We are getting ready to go back to Antarctica! On Tuesday
Oct 21 we will fly to Punta Arenas in Chile and on Sunday Oct 26 we hope to set
sail on the research icebreaker “Nathaniel B. Palmer” to sample the waters of the
Western Antarctic Peninsula, or the WAP as it is affectionately called. We are
going in the early Antarctic spring, a lot earlier than previous expeditions. It will still be dark at night during our trip!
Getting ready always comes with a mix of
stress to get everything ready, sadness to leave home for so long, and
excitement about going to Antarctica. Our gear was shipped months ago, which forces
you to finalize the science planning well in advance, but there are always last
minute adjustments and additions. And
there are the uncertainties of doing field work in Antarctica. We plan to do our research at the location of the Long Term Ecological Research
site of the WAP: Palmer LTER. This is of
course a good plan, but the satellite data show a lot of sea ice where we want
to go! So we’ll see where the phytoplankton hangs out when we get there.
Fortunately, you can also see phytoplankton with the satellite, so we’re
keeping a close eye on the daily satellite data that are delivered to our
computer. Also, there are a number of satellite wind products that I’m keeping
an eye on for the conditions in the Drake Passage, the windy bit of water we
have to cross to get to our research site.
This
is a pretty awesome site to watch the wind all over the globe http://earth.nullschool.net/#current/wind/surface/level/orthographic=-115.96,-89.44,345
Right now it looks pretty manageable, so hopefully between now and two
weeks the wind will stay calm, the ice will melt, and the phytoplankton will
start to grow. Antarctica, here we come!
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| The Nathaniel B. Palmer in Punta Arenas, Chile. |
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| Sea ice concentration in our study area. |
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| The Nathaniel B. Palmer at the British Antarctic station Rothera, last year. |
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