Trip is a GO!!

With just less than two weeks until I depart for New Zealand, I thought I would take a few minutes of free time and update you all with the trip situation and some more pictures.

In addition to the airborne sea ice thickness measurements, we will be conducting in-situ validation measurements.  In addition to drilling through the ice to measure the thickness, freeboard (height of the ice surface above the water), we will also use a ground-based electomagnetic-induction sensor that operates on the same principle as our airborne sensor. 

Last week the EM bird, nicknamed "Rosie", left Toronto for Christchurch, New Zealand. And this week the equipment that Christian and I are bringing for ground-based measurements has left Edmonton.  The majority of the ground based measurements are supplied by our collaborators at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch and University of Otago in Dunedin, both in New Zealand.

While there was some question about the safety of the ice conditions near Scott Base (McMurdo Sound), it seems that the conditions are generally safe enough for extensive snowmobile operations. Below I've attached some images from the Digital Globe image archive (click HERE for the HERE). The images are acquired by very high spatial resolution sensors that acquire photographs in the visible light spectrum (just like a camera).  The satellites I have posted images from are the Worldview 1 and 2 satellites, which have 0.5m spatial resolution.  This means that objects greater than 0.5m apart can be distinguished as apart in the images.

WorldView-2 image showing part of McMurdo Sound from October 4, 2011.  About 2/3 of the way down the image,  you can see the Erebus Ice Tongue, but more on that later. The ice runway is shown in the lower right. One can also make out the American McMurdo Station just up from the runway. Image from Digital Globe Image Browser.

DigitalGlobe WorldView-1 image of the ice runway at McMurdo/Scott Base Station from October 3, 2011.  Image Courtesy of the Digital Globe Image Browser Archive.

Below is another image from the MODIS sensor.  As you can see the spatial resolution is much lower (250m) but covers a much larger region from today, October 30, 2011. 

MODIS image from October 30, 2011.  Image Courtesy of the NASA MODIS Rapid Response System (NASA/GSFC, Rapid Response).

I have just two weeks left until I leave, and still have to sort out some things.  While Antarctica New Zealand provides most of the clothing and boots I'll need, there are certain things I need to bring (underwear, spare socks) and certain things I may decide to bring, such as my Joka Polar insulated water proof gloves, among other items.  While I have complete confidence in the gear the Antarctica New Zealand, having a spare pair of socks, insulated gloves and so forth can never be a bad thing.

That is it for now, will post again soon, hopefully with some information about Scott Base, McMurdo Sound and the study region.

Field Work Time-Lapse Style

Well I have a bit of news regarding the trip, but that will wait for another post, just to get you all in anticipation. Last night before I left, I used my work PC to create two high-resolution videos from time-lapse photos I shot in Alert. 

I've put them on You Tube so I can get the widest audience. The links are below.  My blog seems to be having some issues with posting such high resolution videos.

Video Link 

This first video uses pictures that were taken every 30s.  Personally, I think this is a bit too long of a step.  But I really really enjoy watching the shadow of the pole the camera is mounted on move with the moving sun.

This next video used photos taken every 5 seconds.  I think this is the nicest time step for our work, is relatively often but gives a good sense of motion and work.

Video Link

Video Linke #2

Okay well that is all for today.  Keep watching for my next update with more information regarding my trip.

Poked, Prodded and Prepared

 Location: Edmonton, AB

Well, I have been debating with myself for a little while if I should keep posting about this trip, at least right now.  Currently the trip is a bit uncertain due to some potentially unsafe ice conditions near Scott Base that would affect our sea ice research.  I am not sure what the current status is but have been told by my supervisor to hold off on booking my flights down to Christchurch, New Zealand. I am a bit worried that it will fall through as I have been working hard to get stuff done before I go. Also I am really really looking forward to this trip.

MODIS image from the AQUA satellite acquired on October 14, 201. Image Credit: NASA/GSFC, Rapid Response

At first I thought that I should just stop blogging about the trip until I know more, but the more I thought about it, the more I began to realize that this is an important part of what I do. Logistical and safety considerations play a very important role in our work.  Whether it means staying in the base one day and processing data because the weather is too poor for working outside, flying or collecting data, or whether or not the region you want to visit is even safely accessible.  I am only really used to having down days due to weather and have not had a campaign cancelled on me yet. One can only prepare as much as possible and then if the trip ends up being a no go, just accept it, ship your equipment home and prepare for the next campaign.

Despite the uncertainty in the trip , I have been working diligently on completing my pre-trip paper work for my upcoming work in the Antarctic. Naturally, people who go to the Antarctic require some serious vetting in order minimize the need for evacuations and to ensure any pre-existing medical conditions are caught for diganosis and to inform the base medical personal of your medical history. For me, this has meant:

1) A complete medical/physical with about 6 pages of questions about past and present health.
2) Tuberculosis test
3) Vaccination boosters, particularly polio and tetanus.
5) Complete blood testing and urine analysis.
6) A certificate of dental fitness (after a dental exam, naturally).

