Many times, the breaks in my posts are because not much has been happening and there is not much to write about. Other times it is because of a flurry of activity that results in things not getting done along the way, including posts. This latter explanation is the reason for this latest delay. At the end of each work day, the Fixed Wing Office, which is in charge of the US Antarctic Program non-helo flights on the continent, posts a schedule for the Twin Otter and the Basler DC-3 planes. Currently, there are three Twin Otters in McMurdo, and a fourth when including the Twin Otter for the Antarctica New Zealand program. In addition to the primary mission for each plane, there are multiple backup missions that are also planned. Frequently, the primary mission is not able to happen because of bad weather at the destination. In fact, it is common for the backup missions to not be able to fly as well.
Two DHC-6 Twin Otter airplanes at the Alexander Tall Tower site.
Getting the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) field camp put-in team to WAIS has been one of the primary Twin Otter missions for the last two weeks. They are roughly two weeks behind schedule for the camp open due to routinely bad weather at WAIS. This past Wednesday, we were on the Twin Otter flight schedule to Lorne as a backup to the WAIS flights. WAIS did not happen and neither did our our flight because of bad weather at the destinations. The same scenario happened on Thursday. For Friday, we were a backup mission to fly either to the Lorne or the Tall Tower sites. The primary mission was cancelled because of weather at the destination. That bumped us up to priority and we were put on a weather delay. The weather at Lorne and Tall Tower for the morning was messy and the forecast was for it to clear at Tall Tower later in the day. The flight schedule to Tall Tower included two planes to take us to the site. We knew that we'd be retro'ing about 3000 pounds of gear and equipment, including 1540 pounds in batteries. The second Twin Otter would allow us to retro all of the cargo in a single flight. As the day unfolded, it was determined that the weather at Tall Tower was good and that we'd take-off at 1:30 PM. There were some delays in getting us and all of our gear to work on the sites. By the time we loaded the plane and took off it was closer to 2:30 PM. Shortly before the flight the weather was determined to be good at Lorne site and the flight plans were modified one more time.
The Lorne Antarctic Precipitation System when we arrived on site. The
power systems are entirely buried and there is about 40 inches of
accumulation with the towers and instruments.
Snow accumulation, from blowing snow and precipitation, is something that is an accepted part of field work when having instruments installed in the field. Therefore, we knew that there would be a lot of digging of snow to remove all of the equipment. Going to Lorne was myself, my colleague on the project, Scott, two colleagues with UNAVCO that have worked with us a lot on the project, and two other people from another project who had a spare day to help us. One of the benefits of two Twin Otter planes is that we also had two flight crews with each plane having two pilots. I never expect, or plan, for the pilots to help us in the field. If they decide to help, at any level, it is a bonus. Last Friday we had a big bonus as the four pilots all helped and worked really hard in digging out the equipment. After we landed, I was asked for the expected ground time and I guessed four hours. I was thinking I was possibly being too optimistic. We ended up leaving almost exactly at four hours. In between was a lot of work by everybody at the site. The wind shield was lowered and disassembled. The instruments were removed from the instrument tower. The cases and 22 12V batteries (70 pounds each), similar to in your car except using a gel-cell, were dug out from several feet beneath the snow surface. All of the towers and snow anchors were also removed. Once we were done, we loaded the planes with the 3000 pounds of equipment and returned back to William Field Skiway and then onto McMurdo by a van.
The disassembly of the wind shield and the precipitation gauge.
Digging out two 3-watt battery systems, including 22 batteries, with the help of the Twin Otter flight crews.
We didn't get into McMurdo until around 8:30PM due to the late start to the day. We were all hungry and tired from all of the digging. We also learned that the town was having power outages, which I'll explain in another post. Dinner was no longer being served so we had to make sandwiches at the deli in the galley. Our thoughts started to shift to how we'd spend the next day unpacking and sorting through all of the equipment we had pulled. It was around then that we learned that we were on the flight schedule for next day with a 7:30 AM departure from the lab. This not only sounded exhausting, because we'd have to do the same work again in removing the Tall Tower site, but there were also two issues. The tools, and some of the gear, that we need to remove the site were in the cargo system and returning from the flight that we had just completed. We didn't have access to the tools and gear and we didn't know when we would. On top of that, the two people from the other group would not be able to help us with Tall Tower. I wasn't sure how the four of us would be able to do all of the digging to remove Tall Tower, because again, I never expect the pilots to help. I stayed up late that Friday night sifting through all that happened while we were in the field that day, and working through our options for the flight to Tall Tower the next morning. I ended the day by sending an email to Fixed Wing informing them of our issues in needing the cargo from Friday's flight, as well as a concern about having enough help to get the job done. Part of me wanted to remove ourselves from the flight schedule but my general rule is that you don't pass on flights when they are given to you.
The Lorne APS sites after the removal of all of the equipment leaving
only the holes in the snow. The next storm that comes across the area
with 20+ mph winds will quickly fill in those holes.
I got up at 6:15 Saturday morning to be available when Fixed Wing started to organize and make final decisions on the day. I hadn't heard from them by 7:20, and breakfast was about to end, so I quickly left to get breakfast. We were placed on a flight delay and I was guessing it was because of the issue with tools and gear in cargo. After returning from breakfast, I was asked by Fixed Wing for our status in being able to leave for Tall Tower. I clarified that we needed to find where our cargo was from the trip the night before. I walked across town to find our cargo. I also found a loader operator to deliver the Lorne APS cargo to the lab. The delivery was completed and we were able to sift through the cargo to quickly ready ourselves for that day's work. In the meantime, I also learned that they were able to get four boondogglers to help with the digging. This was another trip into the field where we had two Twin Otters. Things started to fall into place and we were ready to be picked up from the lab by 9:30 and we were in the air by 10:15. It was a whirlwind of an early morning but everything had fallen into place.
Working on the digging out and removal of the Antarctic Precipitation
System site at Alexander Tall Tower with the assistance of the flights
crews and the boondogglers.
The removal of the Tall Tower site was roughly the same as the removal of Lorne the day before. The boondogglers and pilots weren't as good as the digging as the crew we had the previous day, although at Tall Tower we had two more people. I think it also required less digging for Tall Tower than there was at Lorne. We again hit the four hour ground time, almost to the minute. 2500 pounds of cargo were loaded on the planes and we made it back to the Williams Field Ski-way by 3:30 and into McMurdo well before 5:00. We completed our first full week in McMurdo and the field visits to the two sites that required flights were completed. That puts us in a very good position to complete the season ahead of schedule. However, I am always cautious to think that way because you never know what might come up to set you behind by a week or longer.
Unloading the cargo from the Twin Otter plane into cargo boxes to be
transported to the lab in McMurdo Station from the William Field Ski-way.
I have now been in Antarctica for a little over five full days. A general rule of thumb that has been used in the past is that it takes a week to get out into the field after arriving into town. Given that we have two sites that are accessible by truck, located about 7 miles and 13 miles from McMurdo, it is a little easier to make it to those sites. We made it to the Phoenix Airfield site earlier today and we were able to do about 75% of the work that we'll need to do to remove that site. We had two men from another project that volunteered to help us today and that was a big difference with all of the digging that was done. We are on the Twin Otter (a small, twin-engine, turbo-prop airplane) schedule tomorrow as a backup mission. However, the primary mission has been delayed for the past eight days so there is a good chance it will be delayed again. If/when we fly to the Lorne site, the goal is to remove all of the equipment in a single day. The cargo that we are retro'ing to town is so much that it will take two return flights. Fortunately, each leg of the flight is no more than 45 minutes. There is nothing too significant that has happened thus far into the season so I will instead share with you a collection of updates and snippets of information on life here.
Standing over what used to the be location of the precipitation gauge installed at Phoenix Airfield.
Boondogglers: For that flight to Lorne site tomorrow, we'll have four "boondogglers" on the trip. When extra assistance is needed in the field, or sometimes if there are available seats on a plane or helicopter, a request is made to the station administration. Work centers have a running list of workers who have been doing a good job and they are rewarded with "morale trips". The station administration contacts the work centers and volunteers are provided for our flight. This is a HUGE deal for the contract workers because most of them never get out of town during their 4 to 5 month contract. Depending on the boondoggle, it could easily be one of the highlights to their season. We also specify what is needed of the boondogglers and for the trip to Lorne we specified "hearty shovelers" to help with all of the digging.
