Latest article: Observing weather at the Pole

It's been a while, eh? Antarctic winter will officially be over next Wednesday, September 22, while we in the Northern Hemisphere will experience autumnal equinox -- the first day of fall. The sun will rise at the South Pole for the first time since mid-March. And let me tell you, the staff will be happy to see it!

My latest Antarctica article, Observing Weather at the Bottom of the World: The South Pole, covers the "why behind the Antarctic sky" and takes a look at how meteorologists monitor weather in such a remote and extreme location. It was published last week in the Sept/Oct issue of Weatherwise magazine. This article was particularly fun to write: I got to geek out about weather for 5,000 words straight! The Antarctic atmosphere is amazing. Take a look for yourself and post any questions or comments you have below.

Cheers,

Ann

NEEM ice core reaches Greenland bedrock

Last week, my travel partner to Antarctica, meteorologist Dan Satterfield, traveled to another icy part of the world: Greenland. He's reporting on the North Greenland Eemian Ice Drilling (NEEM) project - the Arctic equivalent of Antarctica's WAIS Divide core. The NEEM ice core will give an accurate account of the Northern Hemisphere's temperature up to 120,000 years ago, before the last ice age. This week, the NEEM team finished drilling the core and reached Greenland's bedrock a mile below the surface.

Read more and watch the video below to learn about NEEM and ice cores. Follow Dan's reports at www.wildwildscience.com and on Facebook.

West Antarctic Ice Sheet Divide -- Earth's Climate History Hidden in Ice

Crazy 'bout ice cores

Last week, meteorologist Dan Satterfield and I presented about Antarctic science and our trip at the American Meteorological Society's (AMS) 38th Conference on Broadcast Meteorology in Miami. The slide show, videos, photos and content are all freely available online for use in education/outreach efforts or for your learning purposes (credit www.earthgauge.net).

Among other things we and another speaker, Joseph Souney, covered is the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS, pronounced 'wayss') Divide ice core drilling project. Joe works in the project's Science Coordination Office based out of the University of New Hampshire.

A back-lit snow pit showing annual layers of snowfall accumulation on the West Antarctic Ice Sheet over the past few years. The darker thick layers are winter snowfall, the lighter thick layers are summer snowfall. Photo by Julie Palais, courtesy of National Science Foundation.

Although Dan and I did not have a chance to visit the field site in January, we are both dedicated to spreading the word about this major study. I encourage you to learn more through the project's website and videos. In addition, I created a fact sheet fact sheet for distribution through Earth Gauge and at AMS. Here's the gist:

What is an ice core?
An ice core is a cylindrical sample of deep ice taken from Antarctica, Greenland or other locations in high mountain glaciers. Glaciologists retrieve cores in order to analyze gases from ancient air bubbles trapped within the ice, as well as [the ice itself], in order to understand Earth’s past climate ...

Analyzing the core
Scientists analyze gases from the air bubbles, such as carbon dioxide, methane and other greenhouse gases. In addition, they measure sea salt and trace elements such as lead trapped in the ice (in Greenland ice cores, lead has been a useful indication of human impact, since it is expelled by the burning of fossil fuels). They also measure hydrogen isotopes from melted ice to determine the atmospheric temperature at the time of snowfall, and oxygen isotopes to reveal humidity. This information is then entered into climate models to show the relationship between temperature and gases over thousands of years ...


The significance of the WAIS core
The WAIS Divide ice core has the highest time resolution of any core ever extracted on Earth. The study will provide the most detailed record of greenhouse gases -- including carbon dioxide -- ever measured for the past 100,000 years of Earth’s climate history. Scientists will be able to determine annual data for the past 40,000 years by analyzing the electrical properties and chemistry of the ice cores, which vary seasonally. They also date the cores by identifying volcanic ash layers from known eruptions (the photo above shows an ash layer in the left segment of a core; copyright Chaz Firestone) ...

Download the full document.

Other WAIS Divide materials from fellow Antarctic journalists:

• Unearthing Cold, Hard Facts by Robert Lee Hotz, published on May 29, 2010 in the Wall Street Journal (also check out the video)
• Icy Hunt for Old Air by Chaz Firestone, published on January 27, 2010 in the journal Nature (see accompanying photo gallery)

Dan is headed to the Arctic in a few weeks to cover another major ice core study, the North Greenland Eemian Ice Drilling (NEEM) project, which will provide reliable climate data for the past 120,000 years -- basically a Northern Hemisphere version of the WAIS core. After analyzing data from the WAIS Divide and NEEM cores, scientists will have a much better understanding of Earth's past -- and future -- climate.

Longest day for us, midwinter for Antarctica

As the world turns, our summer solstice and longest day of the year yesterday in the Northern Hemisphere was a true turning point -- and cause for celebration -- at the South Pole and other stations around Antarctica: midwinter, the day in which the sun is at its lowest point on the horizon (either way, it's still dark!). Only three more months until the sun rises.

