Weather and the LDB

December 14th, 2007 andrea

There will be a launch of a giant balloon from Williams Field soon, called the LDB (long-duration balloon) project supporting several scientific payloads http://www.nsbf.nasa.gov/antarctica/ice0708.htm. Weather conditions on both the ground and in the upper atmosphere need to be perfect for the balloon, and this has so far not been the case so the launch has been delayed.

Here’s the latest update from Phil Austin

“Currently, while all three payloads are ready to fly, we have been waiting for the upper atmospheric winds where the balloons float (5 mB, approx 120,000 feet) to become established in the normal austral summer anti-cyclonic pattern. These winds give us the predictable orbit around the continent, one of the major reasons for ballooning in the Antarctic. We had hoped for a first launch of the CREAM payload in the early days of December so they could have the maximum possible number of days aloft. However, similar to last season, the winds seem slow to set up this year, and just in the past few days are showing favorable signs (see wind diagrams for Dec 10 & 15).

Now it’s a waiting game for the local weather out here at the LDB launch pad, which needs to be essentially calm from ground level up through 5,000 feet, and predictable for the launch activity duration (anywhere from 6 to 20 hours). Right now we have around 20 knots at ground level, and 35-40 knots at 500 feet – great for kites, but not so good for balloons. These conditions are expected to last through the weekend. Stay tuned…”

Posted in news | Comments Off on Weather and the LDB

Kevin Yuill at Willie Field

December 14th, 2007 andrea

Today Tia and I visited the weather tower at Williams Field to do a video interview with the totally cool weather observer there, Kevin Yuill (who also happens to be one of the only Bermudians to ever get to Antarctica). Although the day started out beautiful, sunny and warm, while we were there, the winds picked up and blowing snow became a potential hazard to the planes landing there. Rapidly changing weather is a way of life here and weather observation and prediction is a widely practiced and respected skill.

Posted in news | Comments Off on Kevin Yuill at Willie Field

Ang Garner launching the Weather Balloon

December 13th, 2007 andrea

Ang Garner has taken balloon soundings all over the world, including aboard Naval vessels. Tia and I filmed one of the two daily launches. Ang was kind enough to walk us through the whole process and we had a lot of fun.

Updated sounding data for McMurdo is posted on the web here:
http://amrc.ssec.wisc.edu/~amrc/LIST89664.TXT

Posted in news | Comments Off on Ang Garner launching the Weather Balloon

Antarctic monitoring in GoogleEarth

December 12th, 2007 andrea

Polar View:
http://www.seaice.dk/polarview/google.s.html

Posted in news | Comments Off on Antarctic monitoring in GoogleEarth

Questions Without Answers

December 11th, 2007 andrea

I’ve had some time today to read and think while preparing for a flight (hopefully) to Westhaven tomorrow night (–update–it was cancelled) and found two statements about art/life/science that are helping me to untangle the jumble of thoughts and emotions I’ve been experiencing since arriving here. They raise more questions than answers to me, but that’s somehow beneficial right now. Both are from Nature, March 17, 2005.

The first is from Simon Mawer:

“Because, just as an artistic creation lives in the mind of its creator, so too does a scientific idea. We labor under the illusion that discoveries and ideas lie somewhere out there in nature-but in truth the science is in the discoverer’s head…There is little difference between this and artistic vision. Yes, you’ve got to do the experiments but that is not the essence of it. The essence is the idea and the enquiry. ‘What if?’ is the question posed in both literature [art] and science.”

And from Alan Lightman:

“Somehow, we human beings have a wondrous capacity for being both rational and irrational, detached and passionate, deliberate and spontaneous, craving of certainty and uncertainty, seeking questions with answers and questions without.”

Posted in news | Comments Off on Questions Without Answers