Today's post will again be a photojournal.
Ready to work with the ARA detector at the South Pole.
Right after breakfast we met Michael (Mike) DuVernois at the Science Lab and set the agenda for the day. There were seven of us: Mike, Elisa, Sam, Stefan, Hans, James and me. It was decided that we would spend the morning at the IceCube Laboratory, and later on in the afternoon three of us would go to the ARA neutrino detector to run some tests. We went after lunch and worked for about two hours in the field.
The IceCube Laboratory (ICL) near the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station.
The ARA (Askaryan Radio Array) neutrino detector is a new instrument under construction at the South Pole. It will measure radio waves generated by the interaction of neutrinos with the Antarctic ice. Three detector elements (i.e., ARA 1, 2 and 3) have already been deployed in the ice about 200 meters below the surface, with 34 more to come, for a total of 37.
Arrival at the ARA 2 site by snowmobile. The site is located about three kilometers from the main station.
After shoveling about 30 cm of snow the ARA bunker is uncovered.
I helped as Mike got down into the bunker. ARA instrumentation is inside.
We set up temporary cabling to run tests from 5, 10, 20, 30 and 50 meters away.
Me holding a battery.
Me switching on the battery
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