Midwinter is a true accomplishment for those spending six months in darkness, and a unifying event at a time when they are otherwise isolated from each other by a cold, vast desert of ice. South Pole meteorology manager Tim Markle recently said in an email to me: "Well, we are quickly approaching mid-winter. Soon sunlight will appear on the horizon and we will have light at the end of the tunnel."

The image above is a midwinter greeting from U.S. McMurdo Station. The two below are from Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station and Palmer Station, respectively.





Best of luck on the remainder of the season, everyone.

Photos courtesy of the U.S. Antarctic Program, National Science Foundation.

More information about midwinter in Antarctica.

The arugula salad and chili were the best!

Some of you may be wondering how and what people eat on an continent where the only soil is buried under two miles of ice and the sun does not shine for six months out of the year. Here's a piece by fellow Antarctic journalist and friend Chaz Firestone about growing -- and eating -- food in Antarctica: Frozen Foodies. My favorites: the arugula salad at the South Pole and the AMAZING chili made by Karen Moore at Marble Point in the Dry Valleys.

"Mysterious Mountains" and Warmest Year

I've been absent from the blog lately, but I'll have a few more materials trickling in this summer. Nonetheless, polar science and outreach remain strong throughout the year. Here's some recent news:

--Mysterious Mountains Hidden Beneath Antarctic Ice Revealed at the International Polar Year Oslo Science Conference happening this week (the things that get me the most are the liquid lakes that lie beneath a one- to two-mile thick ice sheet).

--South Pole Has Warmest Year on Record
(On a related note, read my Q&A with South Pole meteorologist Tim Markle. Tim recently experienced temperatures below -100 degrees Fahrenheit in April, which is very early in the year for the Pole to be that cold; 2009 was also Earth's second warmest year on record.)

Dan Satterfield and I are also presenting about Antarctic science at the American Meteorological Society's 38th Conference on Broadcast Meteorology in two weeks. Should be fun! More soon ...

Pee bottles, Penguins in The Washington Post

My article on environmental awareness in Antarctica was published today in the Health & Science section of The Washington Post today. Check it out!

Guarding Antarctic Ecosystems: Antarctic researchers ease the impact of scientific activity on pristine environment

Other features:
--Sidebar: Measured by carbon footprint, travel to Antarctica has tons of impact
--Photo gallery: Antarctica's pristine nature

Let me know what you think by posting a comment or question below.

New video: Ann's Antarctic Adventure!

I've been working on a video summarizing my trip in January -- including science and travels -- for the past several weeks, and I've finally finished it. Check it out!



Questions or comments? Please leave them below.

Sunset at the South Pole

Sunset at the South Pole, March 22, 2010. Thanks to Nick Morgan of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for sharing this photo!

A day-long sunset took place at the South Pole this past weekend, which will result in six months of darkness for the 47 crew members who are wintering over. The sun will not rise again until late September. I've written two short blog posts about it on Earth Gauge and Capital Weather Gang.

Good luck to the South Pole staff and scientists this winter!

New material from fellow Antarctic journalist

Glenn Zorpette, executive editor of IEEE Spectrum, was one of the seven journalists selected for the media expedition in January. He and his team have produced a great two-part audio slide show based on our trip: Antarctic Odyssey (part one), South Pole Sojourn (part two). Well done, and worth a watch!

A few other recent news items to note:
Southern Ocean winds open window to the deep sea
Surprise shrimp under Antarctic ice
Is Antarctica falling apart?

Two new videos from the South Pole

Dan Satterfield has a new video up about the Ice Cube neutrino project on his blog.

In addition, I posted a new video about South Pole weather and climate to the Earth Gauge in Antarctica and Capital Weather Gang blogs last week, featuring an interview with my former colleague and current meteorology manager Tim Markle.



P.S. - Please excuse our amateur video skills!

"Science on the Ice" broadcast on WHNT-TV

Since our return from Antarctica, my travel partner meteorologist Dan Satterfield and his team at WHNT-TV in Huntsville, Alabama, have been working hard on a special report called Science on the Ice about our trip. The first two segments aired last night. Watch them here.

The videos accurately portray our amazement at the experience, in addition to the exciting science going on there. They sure bring back good memories.

Great job, Dan and team!

Tomatoes at the South Pole ... and on the moon?

Nope, I'm not kidding. There are tomatoes growing at the South Pole as we speak, surrounded by thousands of miles of ice. Could they also grow on the moon? Scientists are studying the South Pole greenhouse to find out. Here is my latest post on the Earth Gauge in Antarctica blog:

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Broadcast meteorologist Dan Satterfield tours the greenhouse. Photo courtesy of Satterfield.

South Pole Greenhouse Feeds Winter Crew, Simulates Lunar Chamber

At the bottom of the Earth, atop a land mass covered with a two mile-thick slab of ice, sits the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station where 40 to 60 people live and work during each long, dark, bitter-cold winter. On the first floor of the station, near the end of hallway is a small greenhouse. Since 2005, this remotely-operated chamber has provided countless fresh vegetables, light and humidity to over 200 winter-over staff and scientists who have spent Southern Hemisphere winters at the coldest, darkest place on Earth. The growth chamber will feed crew members again this winter.

