Time Runs Short on the Winter
Kirsty Launching the Daily Met Balloon
With the first plane bearing a tranche of new people due at the end of October, we soon will not be on our own. The last few weeks as a result have thus been a battle against recurrent bad weather to prepare the place for their arrival and the subsequent flights bringing people in. Nonetheless, with some good weather there is always some excuse to be outside working.
Tom Preparing the UAV for Flight
Unfortunately, the low level cloud and poor weather that has dominated the month, means poor contrast. As a result a lot of photos this month appear in black and white, since they don't look quite as dull as they would in colour!
Digging Out Cabling to the Garage
Photo thanks to Ant
High winds and bad weather have meant there continues to be plenty to dig out, though warmer temperatures means that a bulldozer is rarely far away. The continual digging focus of any winter here is the melt tank; the excitement that existed (at least for those of us spending our first winter here), at the beginning of the year in filling the tank has started to fade, particularly as wrists, shoulders and arms grow weary of the pounding of solid snow and ice.
Kirsty Digging Out the Weather Haven
However, given that the intention is that the Halley VI melt tank, when it is finished in three years time, will not be dug by hand, it seemed fitting that our winterer's photo should be taken atop the melt tank mound.
Halley Winter Photo 2007
Photo by Dave Evans- featuring all 18 of us
There are well over 40 years of winter photos that cover two walls of the dining room, while ancient portraits of a youthful Queen and Prince Phillip watch over our eating from another wall. Typically the photos are in black and white as they were processed on base but despite our digital cameras and printers, the B&W still looks better sitting in a wooden frame that Jim (Z-Carpenter), made especially for it from old Nansen sledge wood.
Emperor Penguin Chick
It is interesting how some winter group portraits are relatively formal, hopefully the relaxed and natural look to our contribution to the dining room decoration reflects the good winter we have had together. The intention is that the photos will move to the new base and hopefully they will as they are one of the few items of continuity that connect us with those who have wintered here, not just in the recent past, about whom stories are still told but also those who were here thirty and more years ago, when living here would have been a lot harsher but nonetheless have experienced the unusual nature of an Antarctic winter.
Tom Watching the Sunset from the Bar Window
Winter already seems a long time ago particularly as the sun has ceased to set come the end of October. The unpolluted atomsphere transmitted beautiful coloured sunsets and sunrises for the over the last few months which have been difficult to reproduce with any chromatic fidelity or the sense of space that accompanies them. But I have seen my last sunset for a while, probably until I arrive in Cape Town on my way home.
Ant Shows Off His Baking Skills
The end of winter also means a celebratory dinner with Ant managing to conjure up a pretty fine meal yet again, including some real potatoes which have been nursed through the winter. Hopefully, the first planes will bear some fresh fruit and even lettuces.
Dave at the Bar
As I continue to write this blog, I realise that I am writing it as much for myself as for friends and family. Not only is it an incentive to sort my photos out but will hopefully be something I can look back on in time to come. To that extent I realise that I am missing photos of what the inside of some of the buildings look like, which by now I have taken for granted.
Board Games in the Lounge
I remember the first striking impressions of the inside of the Laws platform, whose accommodation and living areas reminded me of a well-cared for youth hostel. The lounge is no exception, sharing the same room as the bar, which with pool table takes up just under half of the total space, it also doubles as a cinema twice a week.
Penguin Regurgitating Food for a Chick
However, for most of the time it can feel like a dentist's waiting room with low slung chairs pulled back against the walls and coffee tables heaving under the weight of old magazines; a ambiance that is exaggerated when a majority of base decant into the room after lunch and silently pick through the increasingly out-of-date titles or work on the Halley stare- a well-recognised gentle gaze into the middle distance that descends at the end of the winter. Without a prompt postal service each month the corresponding magazine issues from last year appear, ranging from Q to New Scientist to Cosmopolitan, the latter of which seems more popular with some men on base than for the women.
With the first plane bearing a tranche of new people due at the end of October, we soon will not be on our own. The last few weeks as a result have thus been a battle against recurrent bad weather to prepare the place for their arrival and the subsequent flights bringing people in. Nonetheless, with some good weather there is always some excuse to be outside working.
Tom Preparing the UAV for Flight
Unfortunately, the low level cloud and poor weather that has dominated the month, means poor contrast. As a result a lot of photos this month appear in black and white, since they don't look quite as dull as they would in colour!
Digging Out Cabling to the Garage
Photo thanks to Ant
High winds and bad weather have meant there continues to be plenty to dig out, though warmer temperatures means that a bulldozer is rarely far away. The continual digging focus of any winter here is the melt tank; the excitement that existed (at least for those of us spending our first winter here), at the beginning of the year in filling the tank has started to fade, particularly as wrists, shoulders and arms grow weary of the pounding of solid snow and ice.
