Antarctic Sun and Photos

I have been back from Antarctica for six weeks. This has been the easiest acclimation of all of my trips. I am not sure as to why that has been the case. It might be because it was the shortest trip I've done in awhile or maybe this is the result of experience and repetition. For me, one of the amazing post-trip realities is how quickly you forget about all of the great parts, nuances, and annoyances, of day to day life in Antarctica. I have no idea how the last month has gone for people working in McMurdo. I don't know if they have recovered from all of the delays early in the main body season or if there have been a continuing series of storms and weather delays. The good news is that the data continues to be retrieved from the Antarctic Precipitation Systems. We have yet to really dig into any analyses of the data. We will likely need to retrieve several months of data and look for specific cases in order to determine how the the instruments are doing. I don't have much more to say, mostly because this year's Antarctic experience feels like a distant memory, so I am not going to bore you with any more words.

I can share with you a recent Article that was posted in the Antarctic Sun on our field season. You can read the article at:
https://antarcticsun.usap.gov/science/contentHandler.cfm?id=4339

I am done going through the photos and I have 365 pictures from this years trip.  That compares to 569 in 2015 and 292 in 2016. I am really surprised and not sure how I took that many in comparison to past years. I have created two albums from the field season. The first album is of all of the 5-star photos (89):
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/u9dsrx7txxoyzn4/AAAGNHFsEoNWpXJndbyrev6Ga
If you are really brave, bored, or my Mom, you can view all of the 4-star and 5-star photos (239):
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/gasi3mrcr2p80r8/AACX-4xNQcQsHwMPo4-IEggwa

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.

That is all I have for this year's trip. As always, feel free to email, or ask, me questions at any time throughout the year. I am scheduled to return to Antarctica again in November for a field season to do maintenance on the Antarctic Precipitation Systems that we installed this year.

Tail of the C-17 with the Antarctic sun and Mount Discovery in the background.

Mount Erebus, the Antarctic sun, and low clouds near the summit.

Stopping at the outside of the Discovery Hut during our hike to Hut Point Peninsula.

The Antarctic Precipitation System installed at Phoenix Airfield.

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.

Extension, Time in the Field, Thanksgiving

At the end of my last post, I mentioned that we had requested an extension to our field season. That extension was granted. The extension was not a given as there are numerous projects that are similarly, or in some cases even more, behind in getting work done for the season than we are. It helps that our project requires minimal resources. The big resources that we need (e.g. Twin Otter flight and helicopter flights) were supposed to have been used during the past two weeks. The extension is for four days. We were originally scheduled to leave tomorrow (Monday) and we are now scheduled to leave on Friday. If we get out on time, and that is obviously a big if, I will spend a full day in Christchurch to reset, and then leave New Zealand and arrive back into Colorado on Sunday, December 3.

The good news is that we have been making worthwhile progress in the field. Last Thursday was a big day as we installed the Double Fenced Intercomparison Reference (DFIR) shield. It is easiest to think of it as a snow fence with a 16 foot diameter surrounded by a snow fence with a 40 foot diameter, both of which encircle a precipitation gauge. Part of the wood materials were fabricated last spring in Boulder and some of them were fabricated in the "Carp Shop" (carpentry shop in McMurdo). We also had the assistance of two "Carps", Rachel and Liz, to help us assemble and install the DFIR at the Willie Field location. It was snowing most of the day, and the visibility was continually decreasing throughout the day, but the winds were light and there was minimal concern of the weather turning bad on us. Installing the DFIR is a key component to the field season as the DFIR shield is the accepted worldwide standard for measuring snowfall. 

Working on the second exterior ring of the double-fence after the completion of the interior ring. 

The Carps Liz and Rachel showing off the finished Double-Fence Intercomparison Reference (DFIR) wind shield around the precipitation gauge at the Willie Field site.

The installation of the DFIR ended a stretch of four of five days working in the field with most of the work at the local sites and the one day trip by Twin Otter. We anticipated having a quiet day on Friday and it worked out well as the weather was also bad all day with Condition 2 weather on the ice shelf. Friday was also the last day before a rare two-day weekend, so most of McMurdo was ramping down for the weekend. We ended up only having a one-day weekend as we went out to the Phoenix site on today (Sunday afternoon). The good news is that we were able to finalize the installation at that site. We were late for dinner, which means pizza for dinner as they serve pizza in the galley 24-hours a day. We also ate our dinner watching this week's Sunday Science Lecture on a robotic vehicle to explore the ocean underneath the ice shelf. The technology and experience developed from this project will likely be used in a future mission to one of Jupiter's moons, Europa.