Lane Patterson manages the South Pole greenhouse from his office at the University of Arizona, with help from a team of horticulturalists and engineers. “Through a computer and camera, I’m able to access the chamber and assist with questions that the operator might have,” he said. The chamber grows edible plants in a soil-less hydroponics system of nutrient-rich water; cantaloupe, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, chives fresh herbs, leafy green vegetables like kale and lettuce, sunflowers, nasturtiums and other edibles thrive here throughout the year. Patterson can control the conditions inside the chamber, including temperature, light and even the hydroponic solution in which the plants grow. He communicates remotely with an assistant who maintains the greenhouse in-person at the Pole, and visits once every year or so to check on it.

The chamber provides other benefits besides nutritious vegetables. “It provides us with bright light in the dark winter. It provides us with high humidity in the dry environment. It provides us with a green environment — something that we miss for the eight months of being isolated as a researcher or someone who supports a researcher here at the South Pole.”

Staff also enjoy going into the chamber to read, relax or hang out with others. Some even reserve the room for dinner dates (there is a small table and couch in the foyer to the chamber). A humid environment, even if in a small chamber, is a welcome relief for chapped lips and dry skin. Relative humidity at the South Pole is in the single digits; in the chamber, it’s 60 percent. In addition, each staff member is allowed only two showers per week, each two minutes long. The Station’s water supply is low and conservation is important: using water requires ice to be melted. But, the benefit of using water for plant growth outweigh the use of energy to melt it.

“The growth chamber is really a big ‘growbot’ — it’s a robot that grow things,” said Patterson. It requires about 140 liters of water, sequesters about one kilogram of carbon dioxide and uses about 281 kilowatt hours of energy (equivalent to eight gallons of gasoline) per day. In turn, it produces about half a kilogram of oxygen and six kilograms of biomass (raw plant matter) each day.

The South Pole greenhouse is similar to another of Patterson’s projects at the University of Arizona’s Controlled Environment Agriculture Center: the lunar greenhouse. The South Pole project analyzes air revitalization in a remote environment that could help future greenhouse projects in space. “We’re looking at using plants to revitalize the air that a person breathes. We’re asking the questions: How many plants do you need? How much photosynthesis do you have to have? What are the resources that are needed to cycle the amount of oxygen a person breathes daily? … How it relates to the South Pole is that a Bioregenerative Life Support System on the moon, say, would be a place that if it used BLSS, it would be isolated, it would be a station with a small crew in a very dangerous environment. And that’s what the South Pole is,” Patterson said.

To learn more about the project and view photos, visit http://ag.arizona.edu/CEAC.

The Strangest Telescope on Earth: Ice Cube

What, exactly, does the South Pole's IceCube project do? The short answer is that it determines the origin of the Universe. The long answer is much more complicated. Dan Satterfield wrote a very good piece last week about the IceCube Neutrino Observatory in about as plain English as possible. Here's Dan's description ("The Strangest Telescope on Earth -- Ice Cube") and the very thorough IceCube Web site from the University of Wisconsin, as well as some photos below, to help you understand this very unique and important study that can happen nowhere else on Earth.

Record-breaking weather: Washington D.C. and Mount Washington

While this post will not be about Antarctica, it is about the reasons I haven't written about Antarctica in many days. They both have to do with weather records. First, there is somewhere close to TWO FEET of snow sitting outside of my window in Washington, D.C. right now. After two smaller snowstorms last week, the so-called Snowmageddon storm yesterday and today brought record-breaking accumulations to the region. Since I write for Capital Weather Gang, The Washington Post's weather blog, things have been a little, well, nuts this week. In an exciting way though! Luckily, there was a lot of hype about this storm, so many people were prepared and stayed safe. Unfortunately, there were also many accidents and power outages. The city will no doubt be digging out for days. This is our second double-digit snowstorm in the past 7 weeks, which is a lot for this city.

Next, other alumni of the Mount Washington Observatory and I found out last week that the mountain's world record wind speed was replaced (how on Earth can you replace something as special and long-lived as that, you wonder? Well, in our hearts it can't be replaced. But read on to find out how it can be with science...). Fourteen years ago -- yes, as in over a decade ago -- a very strong typhoon (same as a hurricane in the Atlantic) passed over Australia, and a ground wind speed of 253 mph was recorded by an automatic weather station on Barrows Island. Meteorologists who observed this knew that it could be a record-breaker, but the paperwork went unnoticed by the World Meteorological Organization until a few years ago. Only last week did they confirm that this, indeed, beat Mount Washington's 231 mph record recorded back in 1934 and that the instrument that recorded it was valid. Although we were skeptical at first, Andrew Freedman and I said farewell to the world record wind on Capital Weather in the proper way.

So, no new Antarctica materials. However, I'll have something posted again soon. Thanks for your patience!

