The
winds and the blowing snow didn't let up overnight. The lidar team came
back measurement-less from PEARL early, given the conditions (and a
strange desire to avoid being trapped up there again!). By the time the
day crew got up there, the ambient temperature was -36C, with gusty 25+
knot winds outside. Inside, it didn't feel much warmer (though it was
actually around 12C), and we realized how quickly the wind can suck the
heat out of the building!
But it was a great day no less. All of the instruments are now fully
functional! Cristen (with a little help from Mareile and Bec to get it
up the ladder) installed the UT-GBS in the second hatch first thing,
and it seems to be working well. For the first few days, both GBS
instruments will be working in zenith-sky-viewing mode, allowing
Cristen to compare the instruments. Later, the solar tracker that Clive
has been working on will be installed above the PEARL instrument,
allowing direct sun measurements to be made. The combination of direct
and zenith-sky measurements will let Cristen study BrO. Bromine, like
chlorine, is able to catalytically destroy ozone (though there is much
less of it in the atmosphere than there is chlorine). There are still
many open questions about the role of bromine in atmospheric chemistry,
particularly in the polar regions, as BrO is thought to be released
from sea-ice. Hopefully, the measurements that Cristen will be making
will help us to better understand these processes.
SAOZ, MAESTRO and the SPS also continue to work well, though the cold
temperatures were a bit of a challenge for the MAESTRO/SPS tracker. In
the FTS lab, there was just enough sunlight for measurements through
the thick haze of cloud and blowing snow, and we managed to clock up 26
PARIS, 10 DA8 and 9 Bruker measurements before losing the sun
completely.
Back at the station, the entire 18 member local wolf pack had made an
appearance during the day (we were sorry to have missed them), so we
were all keeping our eyes open for those as we headed out to watch the
ozonesonde launch. Jane managed another perfect launch, this time with
a rubber Totex balloon. The Totex was used due to the strong winds,
which may have torn apart a more-delicate Raven. It did really well,
again reaching 6.6 hPa (34071m). I guess I'll be doing the dishes!
Clive/Annemarie's 2 * pi bet was again the winner. I take this as a
good omen for Annemarie, long-time ACE Campaign member, who will be
doing her internal PhD defense back in Toronto today (Wednesday)...
Good luck Annemarie!