Continuing Adventures with a Ground-Based Microwave Radiometer, Fraser, CO 2002

Boulder, CO, February 23, 2002 Part 3. Well the radiometer's been installed for a month, now, and the engineers have been having no end of trouble with the low temperatures. On February 23, I went back up to the site to meet with Toshio Koike, the Japanese researcher who paid for all of this, and several of his grad students that he brought to use the instrument and perform some other experiments. The engineering prognosis is grim but doesn't seem impossible: they may just have to take limited measurements, since some of the frequencies have not yet been repaired. The weather's been very cold, but today the air temperatures are above freezing. This time I used my own (non-digital) camera, so these pictures didn't get digitized so quickly as the others. (Click on any of the thumbnails for a larger image.)

Back at the container, more snow than there was in January.

R2-D2, hissing quietly.

The view of the container from the opposite side of the clearing, with a snow pit in the foreground. This pit was dug yesterday by Asa Twombly, (one of the CRREL researchers).

Toshio and ?? (from Sri Lanka) measuring in a snow pit.

Surface roughness, stick a piece of cardboard in the snow and spray with black spray paint. Decidedly lower-tech solution that the thousands of digital photos taken by the Cold Lands Processes researchers. I don't think our ops staff would have liked having to name and catalog thousands of these any better!

Another student (name?), from Japan.

You can see how deep the snow is, here. The intensive study area is riddled with little paths through the snow like this...

...and all kinds of met instrumetation like this tower in the foreground. You have to be careful not to trip on the extension cords running everywhere!

Fujii, photographing snow crystals. You can see the stratigraphy in the side of the snow pit, layering from different snow events.

(I need to ask him whether these pictures came out, they would be so cool!)

Pouring liquid nitrogen for an absolute calibration. I think they gave up on R2-D2, and started using this ambient (non-pressurized) dewar. It's very weird stuff, it doesn't behave like you expect it to, since it's boiling, it sloshes around a lot quicker then you think, and somehow it slips more than water does. I know that sounds bizarre, it is bizarre.

Fujii, lifting the calibration target, filled with boiling nitrogen, up to the instrument platform.

The target, during calibration. There's not really a lot of wiggle-room in there.

After calibration, returning the unused nitrogen back to the dewar. This direction is especially bizarre and sloshy, there are no handles on that target!

All done. I think everyone holds their breath while he does this. What's that line from MacBeth? "Double, double, toil and trouble."

Day Index
Liquid Nitrogen Delivery and Radiometer Installation
Having Fun Training
Snow Pits and Absolute Calibration
Repair Work

Mary Jo Brodzik <brodzik@nsidc.org>

Last modified: Mon Nov 18 13:21:22 2002

	Back at the container, more snow than there was in January.
	R2-D2, hissing quietly.
	The view of the container from the opposite side of the clearing, with a snow pit in the foreground. This pit was dug yesterday by Asa Twombly, (one of the CRREL researchers).
	Toshio and ?? (from Sri Lanka) measuring in a snow pit.
	Surface roughness, stick a piece of cardboard in the snow and spray with black spray paint. Decidedly lower-tech solution that the thousands of digital photos taken by the Cold Lands Processes researchers. I don't think our ops staff would have liked having to name and catalog thousands of these any better!
	Another student (name?), from Japan.
	You can see how deep the snow is, here. The intensive study area is riddled with little paths through the snow like this...
	...and all kinds of met instrumetation like this tower in the foreground. You have to be careful not to trip on the extension cords running everywhere!
	Fujii, photographing snow crystals. You can see the stratigraphy in the side of the snow pit, layering from different snow events.
	(I need to ask him whether these pictures came out, they would be so cool!)
	Pouring liquid nitrogen for an absolute calibration. I think they gave up on R2-D2, and started using this ambient (non-pressurized) dewar. It's very weird stuff, it doesn't behave like you expect it to, since it's boiling, it sloshes around a lot quicker then you think, and somehow it slips more than water does. I know that sounds bizarre, it is bizarre.
	Fujii, lifting the calibration target, filled with boiling nitrogen, up to the instrument platform.

	The target, during calibration. There's not really a lot of wiggle-room in there.
	After calibration, returning the unused nitrogen back to the dewar. This direction is especially bizarre and sloshy, there are no handles on that target!

	All done. I think everyone holds their breath while he does this. What's that line from MacBeth? "Double, double, toil and trouble."