the UAV flight path, is the southern cross. |
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| Taking a moment to get outside and experience -54F air temperature. In my hand I am holding a small handheld weather station. The handheld weather station is reading -46F, which is about as cold as I could get in holding it still. Also, notice the snot-cicles on my nose (might need to zoom in to see). |
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| A plot of temperatures from the vertical profiles made by the UAV on 11 September 2016. Notice the very cold temperatures near the surface and the dramatic increase in temperatures with increasing height right above the surface. This feature is referred to as a temperature inversion. It is also worthwhile noticing how the temperature profiles changed with approximately one hour and 45 minutes between each profile |
Sunday, September 11, 2016
Flying UAVs
The flying of the UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) is becoming somewhat commonplace for us. We have flown the UAVs at Pegasus on four of the last five days. One of the basic principles in Antarctic field work is the significance of doing field work when the weather and logistics allows. The temperatures continue to be cool in and near McMurdo Station but overall the weather has been good. As long as the weather remains good we will do our best to continue to collect observations with the SUMO (Small Unmanned Meteorological Observer) UAVs.
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| The passenger terminal at Pegasus Airfield. This building is being used as our base of operations for the UAV flights at Pegasus Airfield. |
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| John in the back of the van preparing the UAV for flight and ready to launch the UAV. |
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| John ready to throw the UAV in the air for the launch. |
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| A successful launch of the UAV. At this point the UAV is being operated by John using the remote control. The control of the UAV is about to be transferred to the programmed flight plan and auto pilot control. |
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| Monitoring the flight on the laptop using the Ground Control Software. The UAV flies is a continuous circular pattern is it flies to the vertical profile to take meteorological observations of the atmosphere. |
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| John getting ready to take control of the UAV with the remote control and bring it in for a landing. |
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| The UAV coming in for a land with Mount Discovery in the background. |
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| The UAV immediately after landing on the runway at Pegasus Field. |
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| Me holding the UAV to provide some context for the size of the plane. |
Friday, September 9, 2016
UAV Flights at Pegasus Field
The good news is that we have been able to do some flying of the unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) this week. The calm to light winds continued on Monday and Tuesday negating any chance for us to fly the UAVs. On Wednesday we were able to do three UAV flights and on Thursday we did four. Soon, I will write a post focused on explaining the UAV flights, including photos, from pre-flight, to take-off, and ending with the landing. These initial flights have been focused on doing some initial trials with the UAVs, refining our system for handling the flights at Pegasus, and working on the data collection and analysis process. Each flight lasts about 15-25 minutes and the UAV climbs to an altitude of approximately 1600 feet. We decided to take yesterday off from flying the UAVs to concentrate on taking an initial closer look at the data and for catching up in other areas of research and life around town. The plan is to do some UAV flights later today and tomorrow.
The cold air has remained in the region for all of the past week. The temperatures in McMurdo have generally been lows around -30F and highs around -20F. Pegasus Airfield, located on the ice shelf, has generally colder temperatures and we have been experiencing temperatures around -40F at Pegasus. The wind in McMurdo has been fairly strong for the last couple days providing some of the first really biting cold conditions that we have experienced on this trip.
I have mentioned a few times that the UAV flights are being conducted at Pegasus Field. Pegasus Field is a glacier ice runway with approximately 4 inches of compacted snow on top of the ice. The primary purpose of Pegasus Field is to land wheeled aircraft for intercontinental flights between McMurdo and Christchurch, New Zealand. The wheeled aircraft (such as a C-17, a wheeled C-130, an Airbus, etc.) provide considerably more capacity for cargo and passenger transport than a skied LC-130 airplane, which can land on snow. Pegasus is located 18 miles by road from McMurdo. The first four miles are on Ross Island and the next 14 miles are on a snow road on the Ross Ice Shelf. The Ross Ice Shelf is a permanent ice shelf over water that is hundreds of feet thick. This is in contrast to the sea ice, which is also located around a part of Ross Island, that is made up of primarily annual ice that forms and is broken up each year. Pegasus is one of three runways that are used for McMurdo Station. Williams Field has been around the longest and it is a ski-way on snow that can only land ski-equipped airplanes. The third runway, Phoenix, is in the process of being constructed through a new technique of compacting snow to a sufficiently hard density to allow wheeled aircraft to land. The plans are for Phoenix to be certified for operation before the end of the main body season in February.
