28 May 2011 Steffen team returns from Swiss Camp

Today is the day! Finally, Koni Steffen and his group will be returning from Swiss Camp after the five day delay due to the Iceland volcanic eruption! They have been there since the beginning of May. My days of hanging out in Kangerlussuaq will be coming to an end. Here is a picture of the view from my room. Not too bad, but I am ready to see more of Greenland and get on with the expedition.

Here is a timeline of the days events:

6:00am – Koni Steffen calls from Swiss Camp with a weather report. All is clear. Conditions are suitable for flying.

8:00am – Air Greenland confirms flight to Swiss Camp- Departure 9am. Flight time 1 hour 20 minutes.

8:30am – Air Greenland calls KISS station manager with plane update. It appears that the right engine is not starting. Mechanic is on his way.

9:00am – Engine trouble fixed, departure in 30 minutes.

9:30am - All systems are a go! Flight to Swiss Camp is underway! (that was a close one!)

3:00pm – Koni Steffen and most team members arrive at Kangerlussuaq airport. Nikko and Simon remain back at camp to load the rest of the gear and will return on next flight.

7:00pm – Nikko and Simon return from Swiss Camp with more gear. After they shower (it’s been 23 days since their last shower!) we all head to the Polar Bear Inn where we indulge in local thai food. The plates are large and loaded with great food. The group is very excited to be back on terra firma, where they can begin their journey home or like me, the journey into the field.

You see very interesting things when traveling abroad. For example, below is a picture of a vehicle called an Unimog, that was parked at the Polar Bear Inn. It is used to take tourists to Russell GlacierA mass of ice that persists for many years and notably deforms and flows under the influence of gravity.. The vehicle has special tires and suspension for traveling over rocky and loose terrain. Koni informed me that these same vehicles are used to cross desserts. By the way, only one polar bear has ever been sighted in Kangerlussuaq and unfortunately it met its demise with the military that was stationed here in the 60’s.

Tomorrow we fly to Swiss Camp to retrieve the remaining supplies and then a full day of Automated Weather Station (AWS) work. There are 18 automatic weather stations (AWS) that are collecting climate information on Greenland's ice sheet. We are going to service three of the 18 tomorrow. Each station needs to be serviced on a regular basis in order to provide accurate data. Climatologists and meteorologist use the data for many purposes.

Each AWS is equipped with a number of instruments to sample the following: • air temperature, wind speed, wind direction, humidity, pressure • accumulation rate at high temporal resolution to identify and resolve individual storms • surface radiation balance in visible and infrared wavelengths • sensible and latent heat flux fluxes • snowpack conductive heat fluxes

Hourly average data are transmitted via a satellite link (GOES or ARGOS) throughout the year. In addition, measurements are stored in solid state memory. The system is powered with two 100 Ah batteries, charged by a 10 or 20 W solar panel. The satellite data-link is powered by two separate 100 Ah batteries connected to a 20 W solar panel. This setup guarantees continuous data recordings and storage, even in the case of satellite transmission failure. The expected lifetime of the instrumentation is 5 years.

Up next, the South Traverse – Part 1