Notes from the Field

Back in the Office

April 22nd, 2013 by Maria-Jose Viñas

By Lora Koenig

Watching dogsleds go by in Kulusuk.

Watching dogsleds go by in Kulusuk.

Well, I am back in Greenbelt, Maryland, typing with warm fingers in a climate-controlled office with high-speed Internet and drinking fountain just down the hall. After fieldwork, I am always thankful for things I generally take for granted, like being able to charge my laptop by simply plugging it into an outlet. There is no longer a need fill a generator with gas and then start it just to charge batteries. Aw, the comforts of home!  (We all had safe trips back to the US and have returned to our home institutions last week.)

For the last blog post of the season, I decided to pull together a few of my favorite photos from our trip to give you a sampling of the great fun we get to have while doing this kind of research. The most fun I had during this trip was on our final day in Kulusuk: we were invited to the Kulusuk School to with the children in the upper grades (who speak some English) about our work. I regret that we do not have any pictures of this event, but we were giving our presentation and letting the students run our small ice core drill, thus neglecting picture taking. The school in Kulusuk has about 70 students and includes all grades. The building has lots of windows and is very bright inside — it is one of the prettiest schools I have been in, with lots of open space, a small kitchen, library and a gym. I especially liked the entrance to the school, which was equipped with plenty of coat hangers and boot racks for the students to shed their cold weather gear as soon as they come inside. Though we were there talking about science, the school in Kulusuk is known for their art. We were hosted by the art teacher, Anne-Mette Holm, and after our talk got to attend one of her classes where the students were making wooden sculptures. We also got to see other student projects including weaving, toy making and furniture making. Quite a portfolio!  The students’ art has traveled the world, being shown at different expeditions across the Arctic. (Check out pages 11 -15 of this document for some examples of the children’s art work under Anne-Mette’s tutelage.)

While our visit to the school was definitely the top highlight of the trip here are a few others highlights in pictures.

The northern lights (Aurora) never got old and were out almost every night.

The northern lights (Aurora) never got old and were out almost every night.

The view out the window from our dinner table in Kulusuk at sunset.

The view out the window from our dinner table in Kulusuk at sunset.

Sunset in Kulusuk.

Sunset in Kulusuk.

Seeing mountains from our campsite on the ice sheet, a nice change from the typical flat white ice sheet.

Seeing mountains from our campsite on the ice sheet, a nice change from the typical flat white ice sheet.

Watching Clem dig a really big hole for the thermistor control boxes.

Watching Clem dig a really big hole for the thermistor control boxes.

Seeing the transition between the flat ice sheet and the fast flowing outlet glaciers.

Seeing the transition between the flat ice sheet and the fast flowing outlet glaciers.

Catching a ride in the airport luggage carts.

Catching a ride in the airport luggage carts.

So those were some of the highlights of the field work and now it is time to work with the data we gathered. In the week we have been back, we have already started to analyze our data. We see that, as expected, the densities in the firn (aged snow) above the aquifer are higher than expected and that there is more water than originally predicted. We still need more data to fully understand what this water trapped in the Greenland ice sheet means for sea level rise. We need many years of data to understand how and if the aquifer is changing with time… but remember this was an exploratory mission. When we set out, we were not even sure if our drills would even work. There was a chance they would have just frozen in place and we would not have gotten any data. This was a high-risk mission due to the weather in the region and all the new things we were trying. We came back with all the data we set out to get and, quite frankly, I am surprised. We had a large team that helped with this project including the field team, logistics support, airport support, the NASA and NSF support teams and all of you for your well wishes and interest in our research. Thanks to all! Until next time, stay cool 🙂

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One Response to “Back in the Office”

  1. Scott Johnston says:

    Nice photos and thanks for all you do!