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Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Global Warning
Monday, October 24, 2011
On the way home - Oct 25, 2011
After our walk in the hills over Nuuk the weather changed. We had a couple of inches of snow and very strong winds (I heard words like 50 knots but cannot confirm). I would call it a blizzard but that would be over dramatic. But the wind strong enough that at one point I had a very hard time openning the taxi door. Fortunately the wind and snow were done by morning and the flights went smoothly.
I forgot to thank Cheryl for the socks from Christmas. They were essential to keeping my feet warm and dry during the hike even when they weren't (I stepped into a hole and soaked one shoe).
Copenhagen is quite a shock after 3+ weeks at sea and in Nuuk. People and buildings instead of either open space and mountains, or the cozy confines of the Knoor.
I forgot to thank Cheryl for the socks from Christmas. They were essential to keeping my feet warm and dry during the hike even when they weren't (I stepped into a hole and soaked one shoe).
Copenhagen is quite a shock after 3+ weeks at sea and in Nuuk. People and buildings instead of either open space and mountains, or the cozy confines of the Knoor.
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Nuuk Oct 23, 2010
When we left Nuuk in early October it was fall. Temperature 3-4C and snow on the hill side.
When we returned it was winter: -6C, cold wind and snow on the ground.
Today we went for hike up the hill over town. Not good for my ego. There is a stock character in adventure/disaster movies. S/he is middle aged and out of shape. During the arduous walk/climb etc our character is always taking clothes off or putting them on, is always tripping and falling, and generally takes the wrong route around obstacles. This sad character was me today. But all is well that ends well and we make it back without injury.
To add to the winter imagery,. we walked on a frozen lake.
I also started to figure out what reindeer eat. There is lichen, moss, and various ground level plants. A few times we actually saw pockets of dirt among the rocks. There is more growing here than in the Atacama desert in northern Chile.
When we returned it was winter: -6C, cold wind and snow on the ground.
Today we went for hike up the hill over town. Not good for my ego. There is a stock character in adventure/disaster movies. S/he is middle aged and out of shape. During the arduous walk/climb etc our character is always taking clothes off or putting them on, is always tripping and falling, and generally takes the wrong route around obstacles. This sad character was me today. But all is well that ends well and we make it back without injury.
To add to the winter imagery,. we walked on a frozen lake.
I also started to figure out what reindeer eat. There is lichen, moss, and various ground level plants. A few times we actually saw pockets of dirt among the rocks. There is more growing here than in the Atacama desert in northern Chile.
Friday, October 21, 2011
Nuuk Oct 21, 2011
We made it to Nuuk this afternnon.
I was sleeping. I think I woke up because the ship stopped moving and rolling. Then I went back to sleep.
There are no flights in /out of Greenland on the weekends. Very civilized. So we fly to Copenhagen on Monday and home on Tuesday.
Thus ends the Davis Strait portion of this blog.
I was sleeping. I think I woke up because the ship stopped moving and rolling. Then I went back to sleep.
There are no flights in /out of Greenland on the weekends. Very civilized. So we fly to Copenhagen on Monday and home on Tuesday.
Thus ends the Davis Strait portion of this blog.
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Davis Strait - 21 Oct 2011 - last leg
We are on our last leg into Nuuk and possibly my last night shift. We expect to arrive in Nuuk Friday afternoon. However the port of Nuuk is so busy that we cannot dock until 9 pm. The oil exploration industry is keep the port very busy.
The weather on this trip has been pretty good. I have not had to work in the rain, just a few snow flurries. And the wind has not been too bad. But today it got a little exciting. At about 3 pm I was woke with a start as my bunk and the ship did some bouncing and weaving around in the waves. that was the end of sleeping.
The wind reached about 35 knots. The waves got rough enough that we could no long steam directly to our target. We had to tack. But that has settled down now. Next station is at about 2 am (1 hour from now). Then we have 4 or 5 stations left.
A few pictures of Nuuk.
The Knorr dockside
Nuuk the fishing village
Nuuk the construction site
The weather on this trip has been pretty good. I have not had to work in the rain, just a few snow flurries. And the wind has not been too bad. But today it got a little exciting. At about 3 pm I was woke with a start as my bunk and the ship did some bouncing and weaving around in the waves. that was the end of sleeping.
The wind reached about 35 knots. The waves got rough enough that we could no long steam directly to our target. We had to tack. But that has settled down now. Next station is at about 2 am (1 hour from now). Then we have 4 or 5 stations left.
A few pictures of Nuuk.
The Knorr dockside
Nuuk the fishing village
Nuuk the construction site
Davis Strait Oct 20, part 2
Just completed a CTD-rosette station to 2600 m depth. I underestimated the time. It took over 2 hours from CTD into the water to CTD out of the water. Most of the time it is like watching paint dry. The exception is near the bottom.
You have your CTD out on the end of 2.6 km of wire and you want to get within 3-5 m of the bottom. The wind is blowing at 25 knots pushing the ship sideways and the waves are about 2 m high. Fortunately you have an altimeter which gives you the distance to the bottom when you are within about 40 m of the bottom. Oh and you don't directly control the winch, you communicate with the winch operator. Overall the whole process is both harder and easier than it sounds. Today it was a good thing that the ocean bottom was pretty flat. That was my adventure for the day.
