End of Field Work

One of the things that I've learned with the United States Antarctic Program is that you always have be cautious when assessing if a field season is successful. It is best to wait until after the field season is over to make that judgment. The two primary reasons for this are because it is hard to predict if or when you will have a run of good weather and amazing productivity, and oftentimes the resources that you receive really come through in the finals days of a field season. In my last post, I shared that we were granted a four day extension and even with that extension we'd need a run of productivity and weather to get everything done.

Monday:

We finished the installation at the Phoenix site on Sunday and we were the primary mission on one of the Twin Otter planes to visit Tall Tower on Monday. We were at Tall Tower a week earlier to install the towers and the power system. Getting back to Tall Tower would be a big positive as the weather at Tall Tower for Twin Otter flights has been difficult in the past and there are no guarantees on any given day. The flight to Tall Tower did not happen on Monday as there was a forecast for 30 knot winds, which makes working on the sites very difficult, and the flight was cancelled. We salvaged the day by driving a truck to the Willie Field site and finished the installation of the Antarctic Precipitation system at the Willie Field site. That meant that two of the four installations were completed but they were also the two easiest to complete in regards to logistics.

The completed installation of the Antarctic Precipitation System at the Willie Field site. This site has three precipitation gauges and two different heights and two different wind shields for a comparison of ability to measure the precipitation.

Tuesday:

With a scheduled northbound trip for Friday, we basically needed to do a Twin Otter flight for the Tall Tower installation on Tuesday or Wednesday and a helicopter flight to Lorne site for the fourth installation on the other day. We also needed one day, preferably Thursday, in order to pack the lab and prepare the equipment for cargo storage and northbound shipment. Fortunately, we were scheduled as the primary Twin Otter flight on Tuesday, and we were also able to be on the helicopter schedule to do the Lorne site installation. The weather forecast was good and the flight to Tall Tower was activated. During the flight, I became convinced that we were not going to be able to land as there were low clouds and flat light conditions. At one point, the pilot turned to us from the cockpit and said it doesn't look good but they were going to try anyway. The good news is that there were sufficient breaks in the clouds that landing was easy and safe. The bad news is that the winds were blowing at 20+ knots. We agreed to do the work that we could get done. We finished the installation of the power system, datalogger, and the lower instruments. After an hour and a half the winds had not let up but we agreed to install some of the upper instruments. After three hours we decided we had gotten as much one as was reasonable and we went back to McMurdo Station. By not completing the installation at Tall Tower, it was realized that it was unlikely that we'd be able to do both the Lorne installation and finish Tall Tower. 

Cat, our helper for the day in the field, holding a snow/ice drill that we used to install the flags at the Tall Tower site. The horizon is obscured due to the blow snowing in 20+ mph winds.

Wednesday:

For Wednesday, we made the decision to go "all or nothing" for the installation at Lorne site. We were not on the Twin Otter schedule and we wanted to only be on the helicopter schedule. If we were able to install the Lorne site then great, if not, we'd be installing it next year. The weather was good and it was clear for us to do the installation. Due to the large amount of cargo needed for  the installations, there were two helicopter flights required with sling loads to fly the cargo to site. Not long after those two helicopters left, a group of four of us flew in a third helicopter to do the installation. We had a fabulous day in the field. All of the work that we had been doing to learn and shorten the installation time came together with only very minor problems. We conservatively estimated 11 hours to complete the installation with a helicopter pickup at 8:30 PM. Instead, we were done by 4:00 PM and we were able to communicate with helo ops for an earlier pickup and we were picked up by 4:45. Unfortunately, the empty containers for our cargo were so bulky that they had to send another helicopter to pickup the empties later that night. It took five helicopter flights but we were able to complete the Lorne installation in one productive and efficient day. 

One of the helicopters leaving McMurdo Station with a sling load of cargo to be flown to the Lorne site for the installation of the Antarctic Precipitation System. This was one of the sling loads flown to the site with cargo.

Thursday:

When we decided to go "all or nothing" for Lorne site on Wednesday, we realized that meant Tall Tower might not get done. One of our partner colleagues, who was a huge help throughout the field season, agreed that he'd be able to complete the installation as he will be here until the end of the season in February. We still asked to be put on the Twin Otter schedule for Thursday. However, we also realized it was unlikely. The one remaining Twin Otter in McMurdo, for the US Antarctic Program, was scheduled to mobilize for work at South Pole on Thursday. I woke up on Thursday with the Twin Otter on a three hour weather delay waiting to see if the weather would clear at South Pole. A little after 10:00 AM it was determined the weather was good and we were officially cancelled. At that point, we shifted into the mode of packing the cargo. At 10:30 I received an email asking about being put on the schedule for the next day. I called back and said that we were flying northbound to Christchurch the next day. I called to ask about getting our cargo back from the airfield and the flight coordinate came up with a different idea. The Twin Otter for the Antarctic New Zealand Program was coming back after finishing its work for the day. At 10:45, I received a call asking if we'd be ready to leave at 11:30 to go to Tall Tower. I said "yes". We shifted from packing cargo to getting ready to complete the Tall Tower installation. By 12:35 PM we were in the air and 2 1/2 hours later we were done with Tall Tower. All four sites were now fully installed and transmitting the observations to Boulder. That meant that We were able to finish all that we set out to complete during the field season. We got back into McMurdo by about 6:00 PM which was followed with a quick dinner and getting packed for "bag drag" and checking in our bags for the northbound flight. The rest of the night was filled with packing the cargo and spending time with friends. It was a very late night for me.

Carol, myself, and Scott at the completion of the installation of the wind shield at the Tall Tower site. This marked the completion of the installation of all four sites. Everything that we had hoped to do during the season was completed.

Friday:

Today ended up being a simple day. Our northbound flight was on a C-130 cargo plane by the Royal New Zealand Air Force. The plane had flown south on Thursday, which meant it was ready to fly north in the morning. Our transport out of McMurdo was at 7:15 AM and the northbound flight was airborne by 9:15 AM. We arrived in Christchurch 7-1/2 hours later and with that flight my 2017 Antarctic field season was complete. I made it to the hotel by 6:30 for a long and hot shower followed by a great dinner. I will spend all of Saturday in Christchurch to give myself a chance to reset before taking the trans-Pacific flight on Sunday with my arrival back into Colorado Sunday afternoon.

Boarding the C-130 airplane of the Royal New Zealand Air Force for the flight from McMurdo Station to Christchurch, New Zealand.

I am anticipating two more posts. I still need to cover exactly what it was that we installed and how it is going to be used to measure precipitation in Antarctica. It helps that I know have numerous photos of the instruments installed in the field to help explain the operation of the system. I will then post one more message with some summary thoughts on the field season and hopefully I'll have a link to an online photo album of this year's Antarctic field season.

Taking a walk through the Christchurch Botanical Garden during my full day in Christchurch. The time in Christchurch is always a well needed opportunity to reset and acclimate back to life away from Antarctica.