Submitted by Anonymous on Mon, 03/19/2012 - 16:24
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Carbon Balance in Warming and Drying Tundra 2012

Jimmy Ly period 4 Hi Mr. Wood. First of all, I just wanted to wish you good luck on the experiment and I have a question for the second one. What type of vehicle do you use at Alaska? Thank you.

Mon, 03/19/2012 - 22:04

John Wood

Thanks Jimmy! We are here at the cabin and getting ready to begin experiments. We use different vehicles such as a jeep, a snowmobile, and even dog sleds, to get around. There is a considerable amount of snow this year so we will see.Mr. Wood

Tue, 03/20/2012 - 21:15

Anonymous

Jimmy LyPeriod 4
Hi. Which is the most common use out of those three options?
Also, which would be the best to use?

Tue, 03/20/2012 - 22:04

John Wood

Thank you Jimmy. Right now we are using a snowmobile to get out to the study site. It will carry both of us and is pretty fast.Mr. Wood

Wed, 03/21/2012 - 19:29

Anonymous

Jimmy LyPeriod 4
What would the dogs and Jeep be good for at Alaska?
Also, how many pounds can the dogs, Jeep, and snowmobile support?
How many person(s) can they also transport at one time?

Wed, 03/21/2012 - 21:04

John Wood

The dogs and the jeep are good for getting over areas with lots of snow. The dogs are the best at doing this. They can go many places the jeep can not get to. The snowmobile can carry two people and supplies. The dogs can carry a couple of people and their things. If you have more weight you can add more dogs.Thanks,
Mr. Wood

Thu, 03/22/2012 - 20:45

Anonymous

Jimmy LyPeriod 4
What type of airplanes would you use up there? Would you use a commercial plane? Could you use a propeller plane? Or would you use something like a C-17?

Thu, 03/22/2012 - 21:04

John Wood

There are a lot of different types of planes up here. I flew up on a regular commercial plane, But people fly small planes and the military has some real big ones!Thanks,
Mr. Wood

Fri, 03/23/2012 - 20:39

Anonymous

Jimmy LyPeriod 4
Hi. I was wondering, what types of airports do you have up there. Do you have just one runway or is it a large one like LAX?
Also, what would be the most common type of air transportation?

Fri, 03/23/2012 - 20:54

John Wood

The airports up here are pretty large. Mostly because they handle a lot of air traffic from Asia and Europe that fly over the North Pole. Plus they handle a fair amount of military air traffic and that includes some very large cargo planes at times. There are a bunch of small private planes here. Alaska has more airplanes per person than any other state. Many of those are float planes. The capital of Alaska is the town of Juneau and there are no roads into town. You have to take a boat or a plane to get there. It's that way with many of the town and villages in this state.Thanks,
Mr. Wood

Sat, 03/24/2012 - 19:45

Anonymous

Jimmy LyPeriod 4
Hi. I was wondering if you had every rode in one of the military planes or flew over the North Pole in one?
Have you every flew in a float plane or a private plane to Alaska, too?

Sat, 03/24/2012 - 21:00

John Wood

I have flown in military planes in different parts of the world. I did even fly in a few to the South Pole, but not to the North Pole yet! I have also flown in float planes and small private planes many times in Alaska. They are pretty cool!Thanks,
Mr. Wood

Mon, 03/26/2012 - 20:42

Anonymous

Jimmy LyPeriod 4
Hi. Going back to the snowmobiles, I was wondering how they work and how they drive on the snow?

Mon, 03/26/2012 - 21:11

John Wood

The snowmobiles work kind of like a motorcycle. It has everything a motorcycle has but except of wheels, the snowmobile has treads, like a tank, on the rear that pushes the vehicle over the snow. On the front end are two skis instead of a wheel, so you steer by turning the skis.Pretty cool!
Mr. Wood

Tue, 03/27/2012 - 21:33

Anonymous

Jimmy LyPeriod 4
Hi. My dad told me that the snowmobile is hard to turn. Is that true?
Also, how do you accelerate on a snowmobile (press pedal/motorcycle rev)?

