Friday, August 30, 2013
Wednesday, August 28, 2013
Sunday, August 25, 2013
Friday, August 23, 2013
Buoy 300234010730040 Still going north!
Hello everyone,
Remember that drifting buoy I was telling you all about? You know, the one that beached on the Shetland Islands and then went back to see? If not, go to http://justinbeckers.blogspot.no/2013/07/one-of-my-buoys-beached-but-went-back.html and to http://justinbeckers.blogspot.no/2013/08/buoy-update-its-heading-north.html
OKAY, now you remember? Well it is still heading North! It's now sitting at 63.8N, still drifting up the coast of Norway, though it seems to be turning west today (let's hope just temporarily).
I'll keep you updated as it keeps going and going.
Otherwise, things are good. Research is progressing along, having been writing lots of code and troubleshooting code. Soon I'll try to show some of the scanner data.
Okay, take care.
Remember that drifting buoy I was telling you all about? You know, the one that beached on the Shetland Islands and then went back to see? If not, go to http://justinbeckers.blogspot.no/2013/07/one-of-my-buoys-beached-but-went-back.html and to http://justinbeckers.blogspot.no/2013/08/buoy-update-its-heading-north.html
OKAY, now you remember? Well it is still heading North! It's now sitting at 63.8N, still drifting up the coast of Norway, though it seems to be turning west today (let's hope just temporarily).
I'll keep you updated as it keeps going and going.
Otherwise, things are good. Research is progressing along, having been writing lots of code and troubleshooting code. Soon I'll try to show some of the scanner data.
Okay, take care.
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
Monday, August 19, 2013
Cruise Aborted (For Now): The past week in review
Okay, so by now you know that the cruise I was on was aborted, at least for now. So far I have not had a chance to provide a full overview of the cruise or what I have been up to for the past week.
Last week Thursday I flew to Longyearbyen on Svalbard. As Tromsø is already at 69.64N and Longyearbyen is at 78.22N, the flight is only 1.5 hours and on a regular Boeing 737-800. And it is actually very affordable, especially in comparison to a similar flight in Canada.
I spent Thursday and Friday helping Paul and Matts with setting up an automated water sampler.
The water sampler is programmed to collect a bottle of water each week for an entire year. It only collects water from the depth it sits at. You could also use this sampler to collect water from different depths if you were to raise and lower it.
On Friday afternoon, most of the other cruise participants arrived. I helped Matts and Gunnar with finding, repacking and sorting the sea ice equipment. Friday night we had the cruise dinner so that everyone (or most people) could meet and start getting to know each other.
I ate dinner with everyone and then went for a few drinks with a friend, the helicopter pilot who flew the me and the EM-bird on R/V Lance in 2010. It was a bit of a late night for me but was nice to see him and catch up.
On Saturday we had shooting practice and a bit of polar bear safety theory. Then spent a bit more time sorting out things and shopping to pick up some junk food and drinks for on the boat.
On Sunday morning everyone was at the ship at 9am. We had a quick safety/operations meeting with the First Mate and stuff was moved around the ship a bit (brought some things up from below, put other things down). I started putting the bird together. We started sailing around mid-afternoon, something like 3pm.
On Sunday night we were to drop off a group of 6 geologists onto Prince Karls Forland, a long island in Svalbard. However, large waves and strong winds meant that we could not really use the helicopter from the ocean side of the island, so the ship had to circle around. The weather deteriorated and soon using a helicopter did not seem like an option. When I went to sleep at 11pm, the helicopter was going to do a test flight, otherwise they were considering using small zodiacs to get the geologists and all their gear onto the island. In the end, it was decided just to wait a few more hours as the weather was improving. By about 5:30am the geologists and their gear were all off the ship.
We then began heading to the first oceanographic mooring. A mooring refers to an anchor and rope and in the case of scientists a suite of sensors attached to the mooring. NPI has maintained a series of moorings across Fram Strait for many years now. Each year the Fram Strait cruise heads out to go to the moorings, bring them up, collect the data, service or replace the instruments and then redeploy the mooring.
