January 2, 2008
WAIS Divide camp Antarctica

Time: 6 am
Latitude: 79° 28.10’ S
Longitude: 112° 3.56’ W
Elevation: 1820 m (5919’)
Temperature: -14 °C ( 7°F)
Wind speed: 15 km/h (10 mp/h)
Wind Chill: -23 C (-10 F)
Visibility: clear clear clear
Clouds: -
Wind direction: NE
Relative Humidity: 80%
Barometric Pressure: falling
Precipitation: 0
Breakfast: eggs, bagels, cereals
Lunch: cold meat and vegi sandwiches
Supper: ham, potatoes, veggies, pineapple upside-down cake

Yesterday
Ken and I started the New Year with a 5 am filming session that ended
up lasting until 10:30 am. Filming is a funny thing and no matter which
end of the camera you are on, either as camera-person or actor, you
really start to appreciate the amount of effort it takes to make a
video. We hope that the final product will work as an effective means
to help folks understand climate change/global warming and the science
of ice coring. Ken has a terrific vision of what he wants to portray in
the video and I think it will be an important tool in our outreach bag
of resources.

On the 3d quadrat front, I have a specific
observation for all students. I mentioned that I am using a flag to
observe both wind direction and wind speed. The wind direction part is
easy – winds are named from the direction from which they blow. A north
wind blows from north to south and a flag would be “pointing” south.
You need to understand compass directions before you start naming
winds. The easiest way to do this is to make sure that your 3dquadrat is oriented correctly with respect to compass direction. My 3d quadrat
here has north on one corner and south on the opposite corner which
makes it easier for me to quickly know the correct direction. The wind
direction is an important observation, and just by itself may be very
useful in helping you forecast changes in weather. Winds in your area
are part of larger air circulation systems that spiral either left or
right depending on the type of weather system. Weather systems are also
characterized by temperature differences. A low-pressure system (north
latitude) typically contains warmer air and spirals counter-clockwise
and rises up. You can think of it as a coiled spring. A high-pressure
system is typically colder air and spirals clockwise and downward. A
low-pressure system is typically associated with clouds and
precipitation, where as a high pressure system typically has clear dry
air and no clouds. If your wind direction flag is pointing one way and
then changes direction you can expect a change in the weather as a high
or low-pressure system move into your area. You will also find that
there is a predominant wind direction in your area. At my home in
Maine, the predominant wind direction is from the west. Here in West
Antarctica it is from the east/north-east. When I see my wind direction
flags change direction I can expect a change in the weather.

All
that being said, I have one more comment for you on wind direction.
When I arrived here the person taking the weather observations for the
camp and I talked about what I would collect and what they already
collect. We also talked about the methods they would use and the units
(°C , °F, feet, meters, etc) that they use to measure/record their data
observations. It turns out that the compass directions we were using
were from two different systems, in grid and in compass degrees. As a
result, some of the wind directions I reported are incorrect (my fault)
but I will go back and correct them on earlier blogs fromWAIS camp as I
find time. My suggestion to you is check your measurements, including
exactly where north is, and then check it again and again each time
your record your observations. No problem making mistakes as compass
directions can be confusing. All of my wind directions will be based on
true north (and true south).

Some of my neighbors in tent city
have started construction of an igloo. They have done a terrific job so
far on engineering the correct spiral-sloping shape needed to hold the
individual snow blocks in place. Snow blocks are easily cut from the
snow here whereas nice snowball packing snow is nonexistent. The snow
does not contain enough moisture to pack together which makes it tough
for snowball fights and the snowman I am building. With these
conditions, I am planning on carving my snowman from square snow
blocks. Maybe more like stone carving than the giant snowball-snowman
construction I use at home.

Today’s image is of my snowman and the neighbor’s igloo. Both works in progress.

PS yesterday's image





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