The day
started out pretty clear, with very light winds. Rodica and Felicia
were able to get good measurements, right up until the clouds came in
around 1:30pm. With the sun now a little higher and the intensity less
variable, Rodica was able to utilize our 'macro' operation to run
through each of the filters in turn without intervention. This is how
the operators normally make measurements for us during the rest of the
year, and frees her up to work on other projects. Not having to swap
the sun beam between the DA8 and the Bruker is a big advantage for us
this year! Felicia is also on the way to a similar system, and
was able to make some good progress getting gain adjustment running on
her automation mode after the sun disappeared behind the clouds.
Things weren't quite so happy for Cristen. She and Matt moved the
PEARL-GBS up to its new home in the Penthouse, and I guess we can just
say "it didn't like it". She is now fully back in trouble-shooting
mode. Fortunately the UT-GBS and SAOZ remain reliable!
MAESTRO and the SPS also seem to be working well now, and Volodya and
Tom are preparing to leave on Wednesday. The Brewers are also both
working well, and we had a great demonstration of a new design Volodya
and Tom have been working on that lets Brewer #69 turn around and
around without tangling or reaching any limit. This will be a big
improvement for operation, especially in sites like this where the sun
stays up 24 hours a day.
Bernard and Emily headed up the hill shortly after dinner and were able
to gather a few hours of observations before the winds really picked
up, and blowing snow caused them to call it a night.