The Bilbo Baggins Effect

    Last week I had the opportunity to fly to Miami. I was looking forward to meeting Dr. Steve Oberbauer and Dr. Jeremy May, whom I will be working with this summer. I was treated to tours of Florida International University and their labs. I was grateful to be able to make connections with people that I'll be spending 30+ days with this June. To say I'm excited about this adventure is an understatement, but the reality of my unexpected journey is beginning to sink in.

    Bilbo Baggins
    "I'm going on an adventure!" The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey photo by Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures.

    I was excited to see samples of the plants I will be working with in the tundra of Utqiagvik, Alaska and at Toolik Research Station. I have about 10 species that I'll need to be familiar and able to accurately identify. The EGC (Environmental Growth Chambers) maintain tundra-like conditions in the middle of a tropical climate.

    Rows of EGCs
    Rows of Environmental Growing Chambers (EGCs).
    Temp controls for EGC
    It's a balmy 15C (59F) in the growing chambers!
    Tundra in EGC
    24 hours of sunlight and eternal summer in the environmental growing chambers.
    More Samples
    I will become very familiar with these lovelies.
    Tundra Samples
    Tundra samples growing happily in the EGC.
    Moss in EGC
    Lovely moss from the Tundra growing happily in Florida.
    Emotional Support Plant
    Everyone should have an emotional support plant. I wonder if TSA would approve?

    Very Cool Equipment

    I was also able to see some equipment that I will be using in the field. When I arrive in Utqiagvik, I will be able to help set up the MISP (Mobile Instrumented Sensor Platform) which helps to bridge the gap between humans on the ground taking measurements and the measurements that satellites in space take. I'll get to use the handheld Greenseeker that measures how healthy the plants are using a NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) reading. (So many acronyms!) It's also cool because it looks kinda like a phaser from Star Trek! Also pictured is an FLIR (Forward Looking Infrared Radiometer) thermal camera.

    Green Seeker
    Greenseeker handheld (AKA: Star Trek phaser) Photo: courtesy of Tremble Ag Solutions

    FLIR Camera
    Forward Looking Infrared Radiometer or FLIR.

    Author
    Date
    Location
    Florida International University
    Weather Summary
    It's a beautiful, sunny day in Miami, FL
    Temperature
    89
    Wind Speed
    5

    Comments

    Keith Smith

    Is 59 degrees the typical temperature in the summer time where these mosses grow?

    Melissa Lau

    The growth chambers are set to simulate typical summer conditions in the tundra. The moss looked to be the healthiest of the samples. That is one
    of the things I hope to learn more about!

    On 5/30/18 6:58 AM, PolarTREC wrote:

    Michelle Hall

    What is the purpose of the Forward Looking Infrared Radiometer? What kind of information will you get?

    Melissa Lau

    Hi Michelle! Thanks for your question. As far as my understanding is now (I'm sure I'll be more familiar once I'm in the field!) the FLIR
    collects data on how the plants are using the sunlight, or how much it
    is absorbing.

    On 5/14/18 6:05 AM, PolarTREC wrote: