Tuesday, January 1, 2008




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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3 comments:

Mark said...

Hi Zach,

Thanks for keeping the blog. Lets me know what is going on at camp. Between your messages and those from Ken it sounds like everyone is doing great. Please pass my thanks and Happy New Year Greetings to all.

As you most likely know we are having an epic snow winter here in NH/ME. The picnic table in the back yard got buried today!

If family needs anything please have them let me know.

Hope you get core tomorrow.

Best regards,
Mark

Anonymous said...

Hi, Zach! Your mother called to give us this link. This is great! Hope all goes well.

Your cousin,
Joan

Anonymous said...

The "Wizard of Ours" Obama, How can we really see the Man behind the curtain?

How can we really see the Man behind the curtain?

"The Wizard of Ours" Starring Sean Hannity as Toto On FOX Sunday Night

The "Wizard of OZ" was a Fluff job too. John McCain's the Real Deal. John's our Tin Man, Scarecrow, and Lion, all in one. And the beautiful, sweet Sara is our Dorothy. She's one tough act to follow for sure.

Nancy Palosie can play the Wicked Witch of the West, and the democratically controlled House and Senate as her flying Monkeys.

Senator Barack Obama's pitch is the best we've ever seen. He's got more style, and flair to his delivery, than all the other far left liberals we've seen in the past. I give him AAA+ for his delivery. We all do want a better life for our ourselves and our children. It's easy to be attracted to the man Barack Obama, and his is ability to paint a beautiful picture of OZ in our minds. It is a very special gift of his. But where is the substance to what he's saying? As you know, in the story of the "Wizard of OZ" if it were not for Toto, even Dorothy would have been fluffed by the Wizard.


If want to see behind the curtain, watch FOX, and John Hannaty as Toto Sunday night.



-------- Obama and CNN "Have been fluffing us" Don't let them Fluff you too ----------------

Fluff back! Vote for John McCain


Its time to drop the news to America, and the World

We need to that this fluffy stuff out of Politics. And stop with the Bi-Polar Elections



This is for all you Hilary voters too, She will get a fair shot in 2012 if we stop Obama and CNN from Fluffing us


Please forward this to all your friends ASAP


ASAP Please forward those massages to all our Friends ASAP