Now, if you have been following my blog for its entirety you may remember that I get seasick, and I get seasick very very easily, I mean, very very easily. This time was no different, while heading to the mooring the wind was up a bit and the waves for a few meters, more than I could handle, so I just took a motion sickness pill, no big deal. I find they leave me pretty drowsy, and I still can't look at a screen or read a book. Since we had already put some of the EM bird equipment together and the sea ice equipment was largely ready to go, I decided to kill the time by sleeping, something made easier by the motion sickness pills. I slept all Sunday night, most of Monday (getting up only for meals) and all of Monday night.
On Tuesday there was a bit more work to do putting together the bird (attaching the tail and putting the two halves together), and a bit more sorting of sea ice equipment. We finally reached the ice and it was starting to look like we could do a sea ice station and maybe an EM bird flight. Unfortunately, our pilot was not feeling well. The first mooring was found and retrieved and we started heading to the second one, hoping that when we got there the pilot would be feeling better and we could do a sea ice station and flight after the second mooring was recovered.
Our pilot did not get better, and the ship didn't make it to the second mooring. Basically the ship clutch was damaged and after some discussions it was decided that the ship needed to return to Longyearbyen for repairs. The first aid trained people on board thought that the helicopter pilot might have appendicitis and so he was picked up by the rescue helicopter from Longyearbyen.
So we started heading back towards Longyearbyen, I made sure the bird and so forth were securely strapped down. We had supper and watched some movies and then I went to bed.
When I woke up, the sea was a fair bit rougher (6-7m waves, winds 35-40knots gusting to 50knots), so I took a motion sickness pill in preparation and decided again just to sleep the transit day away. Turns out that during the day it was determined that the damage to the ship was more difficult to fix than initially estimated. The ship was now going to go to Longyearbyen to allow people and their equipment off and then it would sail to Tromsø. Anyone who wanted off the boat then had to be ready to go as the ship would arrive at the docks at 7pm and leave at 10pm.
Okay so we packed up all the stuff, and got off the boat. NPI had managed to arrange accommodation for everyone (THANKS, was very nice). A few of us then met up for drinks and some food at around 11pm/midnight. On Thursday I rebooked my flight back to Tromsø.
It was pretty disappointing to go back without having stepped on sea ice or having flown the EM bird. We did manage to collect some ice observations, but that was it for the sea ice team. The oceanography team retrieved that one mooring and performed some conductivity, temperature, depth (pressure) measurements.
I did not even take any pictures, well I took one of the heli deck as we left Longyearbyen but I did it with the Google Blogger app on my phone and accidently deleted the picture before posting it (smooth move).
As I don't get my apartment until Sept 2, I was homeless but luckily Gunnar and his wife Gabrielle have welcomed me into their guest room for the week. It has been really nice staying with them. Gabrielle is an amazing cook and it has been nice to see a new part of Tromsø and to get to know some more people. Because I had left most of my non cruise clothing with Angelika and she was on holidays I needed another pair of pants to wear around so I went shopping on Saturday and bought some stuff so I could make dinner for Gunnar and Gabrielle. I also looked into getting a haircut, I have not had one since before I left Canada and I really need one. But they are crazy expensive here, as in 50-80 for a regular men's haircut! So I will probably wait another week so that it is a bit closer to when Nicole comes to visit.
Yesterday the weather was very nice so we went to do a hike. There is a hiking program here where if you complete the 20 hikes they recommend each summer, you get a prize. You enter you name in a book at the top of the mountain and record a number from the book into your list which you then submit. There are also prizes if you only complete 7, 10, or 15 of the hikes. It was a really nice day and very nice hike from sea level to 850m in about 4 km (though the first 1.25 kilometers was very flat).
Last week Thursday I flew to Longyearbyen on Svalbard. As Tromsø is already at 69.64N and Longyearbyen is at 78.22N, the flight is only 1.5 hours and on a regular Boeing 737-800. And it is actually very affordable, especially in comparison to a similar flight in Canada.