*Whew, what a winter.*

Video: "Best of" Adélie Penguins

Back after popular demand ... the Adélies! Featured on their home "stage" of sea ice near Cape Royds colony, Ross Island, Antarctica.



(Turn up the sound near the end to hear thousands of penguins chatting with each other at the colony. Oh, and you can ignore the clicks of the "penguin paparazzi" - aka, my fellow journalists in red parkas with cameras in their hands.)

Adélie penguins are quite social creatures (you may have noticed they are always wearing tuxedos). They have no natural land predators, so they get quite curious about humans. It is illegal for people to approach, touch, harm or remove any wildlife from Antarctica, but that did not stop the stars themselves from coming up close to check us out!

Happy the Cactus: Why my desert mascot did not survive in Antarctica

Arizona is a desert. Antarctica is the world's largest desert. So why wasn't Happy the saguaro cactus, my desert mascot, able to survive in Antarctica?


(Disclaimer: For those of you worried about invasive species, as the U.S. Antarctic Program is -- and rightfully should be -- don't worry, Happy was not real.)

The saguaro (pronounced sah-WAR-o) cactus is the largest cactus species in the Unites States, and it is endemic to the Sonoran desert of the Southwest U.S. and northern Mexico, living nowhere else in the world. Like other desert plants, it is very well-adapted to dry conditions. Saguaros live to be very old, and only begin growing 'arms' after they are 50 or so. They flower once per year in May or June. Here is my first picture of Happy, with a younger saguaro in my father's front yard outside of Phoenix.

Though it is covered with a 1 to 2 mile-thick ice sheet, Antarctica is technically a desert. Ecologically speaking, a desert receives an average of less than 10 inches of precipitation per year. While McMurdo Sound on the Antarctic coast receive 6 or 7 inches of snowfall each year, interior parts receive far less. The South Pole, for example, gets less than 2 inches of measurable snowfall annually. Most of the time, it is just too cold to snow; any ice/snow crystals that fall end up sublimating, or changing directly to water vapor, before hitting the ground. The Pole also experiences a lot of blowing snow, which is very difficult to measure since it does not fall straight down.

So, as far as precipitation goes, Antarctica is definitely a desert. However, there is a major (and obvious) temperature difference between Antarctica and the deserts we are more familiar with, like Arizona. Antarctica is considered a cold (or polar) desert and can reach -120F; Arizona is a hot desert and can reach +120F. This, my friends, is why Happy did not survive more than 24 hours once reaching Antarctica. While Happy was used to dry climates, he was not used to sub-zero temperatures.

There are no flowering plants in Antarctica, with the exception of two species found the Antarctic Peninsula, the warmest part of the continent, close to South America. However, I brought him even further south. Perhaps I should have gone to the Peninsula instead?

Here are some other photos of our journey together:

Getting ready to fly over the Pacific.

At the top of the Christchurch Gondola in New Zealand, overlooking Lyttleton Harbor. Shackleton and Scott sailed out of this port during their Antarctic expeditions in the early 1900s.

On the C-17 flight from Christchurch to McMurdo Station. This was the last photo I took of him before he disappeared.

Unfortunately, Happy went missing within a day of us reaching the ice. I guess he simply could not survive the cold. I was happy to have him accompany me on my journey there. I quickly learned that you can take a cactus out of the (hot) desert, but you can't transplant him to a polar desert and expect him to last.

Ironically, I am not the only one who has thought about a saguaro cactus while in Antarctica. Here is a painted saguaro I stumbled upon during my last morning at McMurdo.

Farewell, Happy!

(P.S. - If you are reading this from McMurdo or South Pole Stations, please keep your eyes out for Happy -- I seriously lost him! He would most likely be huddled under blankets or in the pockets of Big Red, trying to keep warm.)

'Icy hunt for old air' article

Quick announcement: Check out this article in Nature by fellow Antarctic journalist Chaz Firestone, who visited the West Antarctic Ice Sheet Divide ice core drilling project last week ... a well-written piece about a very, very important scientific study.

South Pole air video and a personal tour of the Pole

During our 24 hours at the South Pole two weeks ago, we toured most of the science projects going on there. I posted a new video interview and blog post for Earth Gauge today, Monitoring the Air at the South Pole, which includes highlights from my conversation with Nick Morgan, station chief at the South Pole Atmospheric Research Observatory (Update, 1/27: Also posted a Q&A on Capital Weather Gang). Check out Dan's new post, Science South of 60: Things About Antarctica That May Surprise You.

I will gradually upload more science content, but I also wanted to give you a personal account of what it was like to land at, stand at and sleep overnight at the Pole. In one word: exciting!

