Living and Working at the West Antarctic Ice Sheet Divide Field Camp, Antarctica – Summer 2014-2015

After a very successful 2014-15 summer season working at WAIS Divide, Antarctica, we’ve wrapped up our operations and redeployed. Here’s a quick summary of the season:

This year in Antarctica, I worked at the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) Divide Ice Core Field Camp for the University of Wisconsin-Madison Space Science and Engineering Center (SSEC) Ice Drill Design and Operations (IDDO) Group as a Field and Drill Specialist. I was on a team of four, with our primary mission being to disassemble, catalog, and package the Deep Ice Sheet Coring (DISC) drill and related equipment. The drill had operated for the past 7 or so years, and had completed its job and been decommissioned, so that we could pack it up and ship it back to Wisconsin for refurbishment and redeployment to a new site at some point in the future. Everybody had responsibility for multiple aspects of the mission. My specific responsibility, in addition to general mechanical and team duties, photographing and cataloging all gear and equipment that was disassembled and packed, as well as generally documenting our entire season – as catalogued in this blog.

This year’s primary mission: Disassembling the Deep Ice Sheet Coring (DISC) Drill at WAIS Divide, Antarctica

Blog posts:

• Disassembling the Deep Ice Sheet Coring (DISC) Drill at WAIS Divide, Antarctica
• Tour The West Antarctic Ice Sheet Field Camp, Antarctica
• Exploring the World’s Most Powerful Icebreaker – The Jet Engine-Powered US Coast Guard Cutter “Polar Star”
• Ship Operations at the World’s Southernmost Seaport
• Launching the WAIS AERIAL CAMP PHOTOGRAPHIC SURVEY INSTRUMENT (WACPSI)
• Making a Crater in Antarctica
• Disassembling the WAIS DISC Ice Drill – Timelapse Video
• Communication and Control at WAIS Divide, Antarctica
• The WAIS Divide Field Medical Tent
• The WAIS Snow Pit
• WAIS Divide’s Recreation Tent – Warmth and Comfort on the Polar Ice
• The WAIS Galley Tent – Community and Food
• DISC Drill Arch, Condition 2
• Entering Tent City, WAIS Divide, Antarctica
• Flying From Civilization To Nowhere – New Zealand to Antarctic Field Camp
• Touchdown at WAIS Divide, Antarctica in an LC-130 Hercules
• After A Month Of Waiting At McMurdo Finally At WAIS Divide Field Camp
• COSRAY – Detecting Neutrons in Antarctica
• Charging with Enerplex Solar at WAIS Divide, Antarctica
• IceStock 2015 – McMurdo Station, Antarctica
• Recreation at McMurdo – Hiking the Observation Hill Loop Trail
• Helicopter Operations at McMurdo Station
• A Chinese-Operated Kamov KA-32 Helicopter Slingloads Fuel at Scott Base, Antarctica
• Exploring an LC-130 Hercules at Williams Field, Antarctica
• Investigating SPIDER Polarimeter Long Duration Balloon Payload
• The Acid Lounge Returns – To Antarctica!
• Happy Holidays from McMurdo!
• Launching a Meterological Balloon from McMurdo
• McMurdo’s Ice Shelf Airport – Willy Field
• Racing at McMurdo Station
• Church in Antarctica – McMurdo’s Chapel of the Snows
• Celebrating Chanukah at McMurdo Station, Antarctica
• Exploring Scott’s Discovery Hut and Hut Point, Antarctica
• Tracking Satellites in McMurdo at NASA’s Near Earth Network Ground Station
• McMurdo Station’s Hospital
• Exploring the Pressure Ridges of McMurdo Sound
• McMurdo’s General Store – Anything You Want In The Middle of Nowhere
• An Antarctic Thrift Shop: McMurdo’s Skua
• Observation Hill
• My First Penguin in Antarctica
• The Antarctic Crash of C-121 Lockheed Constellation “Pegasus”
• The National Science Foundations Central Offices at McMurdo – The Chalet
• How To Gear Up For An Antarctic Science Expedition Part 2: Extreme Cold Weather Gear
• Pre-Field Preparations at McMurdo Station, Antarctica
• New Zealand’s Antarctic Outpost: Scott Base
• How To Gear Up For An Antarctic Science Expedition Part 3: Field Camp Expedition Gear
• Exploring Christchurch, New Zealand
• How To Gear Up For An Antarctic Science Expedition Part 1: Personal Gear
• Long Haul: Flying from Denver to the West Antarctic Ice Sheet Field Camp

Video clips:

• Antarctica 2014-15 Quick Clips
• In-depth tour of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet Field Camp, Antarctica
• Flying From Civilization To Nowhere – New Zealand to Antarctic Field Camp
• My Morning Commute at WAIS Divide Field Camp, Antarctica
• WAIS Divide Antarctica Drill Arch Disassembly – Timelapse
• NASA Near Earth Network Dish Tracking at McMurdo Station, Antarctica
• Ocean Giant Offloading Cargo
• Bell 212 Helicopter Tochdown at McMurdo Station, Antarctica
• Launching a Weather Balloon from McMurdo Station
• Condition 2 Weather at WAIS Divide Field Camp, Antarctica
• Exploring an LC-130 Hercules at Williams Field, Antarctica
• Setting up a tent at WAIS Divide, Antarctica
• IceStock 2015 – McMurdo Station, Antarctica
• Kamov KA 32 at Scott Base Antarctica
• Moving ice at McMurdo Sound, Antarctica

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