Luckily being under 60 meant that I did not need a chest X-ray or to conduct a fitness test.

I am still waiting on one blood test but once that is in I will send off the forms to the Antarctic New Zealand medical assessor for approval.  If the medical assessor has questions or wants additional tests done I will be notified.

This is an interesting process for me because I've never had such a detailed work up before. I have never needed anything of the sort for the Arctic. I am not complaining, it is interesting to see the things they test and nice to get this work up done as I can find out if I am healthy.

Other than medical forms there are the usual emergency notification forms and in this case an equipment requisition form.  The logistics coordinator for Antarctica in New Zealand provides most of the cold weather clothing and gear that a person uses while done there. This is exciting as I won't have to take a giant bag of all my own gear.  On the other hand, I know exactly what gear I have and how well it works. I may take a few items that I really like having with me.  I also need to prepare some equipment to be shipped to New Zealand in the next few week, and maybe learn how to process some ice cores for Ido, the microbiologist I worked with in Alert this past May. Our airborne sensor, the electromagnetic induction sensor "EM Bird" or "HEM", nicknamed "Rosie" has arrived back in Canada for some troubleshooting and maintenance before it will be shipped to New Zealand next week.

Our HEM sensor "Rosie" near the helicopter at CFS Alert in May, 2011.

Today I also finally took the opportunity to fix my blog up a bit with the new dynamic views offered by Google Blogger.  I would love some feedback from you guys, and let me know if you prefer one ofthe other dynamic formats as default or if you just want to go back to a traditional view. I also relinked my blog posts to twitter and to Facebook so that more people will be able to receive my blog updates.

As usual, if you have questions or comments regarding my research or blog feel free to post a comment below.

Test

This is to test cross posting a blog entry from personal email to both my personal blog and the CASIMBO group blog.
The test also includes a photo so that we can see if this works as well. An email test from my iphone with pictures failed to post.
The photo shows ice in Nares Strait from my trip onboard the Canadian Coast Guard ice breaker Henry Larsen in 2009

Trip Announcement

Well now, it has been a really long time since I have posted anything on here.  This summer has been busy with writing my thesis and, well, that is about it. I had a small vacation with family but mostly thesis work. It is not done yet but there is a faint light at the end of the tunnel.

However, I wanted to start up with blogging again, at least semi regularly. I am really hoping to incorporate more science into my blog, but don't worry I hope to keep it simple and most of all entertaining and interesting.

But today's post is just short and simple.  I am participating in some more fieldwork, this time in Antarctica!!!! YES!!!!!! Finally!!

I am really excited for this campaign and the opportunity. I will be joining Christian and a group of researchers from New Zealand for a trip to the McMurdo Sound area of Antarctica and will stay at Scott Base, the Antarctic research base operated by New Zealand.


We will be performing airborne sea ice thickness surveys with our airborne electromagnetic (AEM)device as well as in-situ measurements for validating the airborne measurements.  Because of the McMurdo Ice Shelf, a unique type of ice called platelet ice forms in the water.

In 2009, Christian operated one of the AEM systems in the region and discovered that our instrument appears to be sensitive to the presence of this platelet ice. This year with our new AEM system we hope to prove this and to improve our surveys of ice thickness and platelet ice in McMurdo sound.

I am also hoping to perform at least one flight along the same path as the Cryosat-2 satellite.  Cryosat-2 aims to improve our understanding of changes in the thickness of the marine and land ice.  Cryosat uses radar waves to measure the distance between itself and the surface.  Using the difference between the height of the water surface measured in cracks between the ice, and the height of the ice surface you can then estimate the thickness of the sea ice using Archimedes buoyancy principle. However, there are some uncertainties, such as the weight of the snow on the ice pushing it lower into the water, or that the radar signal may not reflect from the ice surface but from somewhere in the snow. When this happens you get incorrect values for the height above the water and thus the thickness estimated by Cryosat-2.
 

Anyways, many of you are probably not sure where McMurdo Sound is, so below is a map you can view. I am not sure that my placemark will work but if it does show up if you follow the link just below the map.


View Scott Base in a larger map
  


I've also included some satellite photos of the region.  ANYONE can go get free near real time satellite images from the MODIS sensor aboard the Terra and Aqua satellites. A pixel covers 250m so the resolution is not very high but it has good spatial coverage.

MODIS image of the McMurdo Sound region in Antarctica. Image credit: NASA/GSFC, Rapid Response.

Hopefully you can orient yourself with the google map above.

Well that is all for now, just wanted to let you know how excited I am and will provide more updates soon.  I have medicals, dental exams to do and then of course the travel, and the work.