Adélie penguins: education resources, sea ice, photos, videos

Here is a sampling of what will go up on the National Environmental Education Foundation and Capital Weather Gang websites over the next week:

Jean Pennycook manages penguin education and outreach for the National Science Foundation, including a great website: www.penguinscience.com (check out the cool time-lapse video on the homepage). Hear what she had to say to say about her work during my visit to the Cape Royds rookery last week:



Adélie habitat has changed over time, especially in recent years. They build their nests on small stretches of land along parts of the Antarctic coast that are not ice-covered. The health and location of their colonies are directly related to the amount of sea ice (frozen seawater) nearby, as well as air and water temperatures and the presence of large marine predators, such as Minke whales, that compete for food. Adélies feed on krill and small fish in the ocean at the edge of the sea ice. If there is too much sea ice, the penguins have to walk too far to get food for their chicks, and the colony begins to decline.

In recent years, environmental changes have been occurring at a more rapid rate. A strong air pressure difference in the South Atlantic, warming air temperatures and the ozone 'hole' have changed the air and ocean circulations around Antarctica, and thus how heat is distributed in the Southern Ocean and the air above the Antarctic.

According to David Ainley, a marine biologist who has been studying Antarctic penguins for over 20 years, the Antarctic peninsula -- the area closest to South America -- now has less sea ice and warmer temperatures than it did in the 1960s, when he first started studying Adélie colonies. While less sea ice makes it easier for Adélies to get food, they are adapted to life in the cold and cannot survive well in warmer temperatures. So, populations there have been declining. On the contrary, the winds have broken up the sea ice in the more southern Ross Sea where temperatures are still cold, so populations there have been increasing. One exception is at the Cape Royds colony, where an iceberg grounded at the edge of the McMurdo Sound in 2000, locking the sea ice in the Sound and preventing penguins from being able to get to open water to feed -- an effect that lasted six seasons. Over the past two years, the colonies have again begun to grow.

Emperor penguins are even more attached to sea ice: they breed on it! Learn more about the effects of climate change on Antarctic penguins from Jean and David.

Here are some Adélie photos from Cape Royds colony, in addition to my favorite video that I took and a shot of four emperors hanging out near Pegasus ice field, the icy jet runway we landed on. I'll post a "best of" video from my trip to the Cape Royds rookery (nesting colony) in the next few days.

They're so cute!

ECW: What we wore in Antarctica

Since I got back to Washington, D.C., earlier this week, I have already lost 24 pounds ... of clothing. While South Pole residents do tend to lose 10-15 pounds in body mass because they are constantly fighting cold temperatures, there are much more dangerous dangers than this -- hypothermia and frostbite, for example. I've mentioned "ECW" (Extreme Cold Weather) gear throughout my travels in Antarctica, so I wanted to show you exactly what this consists of and how U.S. Antarctic Program participants prevent cold weather-related injuries.

It all starts at the Clothing Distribution Centre in Christchurch, where each participant receives two duffel bags full of clothing. Fashion is not important, as everyone will look the same once they don their "Big Red" parkas and their 10 pound "bunny boots":





Here's all the gear I was given:



The first few layers are base layers that wick moisture (sweat) away from your skin: polypropylene long underwear, wool socks and a light-weight fleece jacket and pants.



The next layers are windproof overalls or "bibs" and the infamous "bunny boots," which have extra room for air and felt liners (great insulators):



Then a windproof fleece jacket:



The big, red parka fluffed with goose down ...



A balaclava (fleece head-and-face warmer) or neck gaiter/hat combination:



And finally, ski goggles, glove liners and thick leather gloves or fleece/down mittens.



When visiting the South Pole and field sites or while traveling in airplanes and helicopters, participants are required to wear the essential ECW gear (long underwear, wool socks, fleece pants and jacket, bunny boots, a hat, gloves/mittens and "Big Red") and hand-carry the other items, in addition to extra socks, gloves and a toothbrush -- just in case you're stuck overnight. At these cold locations, it is not a good idea to have skin exposed, as frostbite can happen very quickly.

Some locations, such as McMurdo and the Dry Valleys, experience above-freezing temperatures. In this case, one can shed a few layers. But, it is still important to wear polarized, 100% UV protective sunglasses to prevent snow blindness (85% of sunlight that hits the ice is reflected) and high spf sunscreen on any exposed skin (the atmosphere -- and thus the ozone layer that blocks UV light -- is thinner at the Poles).

Ok, I must admit, even though it is above freezing in Washington right now, it feels colder with all the moisture in the air. I wish I had "Big Red" to throw on for my evening commute! What a fashion statement that would make on the Metro ...

Safe Return, Reflecting on the Ice, New materials

Here's a riddle that I'm trying to figure out right now: if I left Christchurch, NZ at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, January 19 and arrived in Washington, D.C. at 11 p.m. on Tuesday, January 19, how long did it take me to get here? How many breakfasts have I eaten? How many dinners? Was I supposed to sleep 8 hours somewhere in there? I guess the answer is that it's 2:30 am Eastern Standard Time, no matter what time my biological clock is telling me it is. I should go to sleep! As those of you who read Capital Weather Gang regularly might remember, for me, Sleeping Through Sunlight is Not a Success, especially when it never gets dark during Antarctic summer! At least it will be dark when I finally fall asleep tonight, even if at 3 in the morning.

