The
final day turned out to be a very busy one. We finally got some light
shed on the problems Cristen has been experiencing with the PEARL-GBS
and her own computer: a Trojan worm that passes through USB keys. While
this led to a mad flurry of activity for everyone, new virus checkers
(Norton had been fully updated and running on her computers, without
ever picking it up) and for Cristen, a very long night of reinstalling
everything on the PEARL-GBS, we're all happy that at least now we know
what has been causing all these problems. We hope we have also managed
to confine the worm... but please for those of you that don't think
twice about transferring files by USB stick, know that there are
hard-to-detect viruses that spread this way!
In addition to this activity, it was mostly sunny and Rodica and
Felicia were able to end their part of the campaign with another solid
day of measurements. Both are happy with the number and quality of
measurements they have got through the intensive phase of the campaign,
and I'm looking forward to being able to run both instruments in an
automated way through the next few weeks. The UT-GBS (which fortunately
seems to have escaped the fate of the PEARL-GBS), SAOZ, MAESTRO and the
SPS all continue to work well. We also had another great ozonesonde
launch, with the balloon making it to 7.5 hPa.
As we reach the end of the intensive phase of the campaign, I want to
thank everyone on the team for their hard work over the last three
weeks, and for persevering through the challenges and frustrations that
have been part of this year's campaign. We have collected a great data
set, and in the process, learned a lot about our instruments. Enjoy
your journey home and the new data you have been able to collect, and
have a safe and relaxing trip.
I'd also like to extend my thanks to the station staff, who have done a
fantastic job supporting another Canadian Arctic ACE campaign. I'd like
to especially acknowledge the chef, Jonathan. We gave him a great
challenge this year, with dairy intolerance, multiple food allergies
and a vegetarian, and he not only made sure everyone was well fed and
happy, but went out of his way to ensure there were tasty options
available for everyone. And he makes a phenomenal chocolate mousse!
Thanks Jon. We'd also like to add a huge thanks to the met-techs who
have launched daily ozonesondes for us, and answered our many questions
about the weather. Finally, a big thanks to Matt and Pierre, who have
ensured PEARL was well supplied with everything we needed and driven us
up and down to the lab each day, including early on Sunday mornings,
when they'd much rather have been sleeping! We couldn't do this without
you.
I must run to see off the plane, which will be leaving here
shortly. Thanks for following along with the intensive phase of
the Canadian Arctic ACE Validation campaign. I will continue to
give short updates throughout the extended phase (until April 1) though
the web photo journal will necessarily be more limited.