I spent Thursday and Friday helping Paul and Matts with setting up an automated water sampler.
The water sampler is programmed to collect a bottle of water each week for an entire year. It only collects water from the depth it sits at. You could also use this sampler to collect water from different depths if you were to raise and lower it.
 |
| Top down view of the water sampler. Each of the blue caps is the top of a bottle that gets filled. |
On Friday afternoon, most of the other cruise participants arrived. I helped Matts and Gunnar with finding, repacking and sorting the sea ice equipment. Friday night we had the cruise dinner so that everyone (or most people) could meet and start getting to know each other.
I ate dinner with everyone and then went for a few drinks with a friend, the helicopter pilot who flew the me and the EM-bird on R/V Lance in 2010. It was a bit of a late night for me but was nice to see him and catch up.
On Saturday we had shooting practice and a bit of polar bear safety theory. Then spent a bit more time sorting out things and shopping to pick up some junk food and drinks for on the boat.
On Sunday morning everyone was at the ship at 9am. We had a quick safety/operations meeting with the First Mate and stuff was moved around the ship a bit (brought some things up from below, put other things down). I started putting the bird together. We started sailing around mid-afternoon, something like 3pm.
On Sunday night we were to drop off a group of 6 geologists onto Prince Karls Forland, a long island in Svalbard. However, large waves and strong winds meant that we could not really use the helicopter from the ocean side of the island, so the ship had to circle around. The weather deteriorated and soon using a helicopter did not seem like an option. When I went to sleep at 11pm, the helicopter was going to do a test flight, otherwise they were considering using small zodiacs to get the geologists and all their gear onto the island. In the end, it was decided just to wait a few more hours as the weather was improving. By about 5:30am the geologists and their gear were all off the ship.
We then began heading to the first oceanographic mooring. A mooring refers to an anchor and rope and in the case of scientists a suite of sensors attached to the mooring. NPI has maintained a series of moorings across Fram Strait for many years now. Each year the Fram Strait cruise heads out to go to the moorings, bring them up, collect the data, service or replace the instruments and then redeploy the mooring.
Now, if you have been following my blog for its entirety you may remember that I get seasick, and I get seasick very very easily, I mean, very very easily. This time was no different, while heading to the mooring the wind was up a bit and the waves for a few meters, more than I could handle, so I just took a motion sickness pill, no big deal. I find they leave me pretty drowsy, and I still can't look at a screen or read a book. Since we had already put some of the EM bird equipment together and the sea ice equipment was largely ready to go, I decided to kill the time by sleeping, something made easier by the motion sickness pills. I slept all Sunday night, most of Monday (getting up only for meals) and all of Monday night.
On Tuesday there was a bit more work to do putting together the bird (attaching the tail and putting the two halves together), and a bit more sorting of sea ice equipment. We finally reached the ice and it was starting to look like we could do a sea ice station and maybe an EM bird flight. Unfortunately, our pilot was not feeling well. The first mooring was found and retrieved and we started heading to the second one, hoping that when we got there the pilot would be feeling better and we could do a sea ice station and flight after the second mooring was recovered.
Our pilot did not get better, and the ship didn't make it to the second mooring. Basically the ship clutch was damaged and after some discussions it was decided that the ship needed to return to Longyearbyen for repairs. The first aid trained people on board thought that the helicopter pilot might have appendicitis and so he was picked up by the rescue helicopter from Longyearbyen.
So we started heading back towards Longyearbyen, I made sure the bird and so forth were securely strapped down. We had supper and watched some movies and then I went to bed.
When I woke up, the sea was a fair bit rougher (6-7m waves, winds 35-40knots gusting to 50knots), so I took a motion sickness pill in preparation and decided again just to sleep the transit day away. Turns out that during the day it was determined that the damage to the ship was more difficult to fix than initially estimated. The ship was now going to go to Longyearbyen to allow people and their equipment off and then it would sail to Tromsø. Anyone who wanted off the boat then had to be ready to go as the ship would arrive at the docks at 7pm and leave at 10pm.