Tue, 03/27/2012 - 21:36

Anonymous

Jimmy LyPeriod 4
Hi. sorry about this but I think there was an error so I am going to post it again.
Hi. My dad told me that the snowmobile is hard to turn. Is that true?
Also, how do you accelerate on a snowmobile (press pedal/motorcycle rev)?

Tue, 03/27/2012 - 22:05

John Wood

Your Dad is right. It depends on the snow conditions, but often they are very hard to turn. To accelerate there is a lever on the right handle that you compress.Thanks,
Mr. Wood

Wed, 03/28/2012 - 21:11

Anonymous

Jimmy LyPeriod 4
Hi. I was wondering if you had ever lost control or accidently almost ran over one of the experiment sites?

Wed, 03/28/2012 - 22:09

John Wood

We are pretty careful around the study sites. We have not had any problems.Thanks,
Mr. Wood

Thu, 03/29/2012 - 21:19

Anonymous

Jimmy LyPeriod 4
I was wondering while you were traveling around Alaska to get to the different places, did you use a car, snowmobile, or airplane?

Thu, 03/29/2012 - 21:23

Anonymous

Jimmy LyPeriod 4
Sorry. I had to repost it like the other one because of an error that keeps happening on my computer.
I was wondering while you were traveling around Alaska to get to the different places, did you use a car, snowmobile, or airplane?

Thu, 03/29/2012 - 21:27

John Wood

So far we use a jeep to drive from Fairbanks to Healy. We use a snowmobile to get to the study site. We still have to walk from the jeep to the cabin because of all the snow.Thanks,
Mr. Wood

Thu, 03/29/2012 - 21:30

Anonymous

Jimmy LyPeriod 4
Hi. I was wondering if you knew where the exact location of the site is so I could try to find it on Google Earth.

Fri, 03/30/2012 - 08:44

John Wood

Hello, and good question. The location of the site is on each journal under the details section. The best I can figure it the study site is at 63 degrees, 52 minutes, 47.57 seconds North latitude, and 149 degrees, 13 minutes, 33.57 seconds West longitude. We are very close to Eight Mile Lake.Good luck, and let me know what you see.
Mr. Wood

Fri, 03/30/2012 - 21:39

Anonymous

Jimmy LyPeriod 4
Hi. I don't think that I got to the place but it was very close to the Eight Mile Lake. The Eight Mile Lake does look very big. Is it really eight miles?

Sat, 03/31/2012 - 09:06

John Wood

Sounds like you found it. We are just East and a tiny bit South of the lake. The resolution in that area may not be good enough to see the experiments. The whole thing is pretty small compared to the amount of open space. Eight Mile Lake is no more than a mile long, it is about eight miles from the main road. The numbers I gave you should put you right on top of the experiment.Thanks,
Mr. Wood

Sat, 03/31/2012 - 21:28

Anonymous

Jimmy LyPeriod 4
Oh. I think that it might just be out of date. I'll wait until the satellite goes over head again.

Sat, 03/31/2012 - 21:44

John Wood

That would be interesting to see. It may be a while before the satellite passes over that area. Do you know when that may happen?Thanks,
Mr. Wood

Sun, 04/01/2012 - 21:46

Anonymous

satellite

Sun, 04/01/2012 - 21:49

Anonymous

Jimmy LyPeriod 4
I think that it will update somewhere around this year.
Sorry about the other comment but I pushed some button and it posted on its own.
Is it fun doing these experiments in Alaska?

Mon, 04/02/2012 - 08:37

John Wood

I think you're right about the satellite. These experiments are a lot of fun. Just being out in the field and seeing what is going on in the world is very fascinating. There is always so much to look at and consider. Also, getting to share this with all of you is great! I love the questions you guys come up with because then I get to see how you mind works and what interests you.Thanks,
Mr. Wood

Tue, 04/03/2012 - 21:55

Anonymous

Jimmy LyPeriod 4
My dad also said that they don't update it very often because it cost money to.

Wed, 04/04/2012 - 07:14

John Wood

That is right. It could take a while.Thanks,
Mr. Wood

Wed, 04/04/2012 - 21:21

Anonymous

Jimmy LyPeriod 4
Still, if it did update, I don't think that it would be big enough to view from space.

