Today, we continued to collect air and snow samples to learn more about aerosols. After our work, we helped Lance and Kris dig a backlit snow pit. Actually, by the time we arrived, Lance and Kris had already dug the holes! We helped by bringing the plywood to cover one of the holes.
A backlit snow pit is just two deep holes (about seven feet deep) separated by a wall of snow that is about one foot wide. When you get into one hole and cover it up with plywood, you get an amazing view of the snow layers.
Snow layers as seen from a backlit pit
Lance Roth is digging a backlit snow pit.
PolarTREC teacher, Kevin McMahon, points out an interesting snow layer in the backlit snow pit. Photo by Lance Roth.
Even though we had total cloud coverage, it is so bright up here that we still need to wear glacier glasses and there is enough brightness to light up our backlit pit.
I have been getting conflicting reports about what each band means. Some say that the lighter bands represent snow that has fallen in the summer and the darker bands represents snow that has fallen in the winter. I will try to find out more information and update this journal with my findings.