Greetings from Antarctica!
This
e-mail is my first during my January 2003 trip to Antarctica. I hope you
enjoy hearing about
the trip to the "ice" and hearing about the work I'm doing as
well as other work being done in Antarctica.
Here's the news for my first report:
1. What do I do?
2. Journey South
3. Wednesday Science Lecture
4. Breaking Ice
1. What do I do?
So, what is that I
exactly do? First and foremost, I'm a meteorologist studying the weather
of the Antarctica. Actually, I'm specifically studying fog, as it has
a bit impact on flights to and from Antarctica.
As for my daily work, the best place to read up on what we do can be found
here:
http://amrc.ssec.wisc.edu/amrc/AMRC.pdf
2. Journey South
The trip to get here from the US was pretty smooth for this my 5th trip to Antarctica. I began my trip after the Holidays on the East Coast, and then flew to Chicago, and the on to Los Angeles. From there, I took a 12.5 hour flight to Auckland New Zealand. After going through customs, I then hope on another flight to Christchurch, New Zealand, where the US Antarctic Program stages its travel to Antarctica. This is a full 24 hours of flying, including the layovers...and since you cross the international dateline...two days go by. Its long, but interesting.
After spend a day or two in beautiful Christchurch, when we spend time getting fitted for our Extreme Cold Weather or ECW gear. We have to wear this special clothing issue on our flight to Antarctica, as well as in Antarctica when working, being outside, etc. Weather conditions here can vary and change dramaticly.
My flight down this
year, was on a C-141 US Air Force cargo planes, with the 452nd Air Mobility
Wing from March ARB, California. In my previous deployments, I have flow
with the former Navy group, VXE-6, or the 109th New York Air National
Guard, who fly ski-equipped LC-130 cargo planes. The wheeled C-141s do
work our here for some of the year due to the "white" ice runway
they near McMurdo Station, where I am currently deployed. The flight on
a C-141 is shorter than the C-130, running about 5 to 5 and half hours...while
the C-130s run about 8 to 9 hours. They aren't like your typical plane
flight for those of you who have been on a commercial plane...jump seats,
extremely loud (you have to where ear plugs), etc.
3. Wednesday Science Lecture
My first activity after I arrived here, was to give the Wednesday Science Lecture. Each week, here at the Station, the scientists doing there work give a talk on what they are doing, and how it goes. This week was my turn. I review much of what is going on with the state of Antarctic Meteorology, and toss in a bit about icebergs and my specific work on fog. In later e-mails during my trip, I will fill you in more about these things.
4. Breaking Ice
The news for today
is that the US Coast Guard Icebreaker Polar Sea has arrived in front of
McMurdo Station. It has had a record breaking time in breaking ice - roughly
11 days from the ice edge to McMurdo. That is the longest time is has
ever taken to break ice to the station. As a note, McMurdo is the furtherest
South you can sail a ship in the world, pretty much. However, ice conditions
over the last year or two have made that a bit more of a tricky job. In
future e-mails, I'll talk more about how and why the ice is thicker and
more of it this year.
Picture
courtesy of Raytheon Polar Services
Company's Antarctic Photo Library
I will attempt to keep in touch daily or every other day. As a note, I
won't be able to do so after tomorrow for a few days, as I will be off
to Snow School to do some training. I look forward to tell you all about
it when I get back.
Until Next Message,
Matthew
On Station at:
Antarctic Meteorological
Research Center
Crary Science and Engineering Center
McMurdo Station, Antarctica