WAIS
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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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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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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…