The winters in Antarctica can be harsh, and recently we’ve seen a few powerful storms move through the town. During the most recent storm the town faced an unfortunate power outage. Normally, a power outage isn’t a serious event, but in Antarctica, where we rely so heavily on heating systems, water purification, and other electrical… Read More
The winter solstice is a special time in Antarctica for many reasons. The first and most obvious is that it’s the day in which the sun passes its apogee, which means that after the solstice the sun is on its way back to the skies above McMurdo. We won’t see the sun for another few… Read More
In recent lidar runs we’ve seen an increase in the return photon counts from the metal layers in the atmosphere. This could be due to a number of factors but the most likely reason is geomagnetic storms. When solar winds are sustained at high speeds directed opposite to Earths magnetic field, the solar winds can… Read More
Our lidar systems operate at different wavelengths. They use a process called resonance fluorescence which requires very specific wavelengths so that the metal atoms absorb the light and electrons raise to a higher energy level (an “excited state”). When the electrons naturally fall back to their ground state, they release a new photon, and we… Read More
The weather can get dangerous in Antarctica very quickly. Lack of visibility and extreme cold can lead to serious injury. In order to prevent this, McMurdo has a system in place to stop people from venturing outside when the weather is dangerous. The weather conditions are classified as condition 3, condition 2, and condition 1.… Read More
Glory is a rare phenomenon. The visual effect is a circular rainbow around your shadow. In East Asia, the effect is known as “Buddha’s light”, which just goes to show how impressive this phenomenon really looks. While it may not look like much in the photos, I can confirm from experience that it is a… Read More
Anytime I’ve mentioned going to Antarctica, penguins become a topic of conversation within moments. Penguins are what everybody immediately associates with Antarctica (except for some people who ask about polar bears, which are only found in the North). I was excited to see them, but I wasn’t ready for how great it was. I’ve seen… Read More
During this past summer season at McMurdo we experienced numerous occasions of heavy fog. The fog would form over the ocean/sea ice and would creep up the slopes into town and even up to the laboratory. This type of fog was particularly frustrating for running our lidar systems since it was so hard to predict.… Read More
One of the most famous optical phenomena of the polar regions is the Aurora. In the Arctic it is known as the Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights, and in the Antarctic it is the Aurora Australis, or Southern Lights. With the growing nighttime at McMurdo, we’ve been lucky enough to see some beautiful examples of… Read More
This lidar campaign has been an ongoing project for 15 years. We are hoping that the project can continue into the 2030s. The Chu research group could make some impressive discoveries with 2 full solar cycles of lidar data. But keeping a project continuous for 15 years and counting is no easy feat. Each year… Read More
