Hello All!
Its 24 Degrees and sunny out with a little bit of wind...
1. Second LDB launched!
2. AWS field crew is at Siple Dome
3. Wednesday Science Lecture: Nitrogen and the biosphere
4. Weather...
1. Second LDB launched!
Yesterday, the second long duration balloon (LDB) was launched from McMurdo - it was visible for most of the day!! from the station! It is the first time they have launched two balloons nearly at once. Typically the crew only does 1 a year. It is most impressive to see these balloons - they are might big too! One is studying solar flares, and the other is studying X-rays, so I hear.
2. AWS field crew is at Siple Dome
My coworkers, who are hearing repairing our automatic weather stations (AWS) have been flown out to the remote camp Siple Dome today. They didn't get there yesterday as planned due to bad weather at Siple Dome. Hopefully they'll be able to make the repairs and install a new AWS in West Antarctica.
3. Wednesday Science Lecture: Nitrogen and the biosphere
The Wednesday Science
Lecture was about nitrogen, and how it is an important part of the very,
very small organisms that live everywhere in the world, including Antarctica.
The interesting thing about this subject is that biologist are studying
where all of the nitrogen is, where it is going, and who is using it.
When they do the calculations, they seem to be missing a fair portion
of the amount! So, scientists are looking very closely as some blooms
of bacteria and other tiny organisms around the world, including
Antarctica to learn more about how this works, and see if they are using
that "missing" portion of nitrogen to help given them energy.
Needless to say, for a meteorologist, it was a rather complex lecture,
but interesting.
4. Weather...
Weather here has changed from being in the 20s and mild, light winds to temperatures near 12 degrees, with a 18 to 20 mile per hour wind giving us -20 F wind chills. There's blowing snow on the ice out front, and a little bit blowing around town. The funny thing is, it is still clear blue sky above! Interesting weather....
Have a good one everyone!
Matthew