21 June 2017 House Mouse

Today is the summer solstice here in the northern hemisphere. The Earth is tilted 23.5 degrees on its axis. This means that as it revolves around the sun, different places on Earth are at varying distances from the sun. Also, the angle that the sunlight hits different areas will change depending on the time of the year. At the summer solstice, the north pole is as close to the sun as it gets all year.

Up here at Summit Station, we are relatively close to the north pole. That means that we get sunlight 24 hours a day. In fact, the last time I saw darkness was when I was back in New York on June 2nd. It is an interesting phenomenon that takes some getting used to. The tent I sleep in stays very bright all of the time and it has affected my sleeping a bit. Up here, I often wake up several times during the night and my body has no idea what time it is. But, it has only been a minor inconvenience.

The sun shines 24 hours per day during this time of the year. This photo was taken at midnight local time.

House Mouse

Here at Summit Station, everyone pitches in to take care of the day to day chores that need to get completed. Every day, someone is designated as the "house mouse." This person stays in the community building known as the Big House. They are in charge of cleaning up, doing dishes, and several other chores. By taking turns doing this, it all gets done without being too big a burden on any one person.

PolarTREC teacher Steve Kirsche takes his turn as "house mouse" where he does dishes and other necessary chores in the Big House at Summit Station.

Today, I volunteered to serve as the house mouse. After all, the station has been very gracious to me since I arrived. I wanted to take my turn helping out. As house mouse, I spent most of the day in and around the kitchen area. I cleaned up before and after meals, vacuumed, cleaned the bathroom, laundered towels, and just generally helped out.

Ozone Monitoring

I did take a short break in the afternoon to learn about the ozone monitoring program that the station takes part in. Once a week, the science technicians launch a very big balloon with an instrument called an ozonesonde attached under it. This balloon starts out a little over 2 meters in diameter. As it climbs through the atmosphere, the balloon gets bigger and bigger. At about 35,000 meters high (about 23 miles up), the balloon will grow to have a diameter of about 9 meters and will finally pop.

Science Technicians Heather McIntyre and Marissa Goerke launch a large helium filled balloon carrying an ozosonde up through the atmosphere.

An ozosonde is a piece of equipment that monitors the air and transmits the information it collects back. As it climbs up through the atmosphere, the ozonesonde pumps air into a chamber where it mixes with potassium iodide. Ozone and potassium iodide will chemically react and create a buildup of electrons which in turn creates an electric charge. The ozonesonde measures the electric charge, allowing a computer to calculate how much ozone is in the air. This information is sent back to the station where it is logged and then sent to the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA).

NOAA has 8 sites around the world where these ozonesondes are launched. All of the data together gives them a good picture of how much ozone is in the atmosphere. The reason that this is so important is that ozone blocks much of the Sun's harmful radiation from reaching Earth's surface. If there's not enough ozone in the atmosphere, it can lead to health risks as well as too much energy reaching the Earth.

Polar Profile

Name: Jim Boaz

Job Title: Sheet Metal Worker

Jim Boaz works as a sheet metal worker at Summit Station.

Home: Saguache, Colorado

Length of Time Working in Polar Regions: Jim has been working in the polar regions since 2005. He has worked in both polar regions.

Length of Current Assignment to Summit Station: Jim is here on a 10 week contract and will be here until the end of July.

Job Description: Jim works primarily with sheet metal but does fill in from time to time to help others.

Favorite Part of Working at Summit Station: Jim says that his favorite part of working at Summit Station is that it is a challenging job due to the location. He also enjoys the variety of work that he gets to do.

Hardest Part of Working at Summit Station: Jim says that the hardest part is being away from his family. In fact, his daughter had a baby since he got here and he can't wait to meet her.