Another Message Home from Antarctica!

Drew is the fella on the right

Morning! We've been hard at work here on the ice. We have five of eight sensors lifted to the surface and are waiting for the heavy equipment operator to get out here to pre-lift our power station (BOB).

We're a 15 km drive from McMurdo and Scott Base where the nearest "real" buildings would be. On the way out to camp, there are other permanent and semi-permanent structures that may or may not be heated but are not often occupied. At camp we have BOB (our "Big Orange Box" hybrid power station built into a shipping container on skis) which is heated, semi-permanent but heated kitchen and workshop tents, and an outhouse on skis; I'm not sure those count as buildings though. Our sleeping tent is about 40 or 45 Fahrenheit inside at the coldest. Plenty warm!

As for the sensors they are our infrasound sensors that record the total pressure (atmospheric and, hopefully, acoustic) at eight locations (hence the term "array"). These sensors are basically just huge microphones designed to have a good response (measurement capability) in the infrasound band (0.01 to 10 Hz). The sensors and all the supporting equipment needs to be kept out of the weather so they sit in the field in weatherproof vaults. These vaults sit on the snowy surface of the permanent ice shelf all year. During the year, the vaults get buried under the accumulated snow (usually about 3-4 feet) and need to be lifted up to the surface every year or risk being lost. There's some old equipment people have left behind in similar situations that are now 40 or 50 feet below the snow surface and will never be seen again. If I remember correctly, there was a sighting of a bunch of equipment left from the 60's that finally made it out to sea and was exposed when the ice shelf broke off recently, pretty neat!

I think we're attending McMurdo's Thanksgiving gathering but I don't remember when that is. If there is one thing that McMurdo cooks get right it's the bread. It's not as good as yours but it's definitely the best around! I'm looking forward to some good French bread rolls again when I see you at Christmas.

As for the wifi, all seems to be working well, during heavy snowfall, the attenuation is high enough to break our line of sight, but the internet usually works.

It's definitely warm here today, the sun is blazing bright and it's 13.8 F outside with a 7 mph wind; the sun is offering our solar panels over 300 watts/m^2!

I've got some snow to go dig. Of course, the sun doesn't set so there's no night here but have a good night!

Miss you too! Love you tons!
Drew