Not too much else has been happening with my life in McMurdo. My experiences with past trips is that this two-week point is usually a transition time and includes a bit of a lull. I have now been away from home for three weeks, the field work is still early and not much has been accomplished, and I am still slowly getting to know people in town. We will be here for about another 3 1/2 weeks. I am confident that those 3+ weeks will go very quickly.
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| Looking back towards Ross Island and McMurdo Station from Pegasus Airfield. The mountain in the background is Mt. Erebus. |
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| Sunset over the Ross Ice Shelf as viewed from Pegasus Runway. |
I have mentioned a few times that the UAV flights are being conducted at Pegasus Field. Pegasus Field is a glacier ice runway with approximately 4 inches of compacted snow on top of the ice. The primary purpose of Pegasus Field is to land wheeled aircraft for intercontinental flights between McMurdo and Christchurch, New Zealand. The wheeled aircraft (such as a C-17, a wheeled C-130, an Airbus, etc.) provide considerably more capacity for cargo and passenger transport than a skied LC-130 airplane, which can land on snow. Pegasus is located 18 miles by road from McMurdo. The first four miles are on Ross Island and the next 14 miles are on a snow road on the Ross Ice Shelf. The Ross Ice Shelf is a permanent ice shelf over water that is hundreds of feet thick. This is in contrast to the sea ice, which is also located around a part of Ross Island, that is made up of primarily annual ice that forms and is broken up each year. Pegasus is one of three runways that are used for McMurdo Station. Williams Field has been around the longest and it is a ski-way on snow that can only land ski-equipped airplanes. The third runway, Phoenix, is in the process of being constructed through a new technique of compacting snow to a sufficiently hard density to allow wheeled aircraft to land. The plans are for Phoenix to be certified for operation before the end of the main body season in February.
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| Some of the buildings on skis at Pegasus Airfield. The white trailer is the generator for Pegasus. The orange building in the center is used to store "do not freeze" cargo for flights to/from New Zealand and the orange building on the right is for the fire station at Pegasus. |
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| The start of the 18 mile Pegasus road to McMurdo Station. |
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| View of Hut Point Peninsula and Scott Base extending to the southwest from Ross Island. The picture is taken about two hours after sunset. |
Sunday, September 4, 2016
New Experiences
I have not written much lately because there has not been much to say. That changed in the last 36 hours, but I'll get to that. The rule of thumb is that it takes a week from when you arrive in McMurdo until you are ready to go into the field. Lately, it seems that delay has been decreasing but it still takes several days. Much of that time is spent in trainings, meetings, and briefings. There is also the time it takes to unpack the cargo and to prepare the equipment for the field. One of our last tasks on our todo list was to make a visit to Pegasus Field to get a tour of the facilities and decide on how we want things set up at Pegasus. We visited Pegasus on Thursday and had the hopes to do our initial UAV trial flights on Friday. The weather was poor Friday morning with light snow and limited visibility. On Saturday, we made it out to Pegasus with hardly a cloud in the sky. However, this time we had no winds and the UAVs require a little wind in order to launch the plane into flight. Sundays are typically off days but we were planning on doing the trial flights today. Those plans were scrapped due to once again having limited to no winds at Pegasus. The latest is that we will get in the flights tomorrow (Monday).
