Blogging from Barrow
RU physics professor Rhett Herman and junior physics major James Inman are spending spring break this week in Barrow, Alaska. The two are in the state's northern-most city to measure the thickness and structure of the sea ice. To do this, they will walk over large sections of the sea ice, dragging a device that measures the electrical properties of the ice while being pulled along the ground. The effort is ultimately to determine the rate the polar ice cap is melting each year. Rhett and James are keeping an online journal of their work in Barrow, where March temperatures average -10 Fahrenheit. Check this space each day to read and see photographs of their work and journey.
See a panorama of the ice where Dr. Herman and James are conducting their research.
Readying for
Radford
Friday, March 17, 2006
James: It was pretty warm today, around -5F. The wind was high though, and this made it feel very cold. For the first time some of the cold came through my coat. That’s a parka, a one inch foam liner, a fleece and two tee-shirts. That’s cold. It’s a balance of heat transfer though. All you have to do to warm up is walk around briskly for a few minutes and the temp inside the suit can skyrocket. We were off the ice by noon. Dr. Herman and I turned around looked out into the horizon. If felt like leaving the beach in the summer; we didn’t want to go. Read More
Last Day
Friday, March 17, 2006
Dr. Herman: This morning, we got the last of the data that will allow us to create a three-dimensional image of the ice. The two scans this morning, along with the three taken yesterday afternoon, finished all that we wanted as far as data was concerned. But coming off the ice for the last time (with Ohmy) around noon was a bit, well, weird. I know it was just a week, shorter than a week even, but I'd grown used to the place. It's desolate here, with not a tree in sight anywhere. The land is covered in blowing and drifting snow, with the houses built on wooden pylons so that the snow will blow under them and not bury them in snow drifts. The land is flat, no mountains such as those around Radford. The colors are various hues of white, with the occasional wind-blasted paint on the buildings interrupting things. And the sea ice is absolutely, totally barren, dangerous and painfully cold. And absolutely beautiful. Read More
Things Get Better and Better...and
Windy
Thursday, March 16, 2006
Dr. Herman: With a working transmitter, we got the data along 300 meters in 2.5 hours. Can you say "Score!!"??? Yes, we were excited. ...I can tell you that this one data set made the trip scientifically worthwhile. It's the "proof-of-concept" that we were looking for, and we had it in our hands. And on several other computers. And, in Ohmy's memory still. So naturally tomorrow we're going for the proverbial icing on the cake, going after the unprecedented data that will allow us to reconstruct a 3-D image. Read More
Becoming Celebrities in
Alaska
Thursday, March 16, 2006
James: We had dinner with a radio station host there in Barrow named Earl Finkler. After dinner, we made a recording for his Saturday morning show. I mostly just sat in. Finkler was interviewing Dr. Herman on what brings him to Barrow and more extensively on his thesis work on black holes. It was just a short 10 minute interview but it was interesting. My first radio broadcast, even though I only said one sentence. Read More
Night on the Town Follows a Great Day
on the Ice
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
James: I ate raw whale today! I will get to that later, but I was really excited about it. I suppose I should go in order. This morning the new transmitter was sitting on the counter when we got to the theatre. Good news. Dr. Herman got suited up with the Ohm Mapper and we were out. Read More
Whale of a
Day
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
Dr. Herman: One of the men brought over a small bowl filled with something odd-looking, and odd-smelling. It was small strips of whale, raw and ready to eat. Yep, we ate whale. The shin was very chewy and tough, but the other part (blubber) was just kinda fatty. And yes, it had a fishy taste, but not like anything I'd ever tasted. Read More
Best Laid Plans on Ice by
Men
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
Dr. Herman: We knew from yesterday that the transmitter had about 50 minutes that it could take of the cold. Again, the receiver was fine, so this was a problem with only the transmitter. We also knew from our work yesterday exactly what we could do in 50 minutes. Here was our plan: Read More
Spring Break on the Beach in
Alaska
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
James: I got a chance to run around on the snow-covered ice pile that had formed right where the ice sheet runs aground at the shoreline. As the ice shifts around, the ice gets pushed into the shore and sometimes piles up (like miniature plate tectonics). Dr. Herman and I checked out the blue green ice that forms from the sea water. I found an open patch of beach, presumably where sewage from Barrow is let out? I’m not sure. I did get to snap a picture of me soaking up the sun on the beach on spring break though, he he. Read More
Troubleshooting with Duct
Tape
Monday, March 13, 2006
James: Everything seemed to be going perfect. I walked 300 meters, the length of the survey, and we were getting data. I was excited. As I was strapped in to the array, Dr. Herman pulled the OhmMapper tail around to start going back down the line. I started the receiver up and almost immediately I lost signal from the transmitter. Read More
Partial
Success
Monday, March 13, 2006
Dr. Herman: I downloaded the data from this morning, and it looked fine. Not enough to call the job done by any stretch, but enough to see that Ohmy was taking accurate data. This was a very good sign. James then rigged up direct connections between the batteries and the transmitter and we went out yet again. Read More
Spring Break
Photos
Sunday, March 12, 2006
Dr. Herman: By the way, some pics are at http://www.radford.edu/~physclub/barrow/ I've put titles on them that have the dates, as well as some context of the pics. The one with James and his Quantum Physics book is sort of an inside joke with physicists. We're making a travelogue of the travels of the mighty quantum book.
To the Ice
Sunday, March 12, 2006
James: I woke up surprisingly
early Alaska time, about 7:30am. That wasn’t surprising to me though
because, nicely enough, that equates to 12:30
Oceanfront Property in
Alaska
Sunday, March 12, 2006
Dr. Herman: Woke up too early, but eating just before sleeping will do that to me. This morning, we'll finish recharging the OhmMapper's batteries, recut some of the ropes that hold the OhmMapper array together, have the BASC cafeteria's Sunday brunch in a few hours, and then head out to the sea ice. Which, of course, is just about right outside our windows since the BASC facility is "oceanfront property." Anyone wanna build a condo? Read More
Travel
Days
Saturday, March 11, 2006
Dr. Herman: I had lived in Montana for 7 years, so I knew what was coming when we stepped off the plane. I wasn't next to James to warn him to not breathe through is mouth. In extreme cold, that usually sets off a nice, not-so-fun coughing fit. He survived easily enough, but inside the terminal he was a bit shocked. And thoroughly amused at the extreme weather. Read More
Beautiful
Flight
Saturday, March 11, 2006
James: Flying
across the
Trip Preparation, Three
Weeks in Advance
Friday, March 10, 2006
Dr. Herman: James and I started packing things with the OhmMapper equipment three weeks prior to our departure. We needed to ship the OhmMapper up to Barrow via the cargo arm of Alaska Airlines since it could (theoretically) take up to two weeks to get it there. I had been cleaning and rearranging things for about an hour when I noticedsomething unexpected. I saw one crucial cable from the OhmMapper just lying on a table next to our packing/staging table! Urgh! Read More
Getting
Started
Friday, March 10, 2006
James: Since technically our trip had not
started yet, today doesn’t really count; but I suppose it was the
beginning of our trials. As I was packing up and preparing, I got a
call from Dr. Herman who had planned to arrive up North around
10pm. We had forgotten a crucial piece of hardware and had to turn
around to get it. To make matters worse after picking up the hardware
he began to have car troubles. Read
More
March 2006