More great weather today kept our spirits high and our measurements plentiful. Eureka's Weather Station and the PEARL Ridge Lab enjoyed higher temperatures than in recent days, at -48°C and -33°C, respectively.
In the PEARL Ridge Lab's IR lab, Joseph and Dan took 78 MIR measurements with the Bruker. Debora took 45 measurements with PARIS. She also looked at yesterday's spectra, which look great.
Over in the UV-Vis Lab, Xiaoyi performed another group of tests for the UT-GBS, and continues to seek a better solution for decreasing its signal level. Xiaoyi ran UT-GBS measurements with the neutral density filter and a diffuser on its telescope from noon onwards. He will analyze the results tomorrow. Hopefully, this will help him decide how to setup the instrument for year-round measurements. Xiaoyi also shut down the PEARL-GBS, moved it out of the mezzanine, reassembled it in UV-Vis lab's hatch, and installed a new 6 m slit-to-spot fibre bundle. Towards the end of the day, Xiaoyi worked on PEARL-GBS resolution tests. SAOZ continues to operate nominally.
Down at the Eureka Weather Station, Volodya continued playing with the MAESTRO/SPS scripts trying to reduce the workload for the operators. Both instruments have collected data without any computer or software problems. Volodya also verified the station's Brewer #192 solar pointing. The Brewer is working well without need for adjustments.
Down at 0PAL, Zen finished weekly, monthly, and seasonal E-AERI maintenance. The instrument is now fully operational and automated, taking measurements every ~7 minutes, 24 hours a day (precipitation permitting). Chris took measurements with the CRL all day and night, while Emily worked on calibration code for depolarization. Emily and Zen also went for a walk, followed a lemming trail, and found the lemming's burrow. Unfortunately, no lemmings were seen.
Today's ACE ozonesonde flight occurred at 18:28 (local time) and reached an altitude of 27,528 m. The Raven balloon again failed to launch. James, the Eureka Weather Station SAO, is unsure why. The sondes were again re-launched on a regular balloon.
At the end of tonight's dinner, the Eureka Weather Station staff surprised Zen with a birthday cake! What a great way to finish off a busy day.