One of the highlights from the last couple days has been finally getting some cold temperatures. The first week of WinFly has been about as warm, if not warmer, than my first week of the field season late last October. The temperature in McMurdo started decreasing Thursday night and into Friday. The temperature around noon on Friday was -18F. I estimated that we'd have temperatures around -28F at Pegasus, where it is generally colder. Not long before leaving for the drive out to Pegasus, I checked the observations at the Willie Field automatic weather station (AWS) and the temperature had dropped 15F in the previous hour down to -42F. (Willie Field AWS is located along the drive to Pegasus.) This was now some seriously cold air and a strong contrast to the temperature in McMurdo. As we were driving to Pegasus, we drove by the Willie Field AWS and John held a Kestrel (a small handheld weather station) out the window and observed a temperature of -47F. We immediately pulled the van over to get out, experience the cold, and to take pictures of the moment. This temperature crushed my previous all-time personal cold temperature from when I was growing up in Minnesota. It was also extremely odd because I can honestly say it didn't feel crazy cold. We are confident with the temperature being in the -40Fs as we measured it multiple times and with four different instruments. The best guess why it didn't seem so cold was because we were fully bundled in our extreme cold weather clothing, there was no wind, and the sun was up and shining on us, albeit minimally. We returned to McMurdo about five hours later and the temperature was now around mid -20F. For the last day the temperatures have remained that cold and this evening the temperature was around -30F. The winds have been light to calm the last day so it has felt very cold but bearable when outside.
In addition to the cold temperatures we have also been able to experience several other great outdoor sights. The first, and most basic, is that we saw the sun for the first time on Saturday during out drive to Pegasus. McMurdo is located on the south side of Ross Island. Because it is on the south side, and due to the low angle of the sun, McMurdo has been in the shadow of Ross Island whenever the sun has been up since the first sunrise two weeks ago. McMurdo will soon start seeing the sun as the sun gets progressively higher in the sky. The drive out to Pegasus allowed us to get out of McMurdo and out of the shadow. We were able to see the sun for the first time just as we were about to drive onto the snow road. We decided to capture the moment and we pulled the van over to take pictures. Throughout the afternoon I continued to take pictures of the sun to capture the low angle of the sun.
Later Saturday evening, John went outside and he came back into the lab to let me know that the aurora australis (southern lights) were out in the night sky. The aurora were present, although a little weak and they came and went fairly quickly. I am hoping for a better display of aurora australis in the next couple weeks, especially when we are doing the night flights at Pegasus. Then this afternoon we were able to see nacreous clouds. Nacreous clouds, also known as polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs), are clouds in the stratosphere, above the level of the clouds that make up the weather. The PSCs require extremely cold temperatures to form, which is why they are a feature in the polar regions, and are typically illuminated by the sun shortly after sunset or before sunrise. The clouds, sometimes referred to as mother-of-pearl clouds, have a milky-white appearance and often include iridescent colors. The clouds that we saw today were fairly small and occurred before sunset. I took a few pictures of the nacreous clouds and I am hoping for a more impressive display before I leave the first week in October.
In the end, we are still waiting to do our initial trial flights with the UAVs but in the meantime we have been able to see and experience some of the features that make the WinFly season in McMurdo a special adventure.
One of the highlights from the last couple days has been finally getting some cold temperatures. The first week of WinFly has been about as warm, if not warmer, than my first week of the field season late last October. The temperature in McMurdo started decreasing Thursday night and into Friday. The temperature around noon on Friday was -18F. I estimated that we'd have temperatures around -28F at Pegasus, where it is generally colder. Not long before leaving for the drive out to Pegasus, I checked the observations at the Willie Field automatic weather station (AWS) and the temperature had dropped 15F in the previous hour down to -42F. (Willie Field AWS is located along the drive to Pegasus.) This was now some seriously cold air and a strong contrast to the temperature in McMurdo. As we were driving to Pegasus, we drove by the Willie Field AWS and John held a Kestrel (a small handheld weather station) out the window and observed a temperature of -47F. We immediately pulled the van over to get out, experience the cold, and to take pictures of the moment. This temperature crushed my previous all-time personal cold temperature from when I was growing up in Minnesota. It was also extremely odd because I can honestly say it didn't feel crazy cold. We are confident with the temperature being in the -40Fs as we measured it multiple times and with four different instruments. The best guess why it didn't seem so cold was because we were fully bundled in our extreme cold weather clothing, there was no wind, and the sun was up and shining on us, albeit minimally. We returned to McMurdo about five hours later and the temperature was now around mid -20F. For the last day the temperatures have remained that cold and this evening the temperature was around -30F. The winds have been light to calm the last day so it has felt very cold but bearable when outside.
