Now that we have been here for a week (time flies!) I thought that I would go over what has become our daily routine so that everyone can get a feel for what field science looks like at times. I will tell you now that there is a question at the end of this. Conducting science in the field is very much a “hurry up and wait” thing at times. You have to work hard to get your equipment set up and ready to take measurements, but then taking the actual measurements takes some sitting around. And remember that we are measuring very small amounts of CO2 coming from the ground, so it takes time for the instruments to collect the data.
For this last week we have been getting up around 8:00 am and having breakfast. We may get a fire going to help warm the cabin. I am busy updating the journals and answering any new “Ask the Team” questions for the students and everyone else. Elizabeth goes over her data from the day before, breaks it down into the proper graphs and formats she needs and then may forward some or all of that data back to Dr. Natali at the University of Florida. They may even speak on the phone just to clarify what is being done and what might need to get done next. We will then collect the equipment and instruments that will be needed for the day and go over everything to make sure it is all working and charged. We then get dressed and pack a few things to eat and drink before heading out on the snowmobile.
We take a snowmobile out to the study site. The snow is really good and thick right now.
Here is a video you can watch that shows Elizabeth and I going back to the cabin on our snowmobile: http://
The snow is very good right now and it doesn’t take us long to cover the three miles out to the study site. Once we are there we have to organize our gear and carry it out to the place we will be working. We don’t drive the snowmobile over the study areas so that we don’t disturb the snow cover or the tundra underneath. Just driving the vehicles over the snow causes it to pack differently and then melt at a different rate than the undisturbed snow around it. We also don’t walk on the study areas for the same reasons. We take our time to walk over the same paths going out and coming back each day so we leave as little impact as possible. It seems like a little thing but we do not want to change the experiment in any way.
This is how the Smiley plots look before we dig them up.
There are two sets of data that we are collecting at this time during the winter months. Three times a week we must collect the measurements of CO2 coming from the “Smiley” plots. These are the plots that were placed outside of the experiment areas. These plots give us an idea of what kind of activity is going on in undisturbed tundra. There are ten of these plots and each one has four stations. The plots are numbered 1 through 10, and the stations are labeled A, B, C, D. On one day we will sample all of the A stations, and then the next time we will sample all of the B stations, as so on. When we get finished with D, we then sample A again the next time.
We need to measure the snow depth each time we take samples from the Smiley Plots. The snow depth can be anywhere from 30 cm to over 80 cm. (12 inches to over 30 inches)
We dig down to uncover the sampling ring. We try and disturb the snow as little as possible.
Once the ring is cleared the Smiley cover can be placed so that the measurements can be taken.
To take these samples we first measure the depth of the snow at the stations site and the marker at the center of each plot. We record both depths for all of the plots and sites first. Then we have to remove the snow to expose the sample ring that was installed in these locations several years ago when the experiment began. We dig up the snow as little as possible and clear around the ring so that our sampling cover, named Smiley, can fit over the ring. We allow the newly dug holes 20 minutes to “air out” so any CO2 that may have collected can escape. At this point Elizabeth will prepare the gas analyzer and I will place the cover on the ring. Each sample takes two minutes. Once the samples have been taken and seem to be good we will fill the holes back up and leave the plot as we found it.
Here is your question! Why do we take measurements form these plots when they are not part of the regular experiment?
We will cover tomorrow the rest of the day, and go over the second set of data that we collect on a regular basis.