Okay so we packed up all the stuff, and got off the boat. NPI had managed to arrange accommodation for everyone (THANKS, was very nice). A few of us then met up for drinks and some food at around 11pm/midnight. On Thursday I rebooked my flight back to Tromsø.
It was pretty disappointing to go back without having stepped on sea ice or having flown the EM bird. We did manage to collect some ice observations, but that was it for the sea ice team. The oceanography team retrieved that one mooring and performed some conductivity, temperature, depth (pressure) measurements.
I did not even take any pictures, well I took one of the heli deck as we left Longyearbyen but I did it with the Google Blogger app on my phone and accidently deleted the picture before posting it (smooth move).
As I don't get my apartment until Sept 2, I was homeless but luckily Gunnar and his wife Gabrielle have welcomed me into their guest room for the week. It has been really nice staying with them. Gabrielle is an amazing cook and it has been nice to see a new part of Tromsø and to get to know some more people. Because I had left most of my non cruise clothing with Angelika and she was on holidays I needed another pair of pants to wear around so I went shopping on Saturday and bought some stuff so I could make dinner for Gunnar and Gabrielle. I also looked into getting a haircut, I have not had one since before I left Canada and I really need one. But they are crazy expensive here, as in 50-80 for a regular men's haircut! So I will probably wait another week so that it is a bit closer to when Nicole comes to visit.
Yesterday the weather was very nice so we went to do a hike. There is a hiking program here where if you complete the 20 hikes they recommend each summer, you get a prize. You enter you name in a book at the top of the mountain and record a number from the book into your list which you then submit. There are also prizes if you only complete 7, 10, or 15 of the hikes. It was a really nice day and very nice hike from sea level to 850m in about 4 km (though the first 1.25 kilometers was very flat).
 |
Sunday, August 18, 2013
Friday, August 16, 2013
Thursday, August 15, 2013
Back in Longyearbyen...a few weeks early
Hey Everyone,
Just a quick post to let you know that I am back in Longyearbyen already. I will be flying back to Tromso today.
The ship had a major mechanical breakdown requiring it to go back to Tromso for repairs. In addition the helicopter pilot had appendicitis or something and had to be flown off the ship.
It was a real shame as we were in the ice and would have had a mooring station soonish. I did not even get to step on the ice, but oh well.
The seas were a bit rough on the return to Longyearbyen with winds at 35knots gusting to 50knots (or so I heard from the helicopter mechanic).
Things are a bit up in the air for me now as I do not get my apartment until September 1, but I will find something.
There is also still the change that the cruise gets some more time to do the essential work only, but we will see.
Just a quick post to let you know that I am back in Longyearbyen already. I will be flying back to Tromso today.
The ship had a major mechanical breakdown requiring it to go back to Tromso for repairs. In addition the helicopter pilot had appendicitis or something and had to be flown off the ship.
It was a real shame as we were in the ice and would have had a mooring station soonish. I did not even get to step on the ice, but oh well.
The seas were a bit rough on the return to Longyearbyen with winds at 35knots gusting to 50knots (or so I heard from the helicopter mechanic).
Things are a bit up in the air for me now as I do not get my apartment until September 1, but I will find something.
There is also still the change that the cruise gets some more time to do the essential work only, but we will see.
Wednesday, August 14, 2013
Sunday, August 11, 2013
Friday, August 9, 2013
Wednesday, August 7, 2013
Fram Strait
Tomorrow I leave Norway, sort of, and not for home but for Svalbard.
I am flying to Longyearbyen, Svalbard before heading out on the research vessel (R/V) Lance. I will be joining the Norwegian Polar Institute Fram Strait Cruise. The cruise heads across Fram Strait to the east coast of Greenland.
I will spend a couple days in Longyearbyen beforehand to prepare equipment, help with packing/sorting, getting assigned my polar gear and some shooting training and a few other tasks.
