As the FirnCover 2015 project comes to a close, our climate scientists successfully completed the largest network of firn compaction instruments ever deployed, monitoring continuously on the ice sheet. The FirnCover network now consists of 41 separate instruments installed at 8 stations across Greenland! We look forward to hearing from the researchers about the data… Read More
Email from Mike this evening: We flew up to the EastGrIP site today (EastGrIP is now the official name for the “NEGIS” site). We had perfect weather and the Danish crew there offered us fresh chocolate cake from the oven right when we arrived. They invited us into their famous “dome” for lunch and conversation. The… Read More
The crew arrived at Crawford Point this morning around 9AM (local time) and got to work while the pilots left to refuel in Ilulissat. Instruments were successfully installed, but not without any hitches. Several hours were spent using aircraft cable – among other methods – attempting to fish out a Kovacs coring drill barrel that got stuck… Read More
Yesterday morning the ACT-15 team had to deal with gale force winds described by Mike as “the worst storm yet”. Snow was blowing directly into the torn latrine tent and no one dared to venture out to the privy…for a while anyway. At least they enjoyed a hearty musk ox goulash for dinner. All the… Read More
Yesterday at DYE 2, bad whiteout winds kept the team pretty much hunkered down. They did however, manage to set up the latrine tent during the storm, but the strong winds ripped the tent door open. Visiting the latrine is now a “spin-drifty experience” as described by Mike. Better weather was had today and was… Read More
Today’s snowmobile traverse to DYE 2 was rather uneventful at the start, but about 35 km/22 mi in, the team was faced with strong head winds and blowing snow which produced full on whiteout conditions with temperatures hovering around -30˚F. With no visibility of the horizon line for the remaining 60 km/37 mi, they exclusively depended on their GPS… Read More
The ACT-15 science team is packing up camp and traversing to DYE 2 today. Although there is still blowing wind and snow, overall the weather has much improved since yesterday’s whiteout storm. Click on the image below to track the team’s position in real time! … Read More
Communications from Mike this morning initially indicated that winds in the area were moderate and that a traverse to DYE 2 was yet undecided. Four hours later, I learned that weather had worsened significantly and that most of Greenland was shut down to all flights. Winds had picked up speed with near zero visibility. Dangerous… Read More
Another storm with wind speeds at 30 knots is keeping the ACT-15 team held back at Saddle Camp for today and possibly tomorrow as well. Snow drifts keep the team busy shoveling snow off of the tents and entrances. Thankfully they brought more than enough food, so they’re eating quite well. This morning they had a… Read More
Despite a slew of technical difficulties, the science team completed all tasks in one day at Saddle Camp and if weather cooperates, they will traverse back to DYE2 tomorrow! However, Mike said, another round of harsh weather is expected to move in to the area. The good news is, the team is still ahead of schedule.… Read More
