After a couple of weeks of uncertainty, today was a very exciting day. Weather yesterday and today was good… Really good… Generally, clear skies and lighter winds, with some more cloud cover today (but at high altitude). Having had the teams in place and waiting for the winds to die down for over a week,… Read More

On Monday we conducted a fantastic series of profiles using the helikite. The conditions were slightly windy but flyable, and so Dari, Casey and I took the smaller of the two tethered balloons out to the runway to get as many measurements as possible. We were just getting the equipment out to the runway when… Read More

If there is one thing I have learned in my field work, it is that things don’t always go according to plan. In fact, things rarely go according to plan. This trip is no different… We were supposed to start flying the larger unmanned aircraft platform (SeaHunter) for science missions starting yesterday. Unfortunately, we are… Read More

For the first time in nearly two years I’m back at the Oliktok Point observational site. In many ways, not much has changed – the oilfield is as busy as ever, and other than a few instruments having moved away from the facility, the site looks more or less the same. A bit of background… Read More

Well, it’s been an interesting couple of days in Anchorage. Observant followers may be wondering why I am still in Anchorage instead of up on the north slope. Unfortunately, there has been a delay in our SeaHunter flights. This delay is connected to waiting for the last flight permissions to fall into place. I have… Read More

Those who watched movies in the 80s might recognize the title as a catch phrase from the movie “Short Circuit”, the 1986 film about a robot struck by lightning who sets out to explore the world. In many ways, this is a fittingdepiction of my 5th trip to Oliktok Point, which started today (you can… Read More