I will spend a couple days in Longyearbyen beforehand to prepare equipment, help with packing/sorting, getting assigned my polar gear and some shooting training and a few other tasks.
The main objective of the cruise is the retrieval of oceanographic instrument packages called moorings (because they are anchored to the sea floor). The moorings will be serviced and redeployed to collect another year of data. But while this happens there will be sea ice stations and airborne EM ice thickness surveys. I hope we will manage an EM flight along a CryoSat-2 track, would be of very high interest for me. The oceanographers will also perform CTD and tracer measurements.
CTD (conductivity, temperature, depth/pressure) is a standard suite of measurements that can give you a lot of information on the structure of the ocean and where parts of the water originate. Different regions form waters with different characteristics that show up as characteristic layers in the ocean. Conductivity is just a measure of how well the water conducts electricity and then gives you an idea of how salty the water is. I think you all know what temperature and pressure are.
The cruise is going much closer to the coast of Greenland than when I joined in 2010, so I am looking forward to that. It will be nice to get on the ice again. I always like seeing the ice in summer/freeze up, it looks completely different than in spring. Fram Strait is also a different region and has a different ice regime. In the Lincoln Sea, the ice often moves against the coast and you have very thick ice. In Fram Strait, ice is drifting out of the Arctic Ocean and move south.
Here is an ice chart produced by the Norwegian Meteorological Service. The different colors show the different ice concentrations.
Here is an ice chart produced by the Norwegian Meteorological Service. The different colors show the different ice concentrations.
 |
| Sea Ice Concentration for today, August 7, 2013. Courtesy of Met.NO at http://wms.met.no/icechart/ |
I will try to blog, at least with text and hopefully an odd picture or two (though they will have to be very small and very low resolution).
Saturday, August 3, 2013
Two Months: Boy Time Flies
Hey Everyone,
Well I have now been in Norway for 2 months and away from home for just an extra week more than that. Things here are generally pretty good. The high cost of food and so forth doesn't bother me as much as it did (and maybe not as much as it should). Maybe next week (if I remember, I will post some pictures of food, and then the prices). I'll also try to do the same while I am on Svalbard as a comparison and maybe see if I can get someone back in Canada to send me some prices on a few select items.
I still haven't received my residence permit. The system is just backed up or delayed or whatever. I have spoken with the immigration office numerous times but there is not much to be done about it. The decision is now 5 weeks over their targeted processing time. Part of the reason is undoubtedly that many Norwegians take extensive holidays in the summer, making sure to enjoy the good weather and all the daylight hours. Otherwise, most thing are sorted out, or nearly so.
Work is going well, spending lots of time in front of my computer. I am working on two main projects right now, one for this exchange and one more directly related to my thesis. As a result I end up working many 12-16 hour days but that is okay, it is what I am here for. The past two weeks I have been house sitting and enjoyed working on a deck overlooking the ocean; it made it a little easier to work late each night.
On Thursday I will head to Svalbard and then on R/V Lance for a research cruise to Fram Strait off the east coast of Greenland. I will be on the boat for just about 3 weeks. I don't know if I will have the chance to blog from the boat. I will try, otherwise I will just write the blog posts up and then upload them when I return to internet land.
When I return to Tromso my supervisor visits Tromso for a few days. Then, and much more exciting (sorry Christian), my wife Nicole arrives for her visit just a few days later. She and I will take a few holidays together. I am really looking to seeing my wife, and imagine I will be looking to it even more in another month. We can still communicate fairly regularly using email, Facebook, FaceTime and Skype but it is not the same. We will be doing a little sightseeing in Norway and just spending some time together. We only get a couple weeks together, but that is so much better than no visit at all. I am very excited to see her and talk to her and sightsee with her.
