Not only are there several languages being spoken around here there are many acronyms: SODAR, OOTI and DOAS. Today I received a brief introduction to some of them. SODAR measures wind speed and direction every 15 minutes through the layer of the atmosphere from the surface to 1000m above it. Sound pulses are sent into the atmosphere. Microphones detect the sound pulses that are reflected back to the ground. The Doppler shift of the reflected sound pulse is used to calculate wind speed and direction. It is a piece of equipment any 7th grader would love because it chirps away 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It is non-stop noise. A more detailed picture and description can be seen in the SODAR file below.
Harry Beine giving me a tour of the snow field near Barrow Arctic Research Center (BARC).
OOTI is an acronym for Out On The Ice. The team that was out there today encountered a polar bear. He came in from the water and once he sniffed around and discovered the people, he left without a problem. There was a polar bear earlier in town this morning.
A polar bear visitor on the sea ice.
DOAS stand for Differential Optical Absorption Spectroscopy. It is a method of measuring chemicals like ozone in the air. It looks out a field and receives light from a reflector several km away. It reminded me of a telescope. I hope to learn more about it the longer I am here.
DOAS Equipment
Harry Beine, Didier Voisin, Manuel Barret, Florent Dominé, Spencer Brown and I, went out and surveyed the snow field this afternoon for sample sites. Harry is studying the light absorption of the snow. He sampled the snow by cutting a chunk of it with the spatula and then smashed it into the bottle. Didier is researching the presence of HULIS. It is a class of atmospheric aerosol particles that are Humic-Like Substances. Didier was much more precise and delicate in obtaining his samples. He cut a large chunk of the frozen ice, slowly cut it into smaller pieces and carefully tamped it down into the sample bottle.
Manuel Barret and Florent Dominé (l to r) heading out to survey snow field.
Didier Voisin meticulously retrieving snow sample while Harry Beine (white face mask) looks on.
It was a very good first day and as bad puns go, it's only the tip of the iceberg in this polar world.