November 27, 2007
York County Maine

Time:5 pm
Latitude: 43.08 N
Longitude: 70.73 w
Temperature: 3°C(38°F)
Wind speed: 17 knots
Wind Chill: -4°C(25°F)
Clouds: partly cloudy-35%
Wind direction: West
Relative Humidity:64%
Barometric Pressure: rising
Precipitation: 0


Hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving. Less than a week to go and I am all packed. It is finally getting cold at nights but warm during the day. Today it is only -5°C at McMurdo so not too cold. The activity in Antarctica is growing as flights are probably landing every day bringing in new personnel and supplies. The New York Air National Guard's 109th Airlift Wing is responsible for the "big" planes flying from New Zealand to Antarctica and between the larger camps, like the WAIS Divide camp where I will be in less than 3 weeks. You can take a virtual tour of the NYANG at http://astro.uchicago.edu/cara/vtour/nyang. There are other planes in Antarctica, Twin Otters, a DC-3 Bassler, and helicopters but the NYANG C-130s fly the brunt of the cargo. They can not land any where in Antarctica but require a larger groomed airstrip. Because of the amount of gear and number of field personnel at WAIS Divide camp there will be C-130 flight on a regular basis. These planes are very exciting to fly in but they are not heated, only have webbing sling seats where you sit shoulder to shoulder and knee to knee with other passengers. No beverage cart on these flights.

Around town I still a few errands to run to secure things here. For anyone following my route on a map - Boston Logan airport will be the first location at 42.37 degrees north latitude and 71.00 degrees west longitude.

For anyone that will be trading observations with me, I will be building a 3d quadrat outside my tent at WAIS Divide camp. If you have not heard of 3d quadrats before, they are an easy way to consider the systems nature of Earth, including the global climate system - www.tufts.edu/as/wright_center/3dqp. Each 3d quadrat is 1 cubic meter defined by a structure of, in my case, pvc tubing. Within that 3 dimensional structure you can more easily observe (and test) many of the variables that interact together to create what we experience as weather and climate. Global weather and climate (remember that climate is an average of weather over time - 30 years or more by definition) is simply too big to see and understand all at once. Though contained in each 1 cubic meter on Earth are all the same components and processes that occur in the global system. Depending where you are on Earth your 3d quadrat may have more or less of some of the chemical and physical components but they are all probably present. The processes that occur throughout the global system also all occur in my 3d quadrat. We will talk much more about all of this throughout. The 3d quadrat image above is from my backyard. This is what it looked like before I added more weather instruments. At this point only a pray flag weather vane, a soil thermometer, a precipitation gauge, a snow depth gauge (using marks on one of the upright tubes for bigger snow storms) and a regular thermometer are shown on the 3d quadrat in this image.

November 20th, 2007
York County Maine

Time:2 pm
Latitude: 43.08 N
Longitude: 70.73 W
Temperature: 3.4°C(38°F)
Wind speed: calm
Wind Chill:
Clouds: partly cloudy-25%
Wind direction:
Relative Humidity:90%
Barometric Pressure: rising
Precipitation: 0


Maybe too early to post another entry but yesterday it snowed -finally, YEA!. When I went out to feed the animals at 5am this morning most of the 1" of snow was still on the ground - what a welcome site. No matter how old you get the first snow is always exciting. It will be gone by the end of the day but it was nice while it lasted.

No new news posted from the field but the weather at McMurdo station is -8 oC and partly cloudy and it is probably at least another 10 degrees colder at WAIS Divide camp, and almost always some wind.

Still packing camera and electronic equipment to carry with me into the field. The cold takes the life out of batteries so a couple extra of them will go in the kit. There is limited power in camp from generators so lap tops etc can be recharged but with dozens of people needing to recharge equipment it can be a challenge to keep everything powered. Also, time to start questioning the amount of personal gear that I need vs want vs am willing to lug all the way for an almost 25hrs of flight time between here and the WAIS Divide camp. I will Probably run out of throat lozenges before I run out of socks.

November 17th, 2007
York County Maine

Time:5 pm
Latitude: 43.08 N
Longitude: 70.73 W
Temperature: 2°C(35°F)
Wind speed: 10 km/h
Wind Chill:
Clouds: partly cloudy-35%
Wind direction: West
Relative Humidity:37%
Barometric Pressure: rising
Precipitation: 0


The excitement is also rising around here. Yesterday I got my plane tickets in the mail so it all becoming very real - YEA! I fly to LA, then overnight to New Zealand. All in all it will be almost 24 hours on planes and in airports. The company that provides support for the United States Antarctic Program is Raytheon Polar Services in Denver CO and they do a great job keeping everyone informed, up to date, and arranging everything from medical tests and plane tickets to all the field supplies and field support personnel. There are field staff in Antarctica that do everything from cook, to provide safety, to drive and maintain vehicles, to give free haircuts, to assist with the science. These folks do a terrific job and the science program could not operate without them. So, with tickets in hand, all the hard work it has taken to get to this point seems finally ready to pay off.

There are no new reports from the team recently arrived at WAIS camp - which are posted at the project web site www.waisdivide.unh.edu - but I see that the weather at McMurdo Station is -8oC, partly cloudy with 15km/h winds. You can follow the weather at stations around Antarctica on http://www.wunderground.com By the middle of December we will also be posting the educational outreach links on the WAIS Divide web site. The outreach will include educational video, images, student activites and links to other educational resources, teacher workshop announcements, posters, and much more.

Once I get to the WAIS Divide field camp, I will also be blogging the weather observations I collect using a 3-D quadrat - www.tufts.edu/as/wright_center/3dqp/index.html The 3-D quadrat program was developed to help students understand earth system science and complicated topics like climate change. You can read more about 3-D quadrats on the web page and you will see how easy they are to build and install at your location. Schools in a number of locations are/will be installing 3-D quadrats and collecting observations to compare to the ones I will be collecting in Antarctica. Collecting observations in person is the first important step in understanding the natural environment.

I am just waiting for one more important item I ordered and my bags are ready to go. Though I am sure I will think of something else I forgot.

November 13th, 2007
York County Maine


Time:2 pm
Latitude: 43.08 N
Longitude: 70.73 W
Temperature: 10°C(50°F)
Wind speed: 21 km/h
Wind Chill:
Clouds: partly cloudy-20%
Wind direction: NW
Relative Humidity:
Barometric Pressure: falling
Precipitation: 0.10cm (0.04 in)

Well it seems that the weather in Antarctica is not exactly cooperating with the crew trying to establish camp. Some equipment and personnel are stuck in McMurdo station as flights can not get out and stock the WAIS Divide camp. The crew that are in are trying to clean up from last winter which buried the drill dome and other equipment. It does not snow a lot at this location - about 20cm a year but the constant wind quickly buries anything left on the surface. When the new South Pole station was designed, and recently completed, it used old and new ideas to develop building that were less prone to being buried by blowing snow. Regardless though how well buildings are designed there will always be some "digging out" to be done on a regular basis. I hope the crew at WAIS Divide camp are enjoying this bit of quiet before the rest of the crew arrives. By the height of the season there may be as many as 60 people in camp - almost a small city Antarctic style.

It is hard to image that today in McMurdo on Ross Island in the Ross Ice Shelf near the Antarctic coast it is -18 o C with a 20% chance of freezing rain and it was probably colder in the WAIS Divide camp. Very different from the sunny and warm weather we are having here today. On NASA's Earth Observatory site http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages
/images.php3?img_id=5256
I found this image of the Ross Ice Shelf which shows Ross Island, on which the McMurdo research station sits. It sure looks pretty barren and cold from the satellite view. Hard to image that there is a research station and a few hundred people down there.

Me, yesterday I found myself a new ski hat to keep my ears warm while I am there. After looking at the satellite image today I am rethinking my new purchase and might have to buy something a little warmer?

November 6th, 2007
York county Maine
Last leaves of Autumn

Time:9 am
Latitude: 43.08 N
Longitude: 70.73 W
Temperature: 7°C(45°F)
Wind speed: calm
Wind Chill:
Clouds: partly cloudy-25%
Wind direction: South
Relative Humidity:90%
Barometric Pressure: steady
Precipitation: 1.6 cm (0.63 in)

To pack too much stuff is silly as you could pretty much just show up in Christ Church New Zealand at the American Antarctic base with nothing but the clothes on your back and a smile. I will fly from Boston to LA, and then to Auckland on the north island of New Zealand (a 12 hour flight or as they say– 2 good meals and a lot of napping), then to Christ Church on the southern island where I will stay for 1 night before making my way to the US Antarctic airbase there in NZ. From there it will be a ~8 hour flight to McMurdo station in Antarctica. Before you hop over to Antarctica though you have a short partial-day training session you are issued your ECW – extreme cold weather gear, which is all the clothing you need to live in Antarctica. Today in McMurdo it is -19 oC. Even at those temperatures, and it much colder at the WAIS Divide drill site camp, the gear you are issued in NZ is plenty. The thought though is that since all that gear you are issued is used, washed, but still used and I would prefer to have some of my own long underware, socks, my favorite ski hat, sunglasses, iPod, etc. I am also hand carrying my cross-country skis this year for the free time I will have when I am not processing ice cores, digging snow pits, helping with chores, writing outreach materials, etc. It will be 24hrs of daylight when I get there so there is plenty of time for a quick ski around the camp, with the understanding that we are not allowed to venture away from camp because of the obvious dangerous of crevasses, snow storms, etc. So, for right now as I think about my trip I am stock piling some clothes, music, software that I need for my lap top, and other assorted items to keep me happy and entertained when I get to the field camp.