It is a strange thing to be carried in flying machines from the eastern United States, to the bottom of the world and back again. After this trip, I am more impressed with the many aircraft we have seen and the pilots that fly them than ever before -- and perhaps more trusting, too. As I gazed out of my window seat on my third and final flight today (or yesterday?), I reflected on just how many sunsets and clouds I have seen from an airplane window over the past 3+ weeks ... too many to count, but all beautiful and stilling in their own way.

Since I left Antarctica, I have been full of an overwhelming sense of gratitude for having had the chance to go on this trip. Thanks again to National Science Foundation and Raytheon Polar Services, to the team of journalists who were great company and whom I learned a lot from, to Dan and Tim for answering my million-and-one Antarctic meteorology questions, to NEEF for supporting this trip and offering many outlets for the information, and to family, friends, and kind strangers who helped to make it happen! We did it -- we went to the South Pole, and learned a LOT in the process!

New materials:

--Check out my video of Happy Camp (field and safety training our second day in Antarctica) snippets posted yesterday on Capital Weather Gang
--Earth Gauge Kids: Antarctica (January theme, geared toward kids in grades 5-8)
--Earth Gauge in Antarctica resources distributed so far from myself and the team
--Dan has a new video up on his Wild Wild Weather blog

Headed home to D.C.

Hello all,

Thanks for following me. I had a few days on the South Island of New Zealand before traveling back to D.C. I'm about to board my first of many flights to get home, but I wanted to share photos of the first two sunsets I saw after no sunsets for a week in Antarctica: one taken on the jet back to Christchurch from McMurdo, and the second from the West Coast of New Zealand.

I have so many photos and videos and so much information to share with you after I get back. Thanks again for following along, and check back soon!

Last day on the ice: Another trip canceled, a new day begun

Well, weather has yet again changed our plans. By this point, we are used to it! Our trip to the West Antarctic Ice Sheet Divide ice core drilling project was canceled this morning. No worries here ... we got to speak with the head of Antarctic glaciology from the National Science Foundation and learned a lot about ice cores in both Antarctica and Greenland. Very, very important research that gives us insight into Earth's past climate. I'll be writing up a fact sheet on the WAIS Divide drilling project in the near future.

Tomorrow afternoon, we are leaving this great continent. After only one week here, I feel like I have been here for months. It has been a life-changing (and life-enhancing) experience, both professionally and personally. The caliber of the people, the quality of the science and the reality of the landscape are so fascinating, they are almost too much to grasp.

Thank you so much to everyone who helped me get here! I look forward to continuing to communicate Antarctic science with you after I return to the States next week.

And now for another attempt at a night's sleep under the Antarctic midnight sun ...

Penguins and Ice Make Everything Nice

Our helicopter tour of the Dry Valleys region, sea ice and the Cape Royds Adelie penguin colony yesterday was simply out of this world ... I don't know how else to describe it.

Polygons of permafrost, liquid lakes that leak from towering glaciers, stark-white ice emerging from rocky Grand Canyon-like landscapes: this is the Dry Valleys region of Antarctica.



After visiting a research camp at Lake Hoarde in Taylor Valley (visible in the lower left center of the image above), where scientists of all disciplines are coming together to study the unique biology, chemistry and geology of the lake area -- and its similarity to the Mars landscape three million years ago! -- we were off to the edge of the sea ice nearby. Our helicopter needed at least 30 inches of solid ice to land safely, so the helo tech got out first every time we landed in order to measure the ice with a huge corkscrew before any of us could set foot on it. The ice we landed on was about six feet deep, so we were ok. The sea ice growth every austral (Southern Hemisphere) winter around Antarctica is one of the biggest seasonal changes on Earth! Every winter, Antarctica's mass nearly doubles in size due to an increase in sea ice (ice floating on top of the surrounding ocean, without being attached to a glacier).



Shortly after we landed on the ice, about 20 Adelie penguins visited us! This was just a hint of the treat to come later in the day, when we toured the Adelie colony at Cape Royds -- so many penguins! Located on the coast of the Ross Sea, it's the southern-most penguin breeding site in the world. After days of gazing out at frigid, icy landscapes and experiencing Antarctic weather, it was really refreshing to meet real, live animals that don't only survive in this environment, they thrive in it and are really quite content here!



Don't forget to read Dan's Wild Wild Science Journal entries about the trip so far, and check out my Earth Gauge and Capital Weather Gang post about South Pole weather.

Click on the pictures to view the larger versions!

"Wicked cold" at the Pole, off to the Dry Valleys

Conveniently, our flight boomeranged again (this time without us on it) and we got to spend the night at the South Pole last night! Landing at the Pole and gazing around at the entirely flat icy landscape around me, then realizing that the Earth was rotating around the exact spot where we were standing -- this brought the most euphoric and surreal feelings I have ever felt in my life. Truly amazing.

