2 March 2011
Finally, a full clear day!
Temperatures here in Eureka are back to a more familiar -45C and clear
skies. Along with the cold temperatures at the weather station, the
temperature inversion is also back! At the PEARL Ridge Lab today, the
temperatures remained steady around -28C for much of the day and began to
drop around 2pm while the winds increased throughout the day from
approximately 2kts to 15kts.
The vortex is maintaining its general position. Its structure remains oval
with one end extending over the Canadian Arctic into the Hudson's Bay region
and the other end extending well into Russia. At 70hPa, the cold core of the
vortex, at approximately 190K, is centered on the pole to the north of
Eureka. Temperatures over Ellesmere Island in the vortex are approximately
195K.
In the FTS lab, the Bruker 125HR and PARIS-IR continued measurements today
for about 6.5 hours. The Bruker team recorded its first near-IR (NIR)
measurements of the year today! They acquired 25 NIR and 58 MIR solar
spectra! Their current plan is to continue to alternate between NIR and MIR
measurements. PARIS-IR recorded 44 MIR solar measurements today, continuing
to operate in its automated batch mode without any issues. Additionally, the
data backup to the CANDAC server was set up today.
In the UV-VIS lab, Cristen and Xiaoyi installed the tracker (again with help
from Paul and Alexei!). Later in the day, Xiaoyi focused the UT-GBS and
began installing the UT-GBS in the hatch. Volodya adjusted the SPS script
and the troubled computer survived the night, so fingers crossed it might
just work from now on. SPS is collecting more and more data every day, but
still those are mostly zenith-sky observations. The data cable for Brewer
#007 was fixed and the COM port was replaced. The instrument is working
well now and if it works tomorrow with no communication errors then
hopefully this issue will be closed. In an on-going issue, one of the
Brewer UPSs needs to be swapped with a spare one.
This evening, the ACE ozonesonde flight was launched at the usual time of
6:15, bursting at 6.6 mbar (31 326 m). Since the days are getting longer
and longer, it may be bright enough in the evening soon to get a good video
of the launch. While waiting for the produce flight tonight, Lin and Paul
continued the on-going ping-pong tournament. Lin continues to be champion,
amazing his opponents!
Felicia