Lastly, yesterday (Saturday), was our Thanksgiving at McMurdo Station. By celebrating Thanksgiving on a Saturday the station is able to provide a two-day weekend. My Thanksgiving started the same way as it does for many people in the United States. I ran in the McMurdo Turkey Trot, a 5K race. There were 126 people that ran/walked in the turkey trot and a had a great time. I was very reluctant to run in the race when I went to bed the night before. The weather was nasty, I knew the course would be moderately snow covered, and I have not been running on the treadmill as much as I had hoped. I ended up having a great time. The weather was perfect when I woke up to run the race. It was about 20F, not a cloud in the sky, and little to no wind. The course was a little slick but I managed to not let it slow me down too much and I avoided a nasty slip and fall. I grabbed a quick late breakfast after the race as the galley was closing for the Thanksgiving dinners. There were three sitting times (3:00, 5:00, and 7:00) for the Thanksgiving dinner. A group of us chose the 7:00 dinner. In between the race and dinner, I took a nap, wrote some postcards, worked on photos, and showered. It was a wonderful afternoon. The Thanksgiving dinner in the galley was very good and we had a great time together. The day ended with hanging out with some friends in the coffee house. Overall, it was a nice and relaxing Thanksgiving.

A little less than a mile into the McMurdo Turkey Trot 5K. I am in the black in the middle of the photo.

The serving line for the Thanksgiving Dinner in the galley. They have designated seating times for the dinner to encourage people to sit together with projects, work teams, and friends and enjoy the dinner.

We are scheduled to have four remaining days in McMurdo with our northbound flight on Friday. We have 2 1/2 days of field work that needs to be done including a Twin Otter flight and a helicopter flight. The remaining day will be spent packing cargo to be kept here over the winter and cargo to be returned to Colorado. I feel pretty good at the start of this week. We'll see how the week unfolds.

Time in the Field

The last several days have been one of those stretches of time in Antarctica where things are happening at a fairly fast pace and yet there are also quiet times interspersed throughout. This is a common place to be as the field season comes to a close. It is a confluence of events of pressure to get as much done as possible, the work you've done to prep equipment for the field has been completed, and with your field time coming to a close you are more likely to be a priority for resources. We have spent three of the last four days in the field with a day trip by Mattrack truck to the Willie Field site on Sunday, a day trip by truck to the Phoenix Airfield site on Tuesday, and a day trip by Twin Otter airplane on Wednesday to the Tall Tower site. Instruments are installed and recording data at the two local sites, Willie Field and Phoenix, although more work needs to be done with the wind shields and a final survey of the installation. Today, we installed the instrument towers and power system for the Tall Tower site. We will need one more flight to Tall Tower to complete that installation. In the middle of all of the above we were chased out of the field on Sunday when a ground blizzard hit us as we were working. We were seeing it coming in the distance for awhile and as it got closer we packed up as quickly as possible and got in the truck to get back to town. That evening we also gave the Sunday Science Lecture, which is a presentation in the galley with a cross section of people attendees representing most everybody in McMurdo Station. The poor weather, starting with the ground blizzard on Sunday on the ice shelf, continued through Tuesday morning with Condition 2 weather at the nearby locations on the ice shelf. We have two more days until our Thanksgiving "weekend", which is a rare two day weekend starting on Saturday. The weather is forecast to be questionable over these next two days but we'll see what we can get done. I have also requested that our project be able to extend the time in McMurdo in the range of an additional four days to a week. There has been an indication that the request is reasonable but I have not received verification that it has been granted. If not, we are supposed to be leaving on Monday. Hopefully, with things starting to wind down I'll have a little more time to provide some more updates in the coming days. I am also officially really far behind in my photos so I am going to pass on including any photos in this post. I hope that everybody is able to have a nice end to your short week and safe travels for your Thanksgiving festivities and weekend.                     

Memorable Storm

The storm panned out as it was forecast and it was definitely one of the more memorable weather events that I have had in Antarctica. It snowed for about 48 straight hours and it left behind a fair amount of snow. To put this storm in perspective, the all-time 24-hour record snowfall in McMurdo for the month of November is 8". I have not heard what the official measurements were for the storm but I think 8" would be reasonable but over longer than 24 hours. The one surprise is that it was not as windy as I expected so the snow was mostly falling lightly. We had Condition 2 weather from Wednesday evening and all day Thursday with Condition 1 on the ice shelf during that same time. Overnight on Thursday and into Friday it was changed to Condition 3 in McMurdo. We found that a little odd because much of the time that morning it should have been Condition 2. However, since it was listed as Condition 3, we were able to take a hike down to Hut Point during some of the most intense snowfall of the storm. It was so much fun.

Things have also gotten crazy busy in the last few days. A big reason for that is because we are scheduled to leave in 8 days. Making things more difficult, a week from now is a rare two-day weekend. That means we are supposed to have all of our field work done, and cargo stored or put into the system to be shipped back to Colorado, by Friday afternoon. I don't know how we are going to get everything done that we need to get done in that time. We are going into the field at local sites tomorrow (Sunday, McMurdo time) as the weather should be good and we need to get the work done. We also need to return to town in time to  get cleaned up and collect our thoughts as we are giving the weekly Sunday Science Lecture. It is going to be a very busy day. We are also primary for a twin otter flight on Monday to install the power system and put up the towers for the instruments. However, the weather does not look the best on Monday.

Sorry to keep this short but I wanted to give a quick update on the storm and our latest plans for field work. I'll try to get more out in the near future.

Going on a hike to Hut Point. Hiking is prohibited in Condition 2 weather, however this was classified as Condition 3. It wasn't Condition 3.

Myself, Scott, and George outside of Discovery Hut trying to pose similar to the early explorers.

Weather and Field Work

There has been a lot happening in the field and with weather so I will break this post into three chapters.

Chapter 1

We were able to have a little drama in the field a few days ago. On Saturday we went to the two local sites to install the power systems that will run the instruments and communications during the long polar night (4+ months of continual darkness). We installed 38 batteries at the two sites requiring two truckloads from McMurdo. While I was driving back and forth, Scott and a colleague from UNAVCO were working on installing the power system at the Willie Field location. Carol, from the AWS group, and George, a teacher visiting Antarctica, joined us during my second load in the truck. The five of us took a lunch break at the Willie Field Airfield where they have a galley with food. While at lunch, I was catching up with a friend from WAIS two years ago and he shared with me that the forecast was for the weather to deteriorate quickly and they were anticipating closing Willie Field Airfield in the next hour or so. We finished the Willie Field install and then went to Phoenix to install the second power system. We kept an eye on the conditions to the south because of the forecast for the weather to turn bad. There are certain landmarks to watch to see if a weather system is moving into the region. It was clear that something was moving in and we dramatically picked up our pace to finish the installation. Workers at Phoenix Airfield radioed us and suggested that we pack things up and leave the area. We continued working, mostly because we had just put up the solar panels and needed to anchor them before we left. The workers at Phoenix Airfield decided not to leave until we left and they were getting antsy to get out of there. At one point we looked to the south and it looked like the winds and blowing snow were moving in on us quickly. We finished anchoring the solar panels, decided to skip many of the finishing touches, and packed up everything in the truck to leave as quickly as possible. As we were about to leave, the Airfield Manager made the
decision to close Phoenix Airfield. In the end, by the time we left the conditions did not look as threatening. Our entire drive home was in sunshine and we never experienced the ugly weather conditions that we saw approaching us.
Scott and Nico installing the power system with solar panels at Willie Field site.

The view towards the south with White Island partially obstructed due to the strong winds and blowing snow to the south.

Chapter 2

The weather has been the story the past week as there has been a forecast of bad  weather, or actual bad weather, every day, which is the reason why we have not had a flight from Christchurch during the past week. On Tuesday, the forecast was for great weather in the morning and then worsening conditions in the afternoon. Because of that forecast the C-17 flight from Christchurch was cancelled, which also didn't make sense to me. Four of us (myself, Scott, Carol, and George) and two antenna riggers went to visit the two local sites with the hope that we'd install six towers ranging in height from 8 feet to 15 feet. I felt good about the weather for the morning and early afternoon. However, I was not sure if the conditions would turn ugly before we finished all six towers by late afternoon. In the end, it was a beautiful day on the ice shelf. The temperature was about 9F, at times there was no wind, and there was a bright and warm sun throughout the day. We nearly had a
perfect day with five of the six towers installed. The one that was not installed was because the tower sections could not fit together. Carol went out with the riggers this morning to finish that installation. We were out of town for about seven hours and had an amazing day in the field. We even took the time to enjoy lunch at one of the sites.

Installing the two towers for the precipitation project site at Phoenix Airfield.

Taking a break for lunch with the riggers at the Willie Field site.

