Week three has come to a close. Today at the Eureka Weather Station, the temperature was -31°C. Temperatures at the Ridge Lab were the warmest we've yet experienced, -17°C. Unfortunately, the sky was again cloudy.
In the PEARL Ridge Lab's IR lab, solar measurements were not possible for most of the day due to clouds. In the late afternoon, Dan took 12 MIR measurements with the Bruker. Debora took 8 measurements with PARIS.
MAESTRO was not updating its time so Paul restarted it this morning. It appears to be operating normally again.
Over in the UV-Vis Lab, Xiaoyi replaced UT-GBS' shutter and CCD cable (which he had found to be troublesome). As of this afternoon, the UT-GBS is again taking measurements normally. Xiaoyi also tested his ability to remote control the GBSs, and confirmed they are ready for year-round measurements without an on-site operator.
Down at 0PAL, the CRL took measurements continuously all day and all night.
Since the sky was too cloudy for solar measurements, the team left the Ridge Lab a bit early. They took a detour after arriving back at the Eureka Weather Station, heading up to a road past the airport. While the road was quickly impassible due to drifted snow, Dan, Debora, Paul, and Xiaoyi continued on foot. A short time later, they spotted a group of about 40 Arctic hares in the distance. Approaching slowly and quietly, they were able to get within a few feet of the bunnies. Amazing!