Thu, 04/05/2012 - 09:50

John Wood

That is what I was saying at the beginning. I think that the resolution in this area is not good enough to see the study site clearly.We will see!
Thanks,
Mr. Wood

Thu, 04/05/2012 - 21:09

Anonymous

Jimmy LyPeriod 4
Hi Mr. Wood. I have found a free version of Google Earth Pro and I am trying to download it right now.
I have read that it is almost real-time, it is 3-D, and it has an extremely high resolution. Hopefully, it can download to my computer.

Thu, 04/05/2012 - 21:19

John Wood

Let me know how that works for you.Thanks,
Mr. Wood

Sat, 04/07/2012 - 17:07

Anonymous

Jimmy LyPeriod 4
Hi. I tried it and I was able to download it, but I ran into one problem:
to use it, I have to get an ID with is either $5 a month or $399 a year.

Sat, 04/07/2012 - 18:19

John Wood

I figured the pro was going to cost you. You don't need it that badly.Thanks,
Mr. Wood

Sun, 04/08/2012 - 07:02

Anonymous

Jimmy LyPeriod 4
Hi Mr. Wood. I am going to a national park so I won't be able to read the other journals until Wednesday but when I get back, I will read them as soon as possible.

Sun, 04/08/2012 - 08:33

John Wood

That sounds great! Which park are you going to? Let us know what you find.Thanks,
Mr. Wood

Tue, 04/10/2012 - 15:45

Anonymous

Jimmy LyPeriod 4
Hi. I had gone to Sequoia National Park. It was really fun.
There were some problems though. The road was really small so when a car coming the opposite direction came, we had to go to the side and let them pass.
Even with a small road, there was still construction and in the construction area, it was only one way for one hour and the opposite way for the other hour. We had luckily made it just in time so we didn't have to wait.
Anyways, I got to see the largest and heaviest sequoia tree in the whole park (I think that it was actually the largest tree in the world!). The thing said that its volume if filled with water, it would be enough to take showers for 27 years every day. I also think that it said the tree weighed 11 or 22 thousand tons.

Tue, 04/10/2012 - 16:23

John Wood

That sounds great! Sequoia is a wonderful place to hike and camp. The trees are just so huge! I hope you took some nice photos of you and your family. Welcome back.Thanks,
Mr. Wood

Wed, 04/11/2012 - 21:36

Anonymous

Jimmy LyPeriod 4
Hi Mr. Wood. What are grape-nuts? Are they grapes that are nuts?l
Also, why do they call the trail the Stampede Trail Road?

Wed, 04/11/2012 - 23:31

John Wood

Grape-nuts is a cereal from Post in the stores. It's really crunchy and I like that. I'm not sure how Stampede came about. I will ask around and see if I can get some information.Thanks,
Mr. Wood

Fri, 04/13/2012 - 21:39

Anonymous

Jimmy LyPeriod 4
Hi. I was wondering why the most common color of an aurora is green?

Sat, 04/14/2012 - 08:04

John Wood

Great question! Different atoms give off different colors when the are excited. The sun's energy hitting our atmosphere excites the atoms and causes them to light up. It's very similar to a neon light. The color of the light depends on the gas inside the bulb, it's not always neon. When electricity is run through the gas, it gets excited and lights up. In our atmosphere there is more oxygen in the really high layers, so oxygen is the most common atom to get excited and it lights up with green.Thanks,
Mr. Wood

Sun, 04/15/2012 - 20:40

Anonymous

Jimmy LyPeriod 4
Hi. What does it mean when an atom gets excited?

Sun, 04/15/2012 - 20:43

Anonymous

Jimmy LyPeriod 4
Is the aurora outside of Earth's atmosphere or is it actually inside the atmosphere?
If it was inside the atmosphere, would we be able to fly up into it?

Sun, 04/15/2012 - 21:11

John Wood

The energy causes electrons in the atom to gain energy and change levels, which gives off tiny flashes of light.Thanks,
Mr. Wood

Sun, 04/15/2012 - 21:13

John Wood

It occurs very high in the atmosphere. There are some NASA you tube videos of aurora taken from the ISS (International Space Station) as they are flying over the lights. It looks great. It seems to me that you would be able fly through them if you could get high enough.Thanks,
Mr. Wood