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| Standing outside in -47F on the Pegasus Road to experience a new personal all-time record cold temperature. |
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| The sun above Ross Island when we pulled over to experience the -47F temperatures. It is actually very bright out at the time. The darker colors are from taking the picture with the camera directly pointed at the sun. |
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| Measuring the -47F temperature with the Kestrel handheld weather station. It was odd but the -47F did not feel that extremely cold. The cold temperatures in McMurdo the last day have felt cold. |
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| McMurdo Station and sea ice in front of McMurdo in the shadow of Ross Island due to the low sun angle. |
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| The higher parts of McMurdo are starting to come out of the shadow and see the sun. |
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| The first time we have seen the sun on this trip. The sun is low in the horizon but above Ross Island. Mt. Erebus, in the center of the picture, is an active volcano and it is emitted some steam. |
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| Nacreous clouds (also referred to as polar stratospheric clouds) in the sky shortly before sunset. |
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| Another photo of the nacreous clouds. Notice the distinct iridescent color of the clouds. |
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| A photo of Observation Hill near sunset on a Sunday afternoon. Notice all of the red dots near the top, which are the "big red" parkas that most everybody wears. Hiking Obs Hill is a common recreation activity, especially on beautiful days. |
Tuesday, August 30, 2016
Sun During WinFly
We are navigating our way through the collection of trainings and meetings that occur immediately after arrival in preparation for going out into the field. The weather is forecast to be bad tomorrow so we are expecting a quiet day with some work to prepare the SUMOs for flying. Other than that, I’ll take advantage of the quiet day to get some work done on other projects related to my research position at the University of Colorado.
One of the big benefits of being in McMurdo during WinFly is being able to experience the dramatically changing daytime sun. McMurdo Station had its first sunrise on August 19 and that was the first time the sun had been above the horizon since April 24. McMurdo is located at approximately 78degS, which is south of the Antarctic Circle. Because it is south of the Antarctic Circle, McMurdo receives 24 hours of daylight during the austral summer (winter in the US) and 24 hours of darkness during the austral winter (summer in the US). The length of the day (when the sun is above the horizon) on August 19 was approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes. By the time I arrived on August 27, just a little over one week later, the length of the day was up to 5 hours and 35 minutes. Today (August 30) the length of the day is up to 6 hours and 30 minutes. The length of the day will be increasing by about 15 minutes per day until I am scheduled to leave on October 3. On October 3 the length of the day will be 15 hours and 7 minutes. There are also very long twilight hours in McMurdo with the sun at such a shallow angle both above (during the day) and below (during the night) the horizon. Absolute darkness is considered to no longer occur starting approximately September 7. By the time I leave in early October it will appear that it never gets fully dark anymore. The last sunset will occur on October 23 and the sun will be continuously above the horizon until the first sunset on February 20. This dramatically changing length of the day and changing skylight conditions is one of the big reasons why I am excited for this WinFly experience. The low sun angles throughout the day should also make for great pictures with the soft light that is common around sunrise and sunset.
