. . . . . . . . . To address a problem we’ve had in the past with the cloud radar, we’ve designed a large tube that will go through the roof of the Mobile Science Facility and seal to the bottom of the radar antenna. This will allow warm, inside air to circulate… Read More
The Mobile Science Facility, as the name suggests, has been designed to be mobile. We won’t be driving all over the ice sheet because our instruments are too delicate for that, but the mobility will help to keep the facility from getting buried in snow. Every 6-12 months, we’ll secure our instruments, hook up the… Read More
The last couple of days have been pretty amazing at Summit. Overcast stratus has given away to clear and sunny. The temperature got up to +20F yesterday. Today there were no clouds in the sky, but lots of little ice crystals flowed with the wind. “Diamond dust,” as it is called, seems to be fairly… Read More
We’ve slowly started installing some of the support infrastructure for our instruments…. but no actual instruments yet as we wait for the saw dust to settle (and get cleaned up!). Here are a few of the ICECAPS team members hard at work. Erik guiding the fork lift as it hoists a microwave radiometer up to… Read More
This is the Mobile Science Facility (MSF) – the future home of the ICECAPS instruments. ICECAPS, by the way, is the acronym for our project: Integrated Characterization of Energy, Clouds, Atmospheric State, and Precipitation at Summit. The facility is still under construction but getting close. You can see the cloud radar antenna on the roof. … Read More
This is my Arctic Oven, happily nestled into Summit’s tent city. My glasses fog up when I enter in the middle of the day (they really do get toasty in direct sun), and at night I’m happy to be buried in sleeping bags and down jackets. Last night was a warm -15 F when I… Read More
We finally arrived at Summit, on a beautiful day. A cross wind posed difficulties for the plane getting back out of here. It required 9 attempts down the runway to get airborne. Outside temperature is -20 F and falling. Looks like the first night will be chilly in the tent!… Read More
We fly to Greenland with the New York Air National Guard on their fleet of C-130s. We’re trying to get to Summit, but the last couple of flight days have been canceled due to weather and airplane mechanical issues. Kanger is a great place to hike and bike through the tundra, but we’re hoping to… Read More
Integrated Characterization of Energy, Clouds, Atmospheric state, and Precipitation at Summit (ICECAPS) CIRES’ Matthew Shupe, also with NOAA’s Physical Sciences Division, is spending most of May and part of June at Summit, Greenland, 10,000 feet high in the middle of the Greenland Ice Sheet. Shupe—and colleagues David Turner (University of Wisconsin) and Von Walden (University… Read More
