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Antarctic Weather Stations

Hi Kirk! I was reading the journal of the 11th to my class (about the Oden). It was really neat seeing it from another perspective. Wonder who is standing on the deck looking toward you and McMurdo!I understood the crew may have been on shore this weekend, do you know if they made it to the dock? Perhaps you can take a picture before you leave so that we can see the progress! I will forward your site to my Swedish and US friends- I know they would love to see it too! My Redd School class has a couple of questions: 1. Is solar energy used in the greenhouse during the summer? 2. How many pounds of "greens" can be grown before winter? 3. How big is the greenhouse? 4. The weather stations don't look very sturdy, what kind of material or metal are they made of? 5. Have they ever lost contact with a large number of them(weater stations) at a time? 6. Are the scientists you are with the only ones who work on them? Thanks, Have a great day! Lollie

Thu, 01/17/2008 - 19:03

Kirk Beckendorf

Hi Lollie and class!!!If you look at the 1-16 post there is a pic of the Oden, but I'll get you some more. Just to the right of the large rectangular area is the pier. What looks cleared is actually not open water, just broken and loose ice. Yes there is a lane cleared all of the way to the landing.
As far as I could tell no solar power is used, but I'll double check on that and on how many greens they can produce. There are three rooms, each is about the size of a small bedroom.
The weather stations are very durable. The towers are just standard galvanized pipe, the components are various combinations of metals and plastics. Since the stations are not connected in any way they have not lost contact with a number of them at the same time.
Although "my" team of scientist run the weather station program, they do work closely with other scientists. This morning we ate breakfast with someone who just got back from West Antarctica and the two groups will be working together on a station. "My" team also works closely with the French, the Japanese and Chinese. In fact, today, George got word that the Chinese has just installed one of his stations. A lot of other scientists use the data from the weather stations.
Thanks for all of the great questions.
Kirk