One of the big benefits of being in McMurdo during WinFly is being able to experience the dramatically changing daytime sun. McMurdo Station had its first sunrise on August 19 and that was the first time the sun had been above the horizon since April 24. McMurdo is located at approximately 78degS, which is south of the Antarctic Circle. Because it is south of the Antarctic Circle, McMurdo receives 24 hours of daylight during the austral summer (winter in the US) and 24 hours of darkness during the austral winter (summer in the US). The length of the day (when the sun is above the horizon) on August 19 was approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes. By the time I arrived on August 27, just a little over one week later, the length of the day was up to 5 hours and 35 minutes. Today (August 30) the length of the day is up to 6 hours and 30 minutes. The length of the day will be increasing by about 15 minutes per day until I am scheduled to leave on October 3. On October 3 the length of the day will be 15 hours and 7 minutes. There are also very long twilight hours in McMurdo with the sun at such a shallow angle both above (during the day) and below (during the night) the horizon. Absolute darkness is considered to no longer occur starting approximately September 7. By the time I leave in early October it will appear that it never gets fully dark anymore. The last sunset will occur on October 23 and the sun will be continuously above the horizon until the first sunset on February 20. This dramatically changing length of the day and changing skylight conditions is one of the big reasons why I am excited for this WinFly experience. The low sun angles throughout the day should also make for great pictures with the soft light that is common around sunrise and sunset.
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| Observation hill being lit up by the sun not longer after sunset. |
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| The horizon to the west not long after sunset. The location where the sun sets will also shift dramatically further to the south as it occurs later and later in the day. |
Saturday, August 27, 2016
Arrived in McMurdo
We have made it successfully to McMurdo Station. The C-17 flight yesterday went without any problems. In the end, the five day delay was within expectations for traveling to Antarctica, especially at the end of the winter. On top of that, every delay was provided with ample notice making the five extra days a relaxing time in Christchurch. The five day delay does not impact our science objectives. Our scheduled northbound flight, the first flight of main body, is in five weeks and there will be more than enough time to complete our work.
The objectives of this trip to Antarctica are to take observations of the atmosphere through the use of small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). You can think of the UAVs as drones or remote control airplanes. We will be flying three Small Unmanned Meteorological Observer (SUMO) UAVs. The SUMO is a foam radio controlled plane fitted with an autopilot and meteorological sensors. The plane has a wingspan of 2.5 feet, weighs just over 1 pound, and is battery operated. The SUMO will take observations of temperature, moisture, pressure, wind speed, and wind direction of the lowest 3000 feet of the atmosphere, which is referred to as the boundary layer. We will be observing how the conditions of the boundary layer change over the course of several hours as well as how the boundary layer differs depending on the time of day and the incoming energy from the sun. A similar observation campaign was done in January 2014 to observe the summer atmosphere. For this field season, we will be measuring at the end of the winter and during the transition to summer. The observations of the characteristics and behavior of the boundary layer will provide an improved understanding of the polar boundary layer, which is extremely unique and critical for the local energy exchanges with the surface. The results will also be compared with numerical weather models, which are key to forecasting the weather for Antarctic operations, and used to verify or improve the performance of these weather models. Additionally, the results will be useful in evaluating climate models for the Antarctic to ensure correct handling of the atmosphere in future climate projections.
This is my fifth trip to Antarctica. I am making the trip with my friend and colleague, John Cassano, who is the lead on this field project. My first two trips to Antarctica were with John when we were graduate students at the University of Wisconsin. All of my previous trips have been during the main body with three in December/January, at the peak of the Antarctic summer, and last year's trip from late October to early December. Therefore, this "WinFly" trip will be a very unique opportunity for me and will have many new experiences. I am most forward looking to the extreme cold temperatures, seeing darkness in Antarctica, viewing aurora australis (southern lights), seeing nacreous clouds, and some of the unique snow and ice features still present from the winter. While it is unlikely that I'll see much for penguins on this trip, the pictures should be just as special.
