We’re changing from the summer to the winter season at McMurdo. Besides the unique changes in sunlight, slowly changing from 24 hour sunlight to 24 hour darkness, the transition is also visible in the vastly decreased population and the quality of the data we can collect with the lidar systems. The station population drops by… Read More
After a successful summer season, we now progress towards winter at McMurdo station. We had 3 months of difficult refurbishment from November to February, and we’re now hoping for quality data as we approach the winter season. While the Lidar systems are still having issues, Jess has done an excellent job of troubleshooting and keeping… Read More
This is the third post on atmospheric optical phenomena we’ve seen in Antarctica. The previous post detailed sun halos. This post will cover sun dogs (parhelia) and sun pillars. Above: Sun dogs (parhelia) and a sun pillar over NSF Discovery Pier and Hut Ridge, viewed from town. Sun dogs, also known as parhelia, appear directly… Read More
Jess and I (Zig) ran the lidar systems from February 18th to February 26th, an almost 6 and a half day lidar run resulting in approximately 122 hours of data. Runs of this length are rare, since they require extended periods of clear, cloudless skies. Such long runs provide rare opportunities to research the upper… Read More
This part two in a series on optical phenomenon that we’ve experienced here in Antarctica. The previous post was on Fata Morgana. This post will describe sun halos. Above: Sun halo seen on the Ross Ice Shelf. The mountain just below it is Mt. Erebus, an active volcano. Sun halos are most commonly found in… Read More
Antarctica is one of the best places in the world to observe rare optical phenomena. While working on the lidar systems here at McMurdo station, Antarctica, we have encountered a wide range of these effects. They are driven by ice crystals, extreme temperatures, and other atmospheric conditions. This is the first post in a series… Read More
My name is Zig Lewon, and I joined the Chu research group in late December 2025. I had a fairly unusual (and very lucky) path to doing research on the ice. I studied Atmospheric and Oceanic Science at CU Boulder. During my time there, my professors often talked about opportunities in atmospheric science. One lecture… Read More
Over the past few weeks, the team has been hard at work preparing for the upcoming winter and strategizing for the refurbishment season ahead. While the challenges may seem daunting, the months ahead promise exciting opportunities to enhance our system and the quality of the data it can produce. Cloudy skies persisted from Christmas to… Read More
After two hectic days of wrapping up the academic semester and collecting our issued extreme weather gear in Christchurch, our group—Dr. Xinzhao Chu, Kamen Schaefle, and I (Shay Mayer) —finally arrived at McMurdo Station on the evening of December 21st. We arrived on a C130 and were lucky enough to watch a beautiful flight over… Read More
We awoke before 5 AM on Friday, February 2nd in Christchurch, NZ to shuttle to the USAP Clothing Distribution Center. There, we collected our cold weather gear and prepared to board a US Air Force C-17 cargo plane to McMurdo. The flight was noisy, but legroom was ample, as was the in-flight meal. We stepped… Read More