November 5th, 2007
York county Maine

Time: 8 am
Latitude: 43.08 N
Longitude: 70.73 W
Temperature: 11°C(51°F)
Wind speed: calm
Wind Chill:
Clouds: Cloudy
Precipitation: drizzle
Wind direction: West
Relative Humidity:86%
Barometric Pressure: rising
Meters of ice collected:

Though my journal started yesterday, for me the trip began a long time ago and I am not counting the academic studies and staying-in-shape parts that have been on-going for 40 years. Since I knew that I would be participating this year in Antarctica I have been collecting articles of clothes, doing a lot of work organization, and general preparation. The National Science Foundation (NSF) requires a very very thorough medical examination to make sure that everyone is in good physical shape and very healthy. For me, that started in July and took almost 3 months to get through all the appointments. Since I officially became “medically qualified” I am on to packing and preparing lots of household items for my leave. Though I will miss Christmas here in the states it will be fun to celebrate in Antarctica with friends. Since it is not my first time in Antarctica it does make it a bit easier.

November 4th, 2007
York County Maine

Time: 2pm
Latitude: 43.08 N
Longitude: 70.73 W
Temperature: 4°C(40°F)
Wind speed: 0-3 knots
Wind Chill:
Clouds: clear
Wind direction: South
Relative Humidity:
Barometric Pressure: rising


Hi, my name is Zach Smith. I am the program coordinator for the Wright Center for Science Education at Tufts University. I am still at home in Maine on another beautiful sunny, clear, and mild day and starting to accumulate gear in the corner of the bedroom for my deployment to Antarctica in early December on the WAIS Divide ice coring project http://www.waisdivide.unh.edu/. This ice coring program is directed by Dr Ken Taylor at the Desert Research Institute, managed by Mr Mark Twickler and Mr Joe Souney at the University of New Hampshire, and supported by the National Science Foundation's office of Polar Programs. This will be my second time in Antarctica and my excitement is definitely starting to build as some team members have already hit the field and the camp is being prepared for this season. As they setup camp, I am preparing myself and along with my team members, the outreach component of the WAIS Divide ice coring program. WAIS Divide stands for the West Antarctic Ice Sheet Divide which is a physical place in Antarctica. It is at about the middle of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet at 112.085W longitude and 79.467 S latitude and represents a divide between two glacial ice masses, one flowing towards the north and one flowing towards the south (as you look at the site map of Antarctica). The WAIS Divide ice coring program will collect and analyze a 3,465m ice core from the top surface to the bedrock below that is comprised of layers of snow (compressed to ice) from each year from the present back to ~100,000 years old at the bottom. This ice core will provide the first Southern Hemisphere climate and greenhouse gas records of comparable time resolution and duration to ice cores that have been collected in Greenland enabling detailed comparison of environmental conditions between the northern and southern hemispheres, and the study of greenhouse gas concentrations in the paleo(ancient)-atmosphere, with a greater level of detail than previously possible. The most significant and unique characteristic of the WAIS Divide project will be the development of climate records with an absolute, annual-layer-counted chronology for the most recent ~40,000 years. Which means that each annual layer can be identified and counted from the present back to 40,000 years before the present. So, though this project will drill through the ice to the bedrock and collect ice cores for the entire length, the real target is the top 40,000 years worth of time. That length of time extends from the present back to the coldest part of the last ice age.

Glacier are very dynamic and not all layers are represented everywhere throughout Antarctica. Ice coring programs are very expensive and drilling in the wrong place and can be a huge waste of time, effort, and money if the ice layers at that location are jumbled and contorted below the surface and do not contain snow from each year. Before this location was chosen there were test ice cores and lots of ice penetrating radar studies done to confirm that the layers at the WAIS Divide site represented the best "well behaved stratigraphy" from the top towards the bottom for at least the last ~80,000 years. The layers of snow/ice are important because they contain chemicals from the atmosphere that represent the conditions present at the time that snow fell. By collecting and analyzing ice cores scientists can "read" back through time and determine what ancient atmospheres were like and how they have changed.
Time for more packing........