Thinking on all my trips, my workaholic nature and love of my research, I realize how lucky I am to have such an understanding and supportive wife. Someone asked me once how we (as a couple) deal with the absences, and it is still a question to be answered. I feel like time apart is definitely good for couples, you miss each other, appreciate all the little things each other does and so forth. I guess both of us also don't want to be the person who is holding the other one back from doing what they love and/or what will help their career.
Unfortunately for her,Nicole definitely gets the short end of the stick, I travel far more than she does and for much longer periods. It is easier to be the person who goes away, they are usually on an adventure or seeing something new or some new country. The person back home gets to do all the household work without help and without the excitement of a new place.
While I am here in Norway I do have to look out for myself but I still have the excitement of new people, a new place and culture. Although honestly, I have probably been doing far to much working and far to little enjoying my surroundings.
Well I have now been in Norway for 2 months and away from home for just an extra week more than that. Things here are generally pretty good. The high cost of food and so forth doesn't bother me as much as it did (and maybe not as much as it should). Maybe next week (if I remember, I will post some pictures of food, and then the prices). I'll also try to do the same while I am on Svalbard as a comparison and maybe see if I can get someone back in Canada to send me some prices on a few select items.
I still haven't received my residence permit. The system is just backed up or delayed or whatever. I have spoken with the immigration office numerous times but there is not much to be done about it. The decision is now 5 weeks over their targeted processing time. Part of the reason is undoubtedly that many Norwegians take extensive holidays in the summer, making sure to enjoy the good weather and all the daylight hours. Otherwise, most thing are sorted out, or nearly so.
Work is going well, spending lots of time in front of my computer. I am working on two main projects right now, one for this exchange and one more directly related to my thesis. As a result I end up working many 12-16 hour days but that is okay, it is what I am here for. The past two weeks I have been house sitting and enjoyed working on a deck overlooking the ocean; it made it a little easier to work late each night.
On Thursday I will head to Svalbard and then on R/V Lance for a research cruise to Fram Strait off the east coast of Greenland. I will be on the boat for just about 3 weeks. I don't know if I will have the chance to blog from the boat. I will try, otherwise I will just write the blog posts up and then upload them when I return to internet land.
When I return to Tromso my supervisor visits Tromso for a few days. Then, and much more exciting (sorry Christian), my wife Nicole arrives for her visit just a few days later. She and I will take a few holidays together. I am really looking to seeing my wife, and imagine I will be looking to it even more in another month. We can still communicate fairly regularly using email, Facebook, FaceTime and Skype but it is not the same. We will be doing a little sightseeing in Norway and just spending some time together. We only get a couple weeks together, but that is so much better than no visit at all. I am very excited to see her and talk to her and sightsee with her.
Thinking on all my trips, my workaholic nature and love of my research, I realize how lucky I am to have such an understanding and supportive wife. Someone asked me once how we (as a couple) deal with the absences, and it is still a question to be answered. I feel like time apart is definitely good for couples, you miss each other, appreciate all the little things each other does and so forth. I guess both of us also don't want to be the person who is holding the other one back from doing what they love and/or what will help their career.
Unfortunately for her,Nicole definitely gets the short end of the stick, I travel far more than she does and for much longer periods. It is easier to be the person who goes away, they are usually on an adventure or seeing something new or some new country. The person back home gets to do all the household work without help and without the excitement of a new place.
While I am here in Norway I do have to look out for myself but I still have the excitement of new people, a new place and culture. Although honestly, I have probably been doing far to much working and far to little enjoying my surroundings.
Friday, August 2, 2013
#FieldPhotoFriday #CASIMBO @daring_lake
Ben Lange and J. Alec Casey use an ice auger to make a large hole in the ice. Photo converted to black and white high-contrast preset in Adobe Lightroom. Canon 60D ES 18-200mm: 18mm, f/14, T: 1/500
Buoy Update: IT'S HEADING NORTH!!!
So remember that buoy I was telling you about (well writing actually, but you know what I mean)....anyways, it is doing what I hoped...IT IS HEADING NORTH! for now.
In the map below you can see that it is now even with the Faroe Islands, or about even with Bergen in Norway.
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