Submitted by Anonymous on Sat, 03/21/2009 - 19:34
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Ocean, Atmosphere, Sea Ice, and Snowpack Interactions

Hi Betsy, as a former TREC teacher on Svalbard in '06 I am so excited by your reports! Thank you for all your hard work! I teach 7th grade science in Prescott, Arizona and we want to know about the daylight hours right now in Barrow and how many hours per day you work outside. We are also interested in the Bromine levels and where this chemical is most likely coming from. We will stay tuned to see what your team discovers next!

Maggie Kane Prescott Mile High Middle School

Sun, 03/22/2009 - 17:45

Betsy Wilkening

Maggie and Students: It's great to hear from you! My students in Tucson are plotting
daylight hours in Tucson and Barrow and comparing them. Today 3/22 we
have 12 hours and 45 mins of daylight. It is increasing by about 9
minutes per day. What has really amazed me here is the twilight. I
hadn't really given it much thought in Tucson. When I want to go out
and look at the stars there, it doesn't take too long for it to get
truly dark in order to do so. Astronomical twilight is defined on the
USNO website http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/RS_OneYear.php
as the point when the sun does not contribute to sky illumination.
There is approximately 1 1/2 hours of astronomical twilight listed on
3/21. After that there is none because it says the sun is above the
twilight limit. It stays that way until the vernal equinox. What it
means to me personally, is that I have to stay up very late to look at
stars and attempt to see any aurora. Luckily, I have seen the stars,
but no aurora yet. I'll keep trying.
The bromine or other halogen source is still a mystery. Yesterday,
James and Holly smelled it in the snow pit they dug. Several other
scientists came out and took some air samples. Unfortunately they will
have to analyze those at home with the proper equipment. James quipped
at dinner last night that he was giving lots of tours of their hole
yesterday. Almost like a real estate agent!
Betsy