July 4, 2008 – Friday – 4th of July!
HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!!!
I am sure that most of you are out enjoying the sunshine and eating freshly cut vegetables with barbequed meat and watching fireworks light up the night sky. Here at Summit, we are working hard because the weather is finally cooperating (plus, we have no night sky to light up with fireworks). Don’t get too worried though, we have a full day of celebration planned for tomorrow (July 5th). Our parade will kick off around 4:00 in the afternoon, and it will be followed by a BIG barbeque with all the fixins. Myself, Christine (University of Houston) and Neil (British Antarctic Survey) have volunteered to run the barbeque to give the staff a little time to relax!
Although we worked through the day, this has still been a glorious Independence Day. Today…I got to climb the Swiss Tower (named because it was put up by the Swiss science community). The tower is a meteorological tower, similar to the radio towers you see in the states, only there is no radio being broadcast here. Instead, atmospheric instruments can be attached to it at different heights to give information like temperature, ozone concentration, wind direction/speed, etc. At the beginning of June, when we arrived here, Craig Clements attached several temperature sensors all the way to the top of the tower. This information tells how the temperature is changing with height.
We have decided to leave the sensors attached to the tower for a few more months, so they needed to be properly attached to withstand the continued winds. So, today, I climbed to the top of the 165 foot tower (50 meters) and was treated with some AMAZING views. What a FANTASTIC way to spend the 4th of July!!!
...Without further adieu…I will let you gaze upon camp from the top of the "SWISS TOWER”…
Food Update:
Lunch: Chicken strips, tater tots, salad.
Dinner: Grilled steak, grilled yams, Veggie Shepherd’s pie, Pineapple, Tossed Salad, Sautéed Leeks, and Cookies with Whole Milk
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Stay Warm!!
PS. I completed two "student developed” experiments today. You can check them out by clicking on the experiment name below.
Period 2: "Air Pressure and Temperature Differences using a Football”
Period 5: "Average Wind Speed of Summit, Greenland” ****
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