Kirsty Digging Out the Weather Haven
However, given that the intention is that the Halley VI melt tank, when it is finished in three years time, will not be dug by hand, it seemed fitting that our winterer's photo should be taken atop the melt tank mound.
Halley Winter Photo 2007
Photo by Dave Evans- featuring all 18 of us
There are well over 40 years of winter photos that cover two walls of the dining room, while ancient portraits of a youthful Queen and Prince Phillip watch over our eating from another wall. Typically the photos are in black and white as they were processed on base but despite our digital cameras and printers, the B&W still looks better sitting in a wooden frame that Jim (Z-Carpenter), made especially for it from old Nansen sledge wood.
Emperor Penguin Chick
It is interesting how some winter group portraits are relatively formal, hopefully the relaxed and natural look to our contribution to the dining room decoration reflects the good winter we have had together. The intention is that the photos will move to the new base and hopefully they will as they are one of the few items of continuity that connect us with those who have wintered here, not just in the recent past, about whom stories are still told but also those who were here thirty and more years ago, when living here would have been a lot harsher but nonetheless have experienced the unusual nature of an Antarctic winter.
Tom Watching the Sunset from the Bar Window
Winter already seems a long time ago particularly as the sun has ceased to set come the end of October. The unpolluted atomsphere transmitted beautiful coloured sunsets and sunrises for the over the last few months which have been difficult to reproduce with any chromatic fidelity or the sense of space that accompanies them. But I have seen my last sunset for a while, probably until I arrive in Cape Town on my way home.
Ant Shows Off His Baking Skills
The end of winter also means a celebratory dinner with Ant managing to conjure up a pretty fine meal yet again, including some real potatoes which have been nursed through the winter. Hopefully, the first planes will bear some fresh fruit and even lettuces.
Dave at the Bar
As I continue to write this blog, I realise that I am writing it as much for myself as for friends and family. Not only is it an incentive to sort my photos out but will hopefully be something I can look back on in time to come. To that extent I realise that I am missing photos of what the inside of some of the buildings look like, which by now I have taken for granted.
Board Games in the Lounge
I remember the first striking impressions of the inside of the Laws platform, whose accommodation and living areas reminded me of a well-cared for youth hostel. The lounge is no exception, sharing the same room as the bar, which with pool table takes up just under half of the total space, it also doubles as a cinema twice a week.
Penguin Regurgitating Food for a Chick
However, for most of the time it can feel like a dentist's waiting room with low slung chairs pulled back against the walls and coffee tables heaving under the weight of old magazines; a ambiance that is exaggerated when a majority of base decant into the room after lunch and silently pick through the increasingly out-of-date titles or work on the Halley stare- a well-recognised gentle gaze into the middle distance that descends at the end of the winter. Without a prompt postal service each month the corresponding magazine issues from last year appear, ranging from Q to New Scientist to Cosmopolitan, the latter of which seems more popular with some men on base than for the women.
While, as ever, I have hardly been rushed off my feet medically, along with the usual waste and steel work, some of the science projects always need a hand. Tom, our German meteorologist, with the advent of warmer temperatures has got his UAV (an unmanned aerial vehicle), out flying again. The batteries which it runs on are, unfortunately, not great fans of the cold so flying through the winter has not been as easy as hoped for.
The UAV
Flying the UAV is a ideally a three man job, with Tom flying the plane for take-offs and landing, before it flies an autonomous flight plan, Alex running a laptop communicating via a telemetry system with the UAV in-flight and myself launching the UAV. Though the batteries power two electric motors, the initial power for take-off is supplied by pulling the plane back on an elastic bungee, whose recoil sends the UAV skywards, at which point the motors kick in.
Surveying Under the Laws With Jim
The plan is to gradually to collect data about the low level atmosphere, particularly in respect of turbulence over the snow surface (with and flights on base) and eventually over sea ice. However, before getting to that point the system needs to be as reliable as possible to reduce the risk of losing delicate and expensive probes irretrievably over sea ice.
Alex Heads Into the Simpson
All the lower atmospheric science runs off the Simpson platform, named after Sir George Simpson, who worked on Scott's Terra Nova expedition, (which covered Scott's attempt on the pole) and subsequent director of the Met Office. It also houses the Metbabes, who on top of the all the long term monitoring experiments and observations that they run, are bringing the blimp flying season to a close.
Dave in the Blimp Tent
The blimp is used to study low level (tropospheric) ozone and its depletion during the Antarctic spring on base during ozone depletion events. (This is distinct from the high level (stratospheric) ozone, whose depletion in the Antarctic leads to the ozone hole).
Dave Retrieves the Sondes
Suspended beneath the blimp the sondes collect data during ascent and descent
Ozone depletion events are thought to take place over the Weddell Sea, due to the catalytic effects of halides released from sea water. Sunlight is required to drive the reaction that results in the breakdown of ozone and so the last few months since the return of sun have seen several of these events take place, all of which have precipitated a blimp flight. In parallel a set of instruments were deployed 15km east of base on the coast at Precious Bay studying these events as well.
Sunset Over the Blimp Team
Unfortunately, poor weather took its toll on both sets of kit. The main blimp was destroyed in a storm earlier in the season, which nearly also decimated the weather haven. The reserve blimp has been clocking up the flying hours, while the the Precious Bay instruments also suffered from the extreme winds and cold. Nonetheless, the blimp was still flown more times this winter than previous years, mainly due to the dedication of the trio of Metbabes (Tamsin, Dave and Kirsty).
Climbing Up the Cliffs At Windy
Photo thanks to Dave Evans
Despite the bad weather, there was still a window one weekend for another trip to the penguins. It was also a relief as for the first time a penguin trip that I led actually got down onto the ice- I was starting to worry I was blighted. Though not technically difficult or far from base it is interesting how taxing taking responsibilty for a group of people in the middle of the Antarctic actually is. I have all the more respect for the work of the Field GAs!
Crèche of Young Penguins
The chicks continue to grow and have started to huddle together to form crèches to keep warm as the parents head out to sea to find food. Both the adults and chicks are increasingly inquisitive and will waddle comfortably to within a metre or so. As I finish, I remember that one of the reasons I fell behind in writing the blog is as I wrote the September base diary for the BAS website. Given that very few planes are coming in from the Falklands via Rothera this summer, my postal address (at the bottom of the webpage) has also changed.
More Penguins
The UAV
Flying the UAV is a ideally a three man job, with Tom flying the plane for take-offs and landing, before it flies an autonomous flight plan, Alex running a laptop communicating via a telemetry system with the UAV in-flight and myself launching the UAV. Though the batteries power two electric motors, the initial power for take-off is supplied by pulling the plane back on an elastic bungee, whose recoil sends the UAV skywards, at which point the motors kick in.
Surveying Under the Laws With Jim
The plan is to gradually to collect data about the low level atmosphere, particularly in respect of turbulence over the snow surface (with and flights on base) and eventually over sea ice. However, before getting to that point the system needs to be as reliable as possible to reduce the risk of losing delicate and expensive probes irretrievably over sea ice.
Alex Heads Into the Simpson
All the lower atmospheric science runs off the Simpson platform, named after Sir George Simpson, who worked on Scott's Terra Nova expedition, (which covered Scott's attempt on the pole) and subsequent director of the Met Office. It also houses the Metbabes, who on top of the all the long term monitoring experiments and observations that they run, are bringing the blimp flying season to a close.
Dave in the Blimp Tent
The blimp is used to study low level (tropospheric) ozone and its depletion during the Antarctic spring on base during ozone depletion events. (This is distinct from the high level (stratospheric) ozone, whose depletion in the Antarctic leads to the ozone hole).
Dave Retrieves the Sondes
Suspended beneath the blimp the sondes collect data during ascent and descent
Ozone depletion events are thought to take place over the Weddell Sea, due to the catalytic effects of halides released from sea water. Sunlight is required to drive the reaction that results in the breakdown of ozone and so the last few months since the return of sun have seen several of these events take place, all of which have precipitated a blimp flight. In parallel a set of instruments were deployed 15km east of base on the coast at Precious Bay studying these events as well.
Sunset Over the Blimp Team
Unfortunately, poor weather took its toll on both sets of kit. The main blimp was destroyed in a storm earlier in the season, which nearly also decimated the weather haven. The reserve blimp has been clocking up the flying hours, while the the Precious Bay instruments also suffered from the extreme winds and cold. Nonetheless, the blimp was still flown more times this winter than previous years, mainly due to the dedication of the trio of Metbabes (Tamsin, Dave and Kirsty).
Climbing Up the Cliffs At Windy
Photo thanks to Dave Evans
Despite the bad weather, there was still a window one weekend for another trip to the penguins. It was also a relief as for the first time a penguin trip that I led actually got down onto the ice- I was starting to worry I was blighted. Though not technically difficult or far from base it is interesting how taxing taking responsibilty for a group of people in the middle of the Antarctic actually is. I have all the more respect for the work of the Field GAs!Crèche of Young Penguins
The chicks continue to grow and have started to huddle together to form crèches to keep warm as the parents head out to sea to find food. Both the adults and chicks are increasingly inquisitive and will waddle comfortably to within a metre or so. As I finish, I remember that one of the reasons I fell behind in writing the blog is as I wrote the September base diary for the BAS website. Given that very few planes are coming in from the Falklands via Rothera this summer, my postal address (at the bottom of the webpage) has also changed.
More Penguins