Since the South Pole is the coldest region will will be visiting in Antarctica, the results for the "How cold will Ann get in Antarctica?" poll are in:

Not cold at all -- she's prepared

7 (15%)

Really cold

3 (6%)

Wicked cold

15 (32%)

Frozen ... like on a stick

21 (45%)

To the majority of you who voted for "Frozen ... like on a stick," I'm sorry to break the news: I was only "wicked cold" at the Pole!

It was only about -20 Fahrenheit with windchills in the -30 range when I was there. The clothing provided by the U.S. Antarctic Program worked really well (almost too well!). The only parts that were "wicked cold" were my face and fingers because I was outside taking so many pictures and holding a metal camera.

In New England, "wicked" cold is the coldest description of cold -- really cold, very cold, mad cold, extremely cold...none of them top "wicked cold," except "frozen on a stick." I'm glad that I didn't get frozen to the Pole marker!

Because of a packed schedule, travel delays, and internet issues, I have not had a chance to post a lot of photos or content about the actual science we have learned about so far. The South Pole trip was jam-packed with tours of some of the most amazing science research projects in the world -- Clean Air monitoring (including Carbon Dioxide and the Ozone hole), the South Pole Telescope and IceCUBE projects that look down through the ice and ground instead of up into the sky, and meteorology that forecasts weather for travel and station operations at the Pole using very little satellite data or other internet resources and in fast-changing atmospheric conditions.

I have changed the second header on my blog to "Follow me in January 2010 to learn about Antarctic science" because I will be posting more of the science later this week and after my return. So, please keep checking back both during my last few days here and throughout the month.

Today, we are going on a helicopter tour of the Dry Valleys region -- the <2% part of Antarctica that is not covered with ice, and where it hasn't rained in over 2 million years!

South Pole or Bust

I survived survival training yesterday, which is always a good sign. In about 12 hours, I will be on a LC-130 "Hercules" plane to South Pole Station -- yup, the geographic bottom of the Earth. Because the station is located on an ice sheet (which is a large glacier that gradually moves over the land below it toward the sea), the pole marker has to be moved about 30 feet every year to remain accurate. Lucky for us, it was re-adjusted at the beginning of the year.

We have a full day, as we are flying on a three-hour flight there tomorrow early morning and returning late tomorrow night with many tours and scientist interviews in between flights. We'll be learning about the South Pole Telescope, meteorology and ozone research.

Temperatures at the Pole have been around -10 Fahrenheit for the past few days. However, today they dipped down to -20. We each have a full set of Extreme Cold Weather gear, as well as an overnight bag in case we get stuck overnight due to weather. Here's a Webcam so you can keep up with the current conditions. There is a brand new station there that was completed in 2007 and is an engineering marvel.

It was a beautiful, warm (well, relatively) and sunny day at McMurdo today. We saw some Adelie penguins nearby! In addition, we watched the southern-most rugby game in the world, played near New Zealand's Scott Base between the Kiwis and Americans. The Kiwis won, of course. It's funny to learn about the activities people living here do to stay active and combat cold and boredom. Hopefully, I'll have a chance to upload pictures in the next few days.

To the South Pole or bust!

I'm here!

We made it! After a five-hour flight, we landed safely on the Pegasus ice strip and boarded "Ivan the Terra Bus" snow tractor for a one-hour drive over sea ice to McMurdo Station. Weather was "Condition 3" -- winds less than 48 knots (about 55 mph), wind chills warmer than -75 degrees Fahrenheit, and visibility greater than 1/4 mile. It was clear enough to make out four emperor penguins on the sea ice nearby!

Tomorrow morning, we begin our survival training in the field. Internet is slow here, but I will post more about what it takes to prepare for severe weather, in addition to the geography of the McMurdo sound area soon...

Wow, I am at the bottom of the World! The scenery is simply breathtaking. Really, there are no words to describe it.

Another 24-hour delay, but tomorrow's a go!

This morning (January 7, New Zealand time), we received word that we had another 24-hour delay. Yet, we just heard that tomorrow morning's flight is a go. Hopefully, the next post you read from me will be live from the ice!

Boomerang: Antarctica and back in one day

Weather is quite the celebrity around the International Antarctic Centre in Christchurch the past two days. To hear more about yesterday's flight delay, check out my Capital Weather Gang post. Also, learn more about preparation for the flight south and see photos at Earth Gauge.

The following is a personalized version of the content that will be posted on Capital Weather Gang and Earth Gauge in the next couple of days. Please visit my traveling partner Dan Satterfield's Wild Wild Weather blog for even more photos, videos and in-depth coverage of our travel experience!

Jan. 6, 2010

3:00 p.m. (New Zealand time)

Boomerang: Return to the initial position from where it came.

I am currently in a U.S. Air National Guard C-17 “Pegasus” cargo jet flying over the South Pacific from Christchurch, New Zealand -- hub of the National Science Foundation’s U.S. Antarctic Program -- to McMurdo Station, Antarctica. I have to laugh. Upon waking up at 5:00 a.m. this morning, I had a gut feeling that today was not the day I would be going to Antarctica. After a 24-hour delay on our flight from New Zealand to Antarctica yesterday morning, I ignored this morning’s intuition, hoped for the best and went through the motions with the expected excitement. And now, after five hours in the air, we are going to boomerang -- that is, turn around and fly back to Christchurch because conditions at McMurdo are too bad to land on an airstrip made of ice. However, as you can see in the photo above, we are lucky enough to fly over the Antarctic continent before doing a u-turn.

