We at McMurdo are probably one of the first groups in the world to enter the new year 2011, as the local time is the same as New Zealand (two hours ahead of Australia, five hours ahead of China, and 20 hours ahead of Colorado). A special new year celebration was named “Ice Stock” at McMurdo – a music festival from 6pm to 1am. The warm weather around Christmas didn’t repeat, and the outdoor temperature was around -7 deg C during the celebration. Even so, many people still stayed hours enjoying the different music bands. We came to the celebration just before the new year bell, and joined the folks in counting down the time.
“Happy New Year!!!” — Finally we burst out this greeting from our hearts!!! Saying goodbye to the wonderful year of 2010, as the new year of 2011 brings bigger hope to everyone! We are looking forward to science breakthroughs and more lidar adventures in 2011!
A relaxing moment for the lidar team (Weichun, Xinzhao, and Wentao). Zhibin was sleeping so missed this celebration.
Two gentlemen between Wentao and Xinzhao are Bernie and Floyd, two very nice men who helped us in the safety plan.
(4) IMG_6440.JPG: The stage for the Ice Stock with quite professional bands.
More folks in the celebration, with John Meyers (in blue) standing beside Weichun.
The 7th week in McMurdo was totally cloudy with decreasing temperatures. We spent our time in two major events: (1) lidar optimization and winter-over training, and (2) EMI (Electro-Magnetic Interference) tests and mitigation. The first task is going very well, and the EMI is becoming “fascinating”. Recent VLF data indicates that the VLF experiment is so sensitive that it can detect a desktop computer booting up and detect when a UPS is cycled on/off without a power draw! We have consulted with numerous people, including Communication Engineers, Electricians, Electronics experts, in an attempt to understand the sources of the EMI and how it might be mitigated.
Two great friends, Dr. Susan Solomon and Dr. Geary Schwemmer, sent me notes to introduce their experiences in diagnosing and mitigating EMI. Susan had a successful experience of solving an EMI issue at Arrival Heights more than 20 years ago. All are very helpful suggestions, and we do suspect something weird is going on with the power grids or grounding. On new year’s day, our lidar team did further tests to identify the EMI from each individual piece of lidar equipment when it was connected to different phases of the US standard power or to AntNZ power, with or without an isobar power strip, etc. We have ordered RFI power line filters, and tried to get an iron box and iron conduit built to shield our high-voltage power supply and umbilical. It is quite time consuming, but we do hope to solve the EMI issue with the new year spirit!
McMurdo Research Associate Kris Young brought me to the second crater to visit the US VLF radio sensor in the afternoon on December 31st, 2010.
Climbing to the summit of the 2nd crater wasn’t easy, especially in the cold and fogy weather. Water holes on the sea ice were emerging as blue holes in the background.
A photo shot at the Arrival Heights US and Kiwi’s buildings from the 2nd crater. Kiwi’s dome was in the background.
Kris Young gave us a tour to the inside of the US Arrival Heights building. It’s a very nice working environment, and we like it. What is more fascinating is that many UPS with exactly the same model as ours (APC 1500) are being used in this building, and that was what Kris and Zhibin trying to point out in the picture. How can our UPS cause EMI while theirs don’t? It is still a puzzle!
Water from snow/ice by a foothill near McMurdo.
Happy New Year 2011 to everyone!
Sincerely,
Xinzhao
