antarctica-summer-14-15
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Living and Working at the West Antarctic Ice Sheet Divide Field Camp, Antarctica – Summer 2014-2015
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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)…
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Disassembling the Deep Ice Sheet Coring (DISC) Drill at WAIS Divide, Antarctica
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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…
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Tour The West Antarctic Ice Sheet Field Camp, Antarctica
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This season working at WAIS Divide Field Camp, Antarctica was busy, with days of hard work and rough weather. However, there were a few moments of free time and good weather, and during those moments I shot a few short clips. In this 40-minute video, I take you on a personal tour of most of…
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Exploring the World’s Most Powerful Icebreaker – The Jet Engine-Powered US Coast Guard Cutter “Polar Star”
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After an excellent season working at WAIS Divide, my team and I returned to McMurdo to wrap up a bit of administrative items, finalizing this season’s shipping, and pack everything up for redeployment to New Zealand. Luckily, during those few days at McMurdo the US Coast Guard Cutter “Polar Star” came into port, cutting the…
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Launching the WAIS AERIAL CAMP PHOTOGRAPHIC SURVEY INSTRUMENT (WACPSI)
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During a down moment at WAIS, I built and aereal vehicle for my GoPro, with the hopes of getting aerial video of field camp. The WAIS Aerial Camp Photographic Survey Instrument (WACPSI) was made out of foam. Some of its design features: Lightweight, protective, and insulating foam body. Integrated aero-wedge frontal shock-absorbing nosecone. Vertical stabilizer with…
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Making a Crater in Antarctica
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In order to dispose of a few pounds of PETN explosives at WAIS Divide Field Camp, the decision was made to simple blow them up under the snow. The alternative was to go through the certification process for transporting by air back to McMurdo, which would have been a bit overkill, given the small amount…
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Disassembling the WAIS DISC Ice Drill – Timelapse Video
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This season at WAIS, we did a lot of work in disassembling and packaging the DISC Drill. As work proceeded, I setup my GoPro camera to record a frame every 30 seconds. Here’s the compressed timelapse of our full season of work at WAIS. For more videos of the drill’s operation, check out my employer…
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Communication and Control at WAIS Divide, Antarctica
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At the WAIS Divide Field Camp, communications and overall administration of the camp happens in the comms tent. A few photos:
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The WAIS Snow Pit
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WAIS Divide sits on top of the antarctic ice sheet. Every season, a new layer of snow is deposited on the surface, which eventually gets added to the many, many layers of snow. Erin Pettit and her teammates this year dug a snow pit, showing the various layers of snow over the last few seasons.
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WAIS Divide’s Recreation Tent – Warmth and Comfort on the Polar Ice
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Living and working at WAIS Divide Field Camp is rough – long hours of work, harsh environment, and living in a frozen tent for weeks, sometimes months on end. To get a bit of a break from the grind, an extremely important feature of camp is the Rec Tent. This tent is one of the…
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The WAIS Galley Tent – Community and Food
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At WAIS Divide Field Camp, almost all of the buildings are various kinds of tents and compact structures. The galley is made out of the combination of a RAC Tent, and the “Galley Module”, a hard-sided module attached to one end of the tent. The galley is not only used for food, but also as…
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DISC Drill Arch, Condition 2
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Here’s the exterior view of the DISC Drill Arch, where I’ll be working for the next few weeks. On the first day of work, camp was hit with a massive Condition 2 Storm. The drill arch was originally on the surface of the ice, but during the 7 or so years it’s been there, snowdrifts…
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Entering Tent City, WAIS Divide, Antarctica
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After a successful landing at field camp and quick briefing in the galley, first order of business was to get our tents and gear setup. In this picture, I’m sitting in our gear sled as we snowmobile to “Tent City”, on the edge of camp. Everybody has their own tent, and it’s a blend of…
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Flying From Civilization To Nowhere – New Zealand to Antarctic Field Camp
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Flying to Antarctica is an adventure in itself. Here’s a brief collection of clips during my 2014-2015 flights from Christchurch, New Zealand, through McMurdo Station, and finally ending up at the West Antarctic Ice Sheet Divide Field Camp – WAIS Divide. Both airplanes are LC-130 Hercules, operated by the New York Air National Guard 109th…
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Touchdown at WAIS Divide, Antarctica in an LC-130 Hercules
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The flight from McMurdo Station in to WAIS Divide, aboard a US Air Force LC-130 Hercules. As we flew from McMurdo and approached WAIS, the weather got worse and worse. We circled for a while, and then at the last minute swooped down and landed. The flight crew let me sit in the back of…
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After A Month Of Waiting At McMurdo Finally At WAIS Divide Field Camp
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After a solid month of waiting at McMurdo Station, I’ve finally made it to the West Antarctic Ice Sheet Divide Field Camp – commonly knows at WAIS. Last Saturday, after the holiday schedule shutdown had worn off, we received notice from the McMurdo Air Transport office that our flight to WAIS was first priority the…
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COSRAY – Detecting Neutrons in Antarctica
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One of the hidden gems at McMurdo, in terms of science experiments, is the COSRAY Neutron Detector. I had the opportunity to go inside the current COSRAY Building at McMurdo, led by technician James Roth. More on COSRAY, from UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE BARTOL RESEARCH INSTITUTE NEUTRON MONITOR PROGRAM : A neutron monitor is an instrument…
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IceStock 2015 – McMurdo Station, Antarctica
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Every year at McMurdo, to usher in the new year, there’s a giant concert celebration that takes place in the middle of town. Bands that have been formed in the beginning part of the season, as well as bands formed over the years, all get a chance go play for the town. It’s a huge…
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Recreation at McMurdo – Hiking the Observation Hill Loop Trail
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During my team’s time stuck at McMurdo waiting for transport to WAIS, we had a lot of free time to kill – and spent much of it taking long walks and hike around the surrounding area. Ross Island, where McMurdo is located, has its own extensive trail system. One of the more popular and accessible…
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Helicopter Operations at McMurdo Station
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At McMurdo, helicopters play a vital role in local transportation and logistics. McMurdo has its own helicopter operations hanger and pad, operated by PHI Helicopter, featuring 6 pads, and an indoor enclosed hangar for maintenance. During my month or so living at McMurdo while awaiting transport to field camp, I had the opportunity to watch…
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A Chinese-Operated Kamov KA-32 Helicopter Slingloads Fuel at Scott Base, Antarctica
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On December 30th, 2014, a Russian-made, Chinese-operated Kamov KA-27 Helicopter made a brief stop by New Zealand’s Scott Base, Antarctica. The helicopter is operated by the Polar Research Institute of China, and was flying from its supporting research vessel, the MV Xue Long, China’s only polar research vessel. The helicopter was picking up a slingload…
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Exploring an LC-130 Hercules at Williams Field, Antarctica
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In this video, Lt. Roger Shapiro gives me a brief tour of an LC-130 Hercules, Number 93-3300 or 33300 or 73-3300 or CN 382-4508, as it’s parked at Williams Field outside of McMurdo Station, Antarctica. This Herc is specially adapted for polar duty, and in the video we go over a bunch of the special…