The Trans-Antarctic mountains below our jet ... simply breathtaking.

4:30 p.m

By this morning, the skies at McMurdo had cleared from a storm yesterday and visibility had improved. Forecast models suggested that the window would remain open through early afternoon, but hinted that conditions could again deteriorate. A few hours into the flight, the pilots warned us that there was a 50/50 chance we would boomerang.

In the off-chance that weather improved at McMurdo, the pilots waited until the last possible minute to decide whether or not to turn back. Peeking out of the few small porthole windows over the past few hours, we saw amazing landscapes of white sea ice and glaciers under the bluest of skies, until we came within 130 miles of McMurdo. We circled around McMurdo for one hour before the pilots received the report that the weather would not clear any time soon. The cloud ceiling was two low, visibility was too poor, and pilots would not have been able to distinguish the low cloud ceiling from the runway of ice about 2500 feet below.

Since November, the 2009-2010 austral (Southern Hemisphere) summer has had more boomerang flights and no-fly days than the past few years, all due to Antarctic weather. So, we are not the first to boomerang this season.

Antarctic weather has a mind of it’s own, and can get tricky to forecast. Without internet or satellite data, Dan Satterfield, Chief Meteorologist at WHNT-TV in Huntsville, Alabama, and I -- both part of the Antarctic reporting team traveling this week -- had fun trying to guess what was happening. Even though travel delays and long flights have resulted, the past two days’ weather-related changes to our itinerary have been rather exciting for weather folk. I wish I knew more about Southern Hemisphere and polar weather!

Even though I have spent a week in transit to this astounding continent and have now seen it with my own eyes, it seems that the atmosphere is not yet ready for our arrival. It is a difficult feeling to fly over the ice without landing. Still, I feel like one of the luckiest people in the world to view this amazing scenery from the air!

Our trip will go on, despite the delays. If there’s one thing you can’t blame, it’s the weather.

Inside the C-17 jet.

11:30 p.m.

After a 10-hour flight, we returned safely to Christchurch, but the stratus is still being blown in by easterly winds around McMurdo. We’re going to try again in several hours. Keep your fingers crossed that McMurdo clears by afternoon and we land safely on the ice ...

Update:

January 7, 2010

5:30 a.m.

We have a three-hour delay.

7:30 a.m.

Just kidding ... we have another 24-hour delay.

I really, really love weather. However, right now, our relationship is complicated. :)

Flight Delayed

Our flight was just delayed 24 hours. If you check out the webcam and current conditions at McMurdo Station, you'll understand why! Keep your fingers crossed for better weather tomorrow ...

Off to Antarctica

In just 10 hours, I'll be on a C-17 military jet to McMurdo Station. Today, we were issued our Extreme Cold Weather clothing. I'll write more later, but this photo is a sneak peak to the 24 pounds of wool, polar fleece, polypropylene, leather and plastic items in the two duffel bags that were handed to me ... I'm in there somewhere!

Cross your fingers for good flying weather to McMurdo ... see you on the Ice!

Christchurch: Gateway to the Antarctic

Three days ago, after about 25 hours of travel time, I arrived safely in Christchurch, a quaint and beautiful city of about 350,000. Dan and I have been busy familiarizing ourselves with the equipment we will be using in Antarctica, including three video cameras, four digital cameras and two laptops. Cold temperatures can limit the effectiveness of electronics (especially their batteries), so it is essential to learn the limitations of our equipment and be extra prepared with back-ups. In addition, bright sunlight and reflection from snow and ice will take some getting used to.

Christchurch, also known as 'The Garden City' and 'International Gateway to Antarctica' has played a significant role in the history of Antarctic exploration. In the late 1800's and early 1900's there was a race among nations to be the first to reach the South Pole. Two explorers from the UK -- Captain Robert F. Scott (pictured at right) and Ernest Shackleton -- used the Port of Lyttleton in Christchurch (pictured below) as the base for their expeditions. In 1911, Roald Amundsen from Norway became the first to reach the Pole, beating Scott by only one month. He, his crew, and nearly 100 sled dogs set up a small hut on the coast of Antarctica and journeyed inland to the Pole.

It is summer in the Southern Hemisphere, and very much summer here in Christchurch. We have lucked out with sunny to partly cloudy skies and temperatures in the mid to high 20's C (high 70's to low 80's F) so far. Today, we will meet the National Science Foundation representative and other journalists who will be joining us for the trip, as well as pick up our Extreme Cold Weather (ECW) clothing and do a bit of training (more on that in another post later today). Tomorrow morning, we depart Christchurch for McMurdo Station -- our first stop in Antarctica -- and much colder temperatures!