It was
another gorgeous day for measurements today. The day started out calm,
clear and very warm up at the lab (-18C!) though the wind picked up and
the temperatures dropped by later in the day. PARIS had a few troubles
getting started today - we're not sure if it was too hot (the lab was
up to 30C) or the vibrations of the Bruker pump upset it (though it
doesn't usually), or if it was just random communication errors. With
Felicia on the phone though, we were able to go through a series of
attempts, and eventually it decided to work normally and measure for
the rest of the day. I also installed a red glass filter in the Bruker
today, to limit the light if we want to make near infrared (NIR)
measurements. After accumulating 70 of or so of our normal mid infrared
measurements, I did just that, picking up a handful of NIR measurements
late in the afternoon. We are hoping to be able to make NIR
measurements in support of the Total Carbon Column Observing Network
for validation of GOSAT (a Japanese carbon-dioxide measuring satellite)
in the future, but to meet those stringent requirements, we need a new
detector which is more sensitive in these wavelengths. The measurements
I made with our current detector today do, however, let me experiment
with the analysis software needed for those CO2 retrievals.
The UV-VIS instruments continue to work well, though SAOZ was recording
some odd-looking spectra in the afternoon. These are back to normal now
(Saturday morning) so I'm not sure quite what it was detecting. Yan
also implemented a new data transfer procedure for the GBS instruments
today, so that data is again being transferred south routinely with the
CANDAC data suite.
The station continues to be Grand Central Station, with Defense
personnel, UNCLOS people, Kenn Borek Air pilots and engineers and North
Pole explorers passing through on a daily or weekly basis. With so many
people on station, the fresh food supplies are almost gone - but
somehow Jon and Donna manage to keep on feeding us wonderful meals!