The work being done in digging out the precipitation gauge and mounting hardware at Phoenix Airfield.
C-17: Do you remember the three-day mechanical delay that I had with the C-17 to get to McMurdo Station? That three-day delay is now looking minor. They have yet to get in another flight since I arrived five days ago. There are three or four flights that are now backed up in Christchurch. Cargo: As big of a deal that it is that passengers are getting backed up in Christchurch, the situation with cargo is likely just as critical. Once a year, in January, there is a cargo resupply vessel that makes its trip from California to McMurdo. Most of the supplies that are needed for the next year and forward are shipped on the vessel. A year-plus of food for the entire station has to be ordered and shipped on the vessel. Anything that does not go on the vessel, has to arrive by the military cargo planes, at a much greater cost. A large share of this cargo going by plane is the equipment and supplies for the scientists to do their work in the field. Because of this backlog of C-17 flights, the cargo is also getting backlogged in Christchurch and it has reached the levels where some groups are at a standstill because they are waiting on their cargo to arrive. Fortunately, the only thing that was shipped for my project is empty shipping cases so we can wait another week or two until we need to use those cases. Good Weather: What makes things worse with the mechanical issues with the C-17 flights is that most of the main body season has had excellent weather. For this time of year the temperatures have been relatively warm and there has only been one minor snow event in something like the last month. Generally, whenever there is a stretch of great weather like this, it is amazing the amount of work that gets done in a short period of time. Except that is not quite happening this time around because of the C-17 delays and the backlog of personnel and cargo. A running comment among people in McMurdo is that eventually the C-17 will get fixed and then we'll have a stretch of bad weather that cancels the C-17 flights.
The view towards the north Phoenix Airfield. It is Ross Island in the
distance, with Mt. Erebus as the dominant peak towards the left, and the
Ross Ice Shelf leading up to the base of Ross Island.
Stickers: During much of the first week, our time is spent going around town and attending various briefing and trainings. For example, this afternoon we had a training with "MacOps", which is the radio dispatch center for the station and all of the field camps. During this training they go through all of the protocols and methods of communication that we are to use while we are away from McMurdo Station. We are assigned a VHF (hand-held) radio and an Iridium satellite phone. When we are near town we are able to communicate by VHF radio and we have the Iridium to use when we are outside of radio range. Two years ago, I designed (with the assistance of a great friend) and created a sticker for the project. Most all of the time whenever we are meeting with people, I will give them a sticker for the project. I am always amazed how much people appreciate getting a sticker and the value that the stickers hold in this community. The image below is that of the sticker for the project. The "O-456" is our event number and for many people that is what we are known by in their dealings with our project.
McMurdo Rebuild: I'll do an entire post on this in the future. The quick update for now is that Congress has funded a rebuild of McMurdo Station and that rebuild is starting during this main body season. The first major task is constructing a building that was originally thought would be built about a dozen years ago. The presence of the rebuild is being noticed throughout the town. There are a number of construction workers as a part of the population, and some of the cargo that is backed up in Christchurch is for the rebuild. Starting over the winter and into next main body season, the rebuild will increase in scope. Earlier I said that there is a single vessel resupply ship each year. For this year, and likely coming years, there will be two vessels bring the necessary equipment and supplies for the rebuild. Those are some of the minor updates of life around McMurdo Station during my first week in town. I am still seeing and catching up with friends from recent seasons, which always makes me happy. I have yet to really start to meet new friends. That always seems to take at least half of the season.
Hello, from McMurdo Station, Antarctica. This post is coming at the end of a typically long day involving the transit from Christchurch to McMurdo. We received notice yesterday afternoon that our flight was scheduled but with a two hour later start than normal. That later start had me a little concerned because I felt it was saying that they were not certain the plane would be ready. I got up at 6:30 AM and was ready for the 7:15 AM shuttle to the airport. With no morning updates, I concluded that the flight was ready to go. To no surprise, the check-in process went a little faster and smoother this time around with everybody having to repeat what they did three days earlier. We got on the bus to take us to the plane at 9:45 AM and this time we got off the bus and loaded the plane. Two minutes before the scheduled departure of 11:00, we started taxiing and we were in the air less than 10 minutes later.
The flight to Antarctica was similarly drama free. The flight was in a C-17, which is a large U.S. Air Force cargo plane. I view flying in the C-17 as luxurious, especially in comparison to the C-130, and the C-141 was worse. I was able to get a seat along the side of the plane. These seats are my preferred location as there is more room to stuff your bags and you have all the leg room you could ask for to stretch out during the flight. The seating is rather simple but I've never found it uncomfortable. The C-17 pilots were also very welcoming in allowing us to get in some views of, and from, the cockpit. The flight took five hours. We landed at 4:00 PM without any issues.
Getting off the plane for the first time is always one of the highlights of my field season. Antarctica is an extremely unique place and it is easy to forget what it is truly like until it is laid out in front of your eyes. The Ross Island region (McMurdo Station lies on the southern tip of Ross Island) is particularly beautiful with the Transantarctic Mountains in the distance, as well as Mount Discovery, White Island, Black Island, and Minna Bluff making up the scenery. We get off the plane and I was able to take a number of photos. Personally, I am always baffled by the people who walk directly from the plane to the large transport vehicles. I probably looked around and took photos for less that five minutes and I was one of the last people to load the vehicles for the transport to McMurdo. With 90 passengers on the flight, we had the large "Cres" passenger carrier, and two "Deltas", to get everybody into town. It was about an hour drive from Phoenix Airfield into McMurdo, a drive of approximately 16 miles.
Once we got into McMurdo it was the Arrival Briefing. For decades this briefing was done by the station manager and this year they upgraded the presentation to be done by video. The briefing lasted about a half hour. After getting our lodging assignments, we were free to go and we went to start unloading things in the lab as well as grabbing dinner. To no surprise, one of the enjoyable parts of getting back to McMurdo is seeing and connecting with many colleagues and friends from past field seasons. When we got off of the Delta, two friends, who have spent a lot of time with us in the field, were there to greet us as well as take our carry-on bags into the lab. Throughout dinner, as well as walking around town, I was able to see a number of familiar faces and receive nice greetings welcoming us back into town. As odd of a a place as this is, it definitely has a feeling of "home" for me.
I have not received any official updates on the status of the C-17 flight delay. I have heard a little more information regarding the plane and it appears that it is no guarantee that we will fly on Thursday. I was able to get out and do a hike this afternoon. I took a city bus to the Christchurch Gondola, which is the start of the "Bridle Path" hike that goes up and over a pass leading to the port city of Lyttelton. Once in Lyttelton I grabbed dinner and then took the city bus back to Christchurch.
The view looking into Lyttleton from the midway point on my Bridle Path hike this afternoon.
My trip to Antarctic for this field season is for the Antarctic Precipitation System (APS) project. The APS project is a National Science Foundation grant to develop methods to measure precipitation in Antarctica. The measurement of precipitation in Antarctic is extremely difficult due to the low quantity of precipitation and the frequent occurrence of high winds that makes it difficult to distinguish between blowing snow and falling snow (precipitation). The APS project is similar to most NSF funded projects in that it has a three year duration. The instrument systems were installed during the first field season, November 2017, they were serviced and maintained in the second field season, November 2018, and this year the instrument systems will be removed from the field. To no surprise, the removal of the instruments will be a discouraging experience. My plans are to submit a new proposal, in about three months, to renew the APS project for another three years. If the proposal is funded, and it takes about 6-12 months to receive an answer if it will be funded or not, the APS instruments would be deployed again in the future.
The webcam image from the Lorne APS site on October 5, 2019. This site,
in addition to the three other APS sites, will be removed this month.
The actual work to be completed during this year's field season is quite simple. We will visit the four APS sites and remove all of the instruments, instrument towers, and power systems. Two of the four sites are accessible by truck and we'll start working on removing those systems about 3-4 days after arriving into McMurdo. One of the sites will be accessed by helicopter and the other by Twin Otter, a small, twin-engine, prop airplane. We have requested to fly to these two sites in the second week of the field season. Any delays, due to weather or flight availability, in getting to those two sites are the biggest uncertainties in this field season. After removing all of the equipment from the field, we will pack everything into crates to be shipped back to Colorado. The one piece that I have not covered is that this field season is going to include a lot of digging in the snow. There is about one to two feet of accumulation of snow every year, depending on the site. Additionally, we learned last year that the APS installations resulted in abnormal drifting around the equipment. In order to fully remove all of the equipment, we will need to dig down to the original installation height. I am already working on efforts to get people from McMurdo to help us with the digging to be done at the four sites.
The difference in height of the snow at the Willie Field APS instrument tower from November 2017 and November 2018.
Since this is the last year for the project, it is also my last known field season in Antarctica. This is my 8th trip to Antarctica and fifth year in a row with a field season. However, in theory, this could be my last trip to Antarctica. I do not have any current or future funded projects that involve Antarctic field work. Given the difficulties in getting funding for such projects, it would not be a surprise if it was my last trip. Then again, I have twice fully left Antarctic field work for 10 years, only to make it back. The likelihood is that I will never know when it will be my last trip to Antarctica. I have always tried to treat each trip as my "last trip" to maximize the experience and to not lose the appreciation of the unique and incredible opportunity I have to go to Antarctica. With trips each of the last five years, including three years in a row at the same time of year, it has made it more difficult to maintain that "last trip" mentality. One of my goals, and challenges, for this field season is to once again maximize the excitement and fun offered with such an opportunity as traveling to Antarctica. One of the advantages of going to Antarctica for five years in a row is developing a strong connection to the community in McMurdo and the many friendships that have been formed over the years. Each season has its surprises with people and friends that have moved onto different careers. Yet there are also many bonds that are renewed with those that have returned for another year "on the ice". I know that I am looking forward to hanging out with several of these friends over the next month. It is also much easier to navigate the logistics of getting things done around McMurdo when you know who to contact and you are a known face. Spending a month with a community that has become very close is probably the biggest thing that I am looking forward to with this field season.
Getting ready to have Thanksgiving with a group of friends in McMurdo.
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The transit to Antarctica is a complex series of events that generally take a fair amount of time and effort. It is a process, and a process that is frequently impaired by delays. My journey to Antarctica started with leaving from Denver Thursday afternoon. I flew commercial from Denver to Los Angeles, with a five hour layover, followed by a 12-1/2 hour flight from LAX to Auckland, New Zealand, a four-hour layover, and then a relatively short flight from Auckland to Christchurch. I arrived into Christchurch Saturday afternoon with a day lost due to crossing the International Dateline. The door-to-door transit time was about 29 hours. That is the effort just to get to Christchurch, and to prepare for the last leg to Antarctica.
Most all of the United States Antarctic Program (USAP) travels through Christchurch. The key reason for this is because the largest USAP station, McMurdo Station, is located approximately directly south of Christchurch. The day after arriving into Christchurch, the morning starts with a shuttle ride to the USAP operations at the International Antarctic Center. Generally, we go through a series of videos and briefings, receive our flu shot for the year, are issued extreme cold weather (ECW) gear, and are then free to leave by late morning. For good and bad, they also included on Sunday a series of trainings, which we typically go through every year in McMurdo. These trainings included topics such as how to handle garbage, basics of driving trucks and vans in McMurdo, and fire safety. We will still have more trainings and briefings to go through but the extra effort on Sunday allows us to get many of them out of the way before even arriving at McMurdo Station. This means we also didn't get to leave for the day until mid-afternoon.
All of this leads to earlier today, Monday morning, and the big flight to Antarctica. Except, it didn't. A typical C-17 flight day involves being picked up at the hotel by a shuttle at 5:15 AM. There are different rules and guidelines that apply for the checked bags, including a "boomerang" bag, all of which can't exceed 85 pounds, your carry-on bag, and wearing your ECW gear. I was able to get done with the check-in before 6:30 AM and then it was over to a nearby coffee shop for breakfast. We were operating this morning on a one-hour delay, so that meant we didn't have to return to the Antarctic Passenger Terminal (APT) until 8:30. After that, the process involved going through a security screening, sort of similar to TSA, but more cumbersome because of being dressed in ECW gear. All of this is followed by a bus taking us from the APT to the C-17 on the tarmac waiting for the flight to Antarctica.
This is where all of the effort from the last three days came to a halt. I was on the first of three buses taking the 90 passengers to the plane. We pulled up next to the C-17 and waited for awhile on the bus before boarding the plane, which is normal. Then there was talk of a mechanical problem and then the bus was taking us back to the APT. We were still not sure if this would be a 20-30 minute delay or longer. Within about 15 minutes we received an announcement that the C-17 was "properly busted". As a part of the packing process, you pack a "boomerang" bag that you get if the flight doesn't go after your bags have been fully checked. (The term boomerang is in reference to flights that leave and are turned around, due to weather or mechanical difficulties, bringing you back to where you started.) We were all talking about what we packed and didn't pack in our boomerang bag when we were told they would be unloading all of the bags. That is a sure sign that this will not be a short delay.
I received official word late this afternoon that our next scheduled flight is for Thursday morning. A replacement part for the C-17 has to be shipped in from the US to Christchurch. Today is going to be a quiet day for me as I hope to get some work done, catch up on emails from the past week, and a chance to get some rest. My plans for tomorrow are to spend the day working at the University of Canterbury. A colleague at the university is interested in talking about some Antarctic meteorology work and has also offered to let me use an office for the day. I'll try to get in some recreation/tourist activities on Wednesday and then on Thursday we'll start this process all over again. Lastly, I'll point out that this inconvenience and delay, which is commonplace in going to/from Antarctica, is very minor. A friend of mine from the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) field camp from four years ago, has spent the last nine months at South Pole. Six of those winter-over months at the South Pole included the sun being below the horizon and in darkness. This friend left South Pole and got to McMurdo mid last week, and was supposed to go north to Christchurch on a flight last Friday. That flight was delayed due to a mechanical condition until today, and now there is this mechanical delay. My delay in Christchurch, with summer weather, is nothing in comparison to my friend's delay.
Hello, again! It turns out that I was not quite done with posts for the
Antarctic Precipitation Project (APS) 2081 field season. The APS project
was featured in a PRI (Public Radio International) audio piece that is
being broadcast on the radio. Instead of randomly coming across the
audio interview/documentary, you can listen to it online at: https://www.pri.org/stories/2019-01-29/unexpected-challenge-antarctica-measuring-snowfall
(The audio is accessed by the "Play" button above the top photo.)
There is also a written article and several photos to go with the audio
story. As of this moment, the story is the top headline on the PRI website and
with PRI's "The World". I am not included in the audio documentary but
my colleague Scott is interviewed. During our first weekend of the field
season, we took Caitlin Saks, the NOVA/PRI documentarian, with us into
the field. Caitlin did the audio documentary and the written article,
both of which are very well done. They have also posted a nice video
from the afternoon at the Willie Field site on their Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/p/BtO-woBgo0A/
Caitlin interviewing Scott at the Willie Field APS instrument tower.
Scott was working on the precipitating gauge, located at the center of
the wind shield, and Caitlin brought the microphone and recorder inside
the shield to record some questions with the wind creating the noise
with the shield.
By the time we left the Willie Field APS site, the winds had picked up
to around 20 mph and there was light blowing snow at the surface.
I am writing a quick final, final post to share the links to this year's photo albums. You can view a collection of the best 60 photos at: http://foehn.colorado.edu/seefeldt/antarctica-2018/ If you are really interested in seeing more of this year's adventures in Antarctica you can view the album of 4-star and 5-star photos with 165 photos at: http://foehn.colorado.edu/seefeldt/antarctica-2018-4_5/ As a reminder, all of the emailed posts are archived and can be viewed from the blog at: https://megaontheice.blogspot.com/ Feel free to share this blog address if you know of anybody interested in Antarctica. Email me if you have any questions. I'll be sending out the next email as a preview to the 2019 field season in late October. The plan is to remove the instruments of the Antarctic Precipitation System in the upcoming field season.