Chapter 3

The weather forecast for today was similar to yesterday with okay conditions in the morning and getting worse by late morning. Many of the people in town have gotten skeptical of the weather forecasts because of recent hits and misses. I was pretty confident today would live up to the forecast and turn into a fairly significant storm. That is exactly what happened. By mid-morning, we could see the landmarks on the ice shelf to the south of McMurdo starting to disappear, a telltale sign that things are getting worse. By noon the winds had picked up and it had started snowing. Since then it has been a combination of winds, although not consistent, and snow.

The weather around the US Antarctic Program is rated by conditions with the following system:

Condition 3 - General Weather

Visibility greater than 1/4 mile, winds less than 48 knots, and wind chill warmer than -75F.

Condition 2 - Severe Weather

Visibility between a 1/4 mile and 100 feet, sustained winds between 48 knots and 55 knots, and wind chill between -75F and -100F.

Condition 1 - Extreme Weather

Visibility less than 100 feet, sustained winds greater than 55 knots, and wind chill colder than -100F

Only one of the three criteria have to be met and at this time of year that is going to be driven by the visibility. In Condition 2 weather there are restrictions on movement and working. In Condition 1 weather you are not allowed to leave your building. Condition 1 in McMurdo rarely happens in the winter months and is even more rare in the summer months. Earlier this evening we had Condition 2 in and around McMurdo and Condition 1 everywhere else. This storm will likely linger around the area for another 2-3 days. The worst was likely this evening and there will be breaks along the way. There will also likely be some cleanup after the storm that will cause some delays in logistics.

Delays, Delays, and Delays

Delays are a natural part of working and living in Antarctica. Generally, the question is not if you will experience delays but how much of a delay you will experience. For those that have been following my Antarctic posts for the last two years, you will recall the 5 days it took me to get to the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) field camp, and then a week later it took a week to get a flight out of WAIS. The delay in getting out of WAIS extended past my scheduled flight back to Colorado and I got home two days later than anticipated. Thus far, we have only been minimally impacted by delays this season. A key reason for that is because much of the work is accessible by truck and we've also had a lot of work to do in the lab. There is a good chance that might change this week.
There are a few trucks in McMurdo that are equipped with mattracks instead of tires. The mattrack trucks are able to drive on snow surface that are not groomed. We have been using the mattrack truck a lot as it allows us to bring the equipment directly to the install location.

Overall, a common theme throughout McMurdo this field season has been the delays encountered throughout the program. The start of the summer season in early October was delayed by four days in getting the first flight of mainbody to McMurdo. On my flight, the airplane was filled with people going to South Pole. The first flight of the summer into South Pole was about 36 hours after we arrived. It over a week to get the second flight to Pole and there has only been one flight since. There is a big field camp being established at Shackleton Glacier this summer. There are a number of scientists whose funded projects are dependent on this field season at Shackleton. The initial camp put-in staff was supposed to go to Shackleton on October 26. I know a couple people on that flight an I am still seeing them every day, some 17 days since they were supposed to leave. The weather in McMurdo has been fairly nice during the past two weeks, although some of the flights have been
cancelled due to the forecasted or occasional times that we have had bad weather. Mostly, it has been bad weather everywhere where people have been trying to fly, or difficulties with the airplanes and scheduling.

We have been waiting for the past week to install the instrument towers with the assistance of the riggers. For the first time we were on the riggers schedule and we were going to go out this morning and install six 8' to 15' towers at the two nearby sites. However, we woke up to the temperature around 0F, 20-25 mph winds with gusts to 30 and low visibility due to blowing snow. We did not get out today. We were able to have some good news with a few unexpected tasks being completed as an alternative to the planned day in the field.

I provide all of this background to say that the computer model forecast is showing rough weather conditions for most of the Ross Ice Shelf for the middle to latter half of the week. We are hoping to get out in 12 hours (Tuesday - McMurdo time) before the conditions worsen. I will say that I have seen in past seasons where storms like this that look like they will dramatically impact operations in McMurdo and then they do not. The trends in the forecast model have had the main storm system more and more to the east of McMurdo. The next few days will be interesting as the delays will either be further compounded, and resulting in significant impacts to our field season, or we'll escape with better than expected conditions.

I have a fun story to share from our visit to the two nearby sites this past Saturday. I'll save that story for another post in the next day or two.
Fata morgana is an optical effect that is common in Antarctica during the spring and early summer months. It is similar to a mirage in a desert except it is superior image, extended upward from the surface, and is the result of relatively very cold air at the surface.