Our C-17 landing was at about 7:00 PM and it allowed for me to see darkness in Antarctica for the first time as I walked off of the plane. The 21 passengers on the flight were picked up with two vans and we drove the ~30 minutes to McMurdo from Pegasus Runway. Throughout the drive I couldn’t get over how odd it was to see everything in the dark. Walking around McMurdo last night was strange as it is unlike any other time I have seen it before. I’ll cover more of the changing length of day and sunlight in a later post. The temperature was -12F when we arrived at Pegasus Runway. The temperatures are a little warmer in McMurdo and it was -6F when we arrived. Today there has a been a storm to the east that has generated some moderate winds and blowing snow in town. The forecast for tonight is for colder conditions with a forecast low of -24F.
Today has been very quiet with it being Sunday and the one off day of the week for the contract workers at McMurdo. Tomorrow things will pick up as the day starts with our science in-briefing followed by two or three additional trainings to complete all of our basic trainings and orientations. From there we will start to work on getting the SUMOs ready to fly in the field.
The objectives of this trip to Antarctica are to take observations of the atmosphere through the use of small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). You can think of the UAVs as drones or remote control airplanes. We will be flying three Small Unmanned Meteorological Observer (SUMO) UAVs. The SUMO is a foam radio controlled plane fitted with an autopilot and meteorological sensors. The plane has a wingspan of 2.5 feet, weighs just over 1 pound, and is battery operated. The SUMO will take observations of temperature, moisture, pressure, wind speed, and wind direction of the lowest 3000 feet of the atmosphere, which is referred to as the boundary layer. We will be observing how the conditions of the boundary layer change over the course of several hours as well as how the boundary layer differs depending on the time of day and the incoming energy from the sun. A similar observation campaign was done in January 2014 to observe the summer atmosphere. For this field season, we will be measuring at the end of the winter and during the transition to summer. The observations of the characteristics and behavior of the boundary layer will provide an improved understanding of the polar boundary layer, which is extremely unique and critical for the local energy exchanges with the surface. The results will also be compared with numerical weather models, which are key to forecasting the weather for Antarctic operations, and used to verify or improve the performance of these weather models. Additionally, the results will be useful in evaluating climate models for the Antarctic to ensure correct handling of the atmosphere in future climate projections.
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| The SUMO UAV on the snow surface during the 2014 field campaign. |
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This is a picture of me and John at the Antarctic Passenger Terminal while waiting for our first flight to Antarctica while graduate students at the University of Wisconsin.
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The then and now pairing is complete with a picture of the two of us prior to this year's flight. Unfortunately, the person I asked to take a picture found the point and shoot camera a little too difficult to operate and the picture is not in focus.
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| Onboard the C-17 going from Christchurch to McMurdo Station. |
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| For those that have been in McMurdo for months, a key part of the WinFly flights is bringing in "freshies" for the meals. The insulated pallet on the left is filled with eggs. |
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| Anything and everything is done to fill the time on the 5 1/2 hour flight. Naps, reading, watching movies on an ipad/laptop, and working on a laptop are some of the common ways to pass the time. |
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| As the C-17 made the final approach to the Pegasus Runway everybody bundled up in their extreme cold weather (ECW) gear in preparation for the Antarctic conditions. |
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| Getting off the C-17 at Pegasus Runway with the night landing. |
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| The picture right after getting off of the plane in Antarctica has always been one of my favorite. With this WinFly trip is was extra special with the Antarctic darkness. |
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| The C-17 keeps the engines running and only stays on the ground long enough for the passengers to get off the plane, remove the cargo, place any northbound cargo on the plane, and load any northbound passengers. The process is done as quickly as possible. |
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| Being greeted by some of the camp personnel at Pegasus Runway. The contract workers at the camp have a tight community and for many of the veterans this was a reunion time of old friends/coworkers. |
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| Immediately after getting of the plane, we are transported from Pegasus Runway to McMurdo Station where there is an in briefing going over many of the rules an procedures for life in McMurdo. |
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