26 July 2013 The Departure Countdown Begins!

And the winner is...

Thanks to everyone who participated in the Ask the Team Forum contest question from the last journal entry! Congratulations to Jean Esler (my aunt from back home in Chicago!) for answering both parts of the audio journal contest question correctly. Aunt Jean correctly stated that glacial outburst floods, called the Glacial Lake Missoula Megafloods, shaped North Idaho and Washington during the last ice age. These types of glacial flood events are called Jökulhlaups. Aunt Jean, you will be receiving the first contest prize from Iceland when I get there in a few days! Congratulations!

Less than 48 Hours

I depart for Iceland on Sunday the 28th (less then 48 hours from now), with a solid two days of air travel before I set foot in Reykjavik late Monday night/early Tuesday morning. I have been continuing my packing efforts, and slowly but surely getting all of my gear and equipment ready to rock and roll. The City of Coeur d'Alene Channel 19 TV has asked me to take their Contour GPSA Global Positioning System (GPS) is a satellite-based navigation system used to track the location or position of objects on the Earth’s surface. HD video camera with me to capture as much video of the expedition as possible. This thing is sweet: all video files include GPSA Global Positioning System (GPS) is a satellite-based navigation system used to track the location or position of objects on the Earth’s surface., elevation, and speed data that are shown on a Google Maps side-by-side to the actual video. I am pretty excited to have this along on my pack during the long days in the field on the glacier, digging in drumlins, and crossing the many outwash streams coming off of Mulajokull. A big thanks to Jeff and Andy down at CDA-TV for helping to train me on using this awesome camera! Here's a little practice video my daughter and I made at the beach the other day to give you an idea of what this thing is capable of. I cannot imagine I'll be swimming like this once we get to the cold waters of the outwash plain at Mulajokull... Beach Practice Video

What to Expect

In my last journal I posted a picture of some of the outerwear I am bringing to prepare for the elements near Mulajokull this time of year. Clothing choices are an excellent analogy when learning about different climates of the world. What we wear, on a daily basis as well as throughout the year, can give a real quick assessment of what the climate is like where we live.

ClimateThe average weather over a particular region of the Earth. Climate originates in recurring weather phenomenon that result from specific types of atmospheric circulation. can be easily confused with weather, however, and while they both measure similar properties of the atmosphere and hydrosphere (temperature, precipitation, etc.), they are quite different in one primary way. Weather measures these properties on short timescales (hours, days weeks, etc.) and climate measures these properties on much longer timescales (years, decades, centuries).

Going back to clothes, I like to think about it this way: weather is represented by the clothes you choose to wear any given day, and climate is represented by the entire collection of clothes in your wardrobe.

Using this analogy, the wardrobe of somebody living in Hawaii versus somebody living in Alaska can give some simple yet meaningful insight on the differences in climate between those two regions. I doubt many people in Hawaii keep a good pair of pack boots or down jacket lying around in their closet...

So, how do my clothing/gear choices reflect the climate of Iceland in the summer? To answer that, we need to first address the two most important measurable properties of climate: temperature and precipitation.

While Iceland is relatively high in latitude in the Northern Hemisphere when compared to the contiguous 48 U.S. states, and relatively equal to well known Arctic environments like Greenland, Canadian Arctic ArchipelagoA chain of many islands., and the rest of Scandinavia, its climate is surprisingly mild; both in the summer and the winter seasons. Check out this site from Icelandic Arctic Researcher Ólafur Ingólfsson of University of Iceland for more details on Iceland's climatic anomaly. Ólafur is a researcher joining the expedition to Mulajokull this summer!

So, what's the deal? Given its latitude and proximity to other more extreme Arctic environments, why is Iceland's climate so mild in comparison?

I could tell you...but that would be just too easy. Plus, I have LOTS more packing to do today! This one is up to you, and is posed as the second ASK THE TEAM FORUM CONTEST QUESTION. The first person to answer the above question correctly using the Ask the Team Forum (make sure to leave your name with your answer!) will win a prize from the land of fire and ice!

Next Point of Contact

I will be checking-in on the Virtual Base Camp again when I arrive in Iceland in just a few short days. The team has a long to-do list in Reykjavik to prepare for our helicopter departure to Mulajokull on Thursday August 1st. Don't forget to sign-up for the journal update email subscription!

Catch you on the colder side,

Jamie