You have your CTD out on the end of 2.6 km of wire and you want to get within 3-5 m of the bottom. The wind is blowing at 25 knots pushing the ship sideways and the waves are about 2 m high. Fortunately you have an altimeter which gives you the distance to the bottom when you are within about 40 m of the bottom. Oh and you don't directly control the winch, you communicate with the winch operator. Overall the whole process is both harder and easier than it sounds. Today it was a good thing that the ocean bottom was pretty flat. That was my adventure for the day.
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Davis Strait 19 Oct 2011
I want to take this space to congratulate Theodore and the Carleton Place Canadians on being ranked 14th this week in Canada in Jr A hockey. Not bad for a team only three years in exisitence.
We are working our way across the Labrador Sea towards Greenland. It take about 2 hours to steam from station to station. The time to do a cast varies. If the water depth is only 200 m we can be done quickly: 15 or 20 minutes. If the water depth is 2000 m it takes longer. The descent rate for the CTD is 1 m/s. So it takes 2000 seconds or about 30 minutes to go down. It then takes 45 minutes or so to come back up because you stop and take water samples. The rosette has 24 water bottles on it that you can close on command. Once on deck you then transfer the water from the rosette bottles to small sample bottles for chemical analysis. The key to successful oceanography is keeping track of where the water came from in each little sample bottlle - not trival when you have several thousand samples.
Now a few words about Keefers.
After the railway pulled its people out of Keefers and moved them to the metropolis of North Bend, there was not much left: Hannah Brothers orchard and the Hannah general store / post office. The train only stopped if you flagged it down. The customers for the store and post office were largely single men living in the hills. Some were prospectors making their living panning for gold in the creeks and the Fraser River (picture below).
Some were remittance men, living in Canada supported by their family in England. In Victorian culture this often meant a black sheep of the family who was paid to stay away from England. I expect that their sins were of a fairly mild nature by modern standards.
We are working our way across the Labrador Sea towards Greenland. It take about 2 hours to steam from station to station. The time to do a cast varies. If the water depth is only 200 m we can be done quickly: 15 or 20 minutes. If the water depth is 2000 m it takes longer. The descent rate for the CTD is 1 m/s. So it takes 2000 seconds or about 30 minutes to go down. It then takes 45 minutes or so to come back up because you stop and take water samples. The rosette has 24 water bottles on it that you can close on command. Once on deck you then transfer the water from the rosette bottles to small sample bottles for chemical analysis. The key to successful oceanography is keeping track of where the water came from in each little sample bottlle - not trival when you have several thousand samples.
Now a few words about Keefers.
After the railway pulled its people out of Keefers and moved them to the metropolis of North Bend, there was not much left: Hannah Brothers orchard and the Hannah general store / post office. The train only stopped if you flagged it down. The customers for the store and post office were largely single men living in the hills. Some were prospectors making their living panning for gold in the creeks and the Fraser River (picture below).
Some were remittance men, living in Canada supported by their family in England. In Victorian culture this often meant a black sheep of the family who was paid to stay away from England. I expect that their sins were of a fairly mild nature by modern standards.
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Davis Strait - 19 Oct 2011 - space debris
Not much to report today on oceanography. Have not seen land for days. We are south of Davis Strait in the northern Labrador Sea. As I said yesterday (I think) it is a balmy 3-4C and no longer feels like the Arctic. We finished a line yesterday morning and we have been steaming toward Baffin Island for about 18 hours. In about 1 hour we will reach the beginning of our final line. Then we will sample our way back to the east to Nuuk Greenland which is our final destination. We expect to arrive Thursday night / Friday morning.
Today's topic is space debris. A conversation with Elizabeth about the aurora borealis led to a brief discussion on space junk when I realized that she had no idea that we were polluting outer space.
When we put satellites in orbit we generate space debris. The big stuff is spent fuel rockets, old satellites, picees from collisions. However most of the debris is small particles such as dust from rocket motors, paint flakes, and coolant. These are typically less than 1 cm in size. The space debris site on wikipedia has lots of details.
The NASA Obrital Debrid Program Office actually tracks all this stuff using telescopes. They seem to have at 5 or 10 telescopes dedicated to this. They care because collisions with small particles can damage satellites. Here is an image from NASA showing a hole in the Hubble space telescope caused by a small particle hitting it.
The interesting part of this story (for the apocaltypic minded among us) is as follows. This is taken directly from the wikipedia entry on space debris .
As the chance of collision is a function of the number of objects in space, there is a critical density where the creation of new debris occurs faster than the various natural forces that remove these objects from orbit. Beyond this point a runaway chain reaction can occur that reduces all objects in orbit to debris in a period of years or months. This possibility is known as the "Kessler Syndrome".
So space debris could eventually wipe out satellite communication. Whoops.
The image below is a NASA image from the wikipedia site. It shows all the particles being tracked. You can see that the majority of the debris is in low earth orbit and in the ring of geosynchronous satellite orbits. That is the particles are where the satellites are. The dots are not to scale relative to the earth.
Today's topic is space debris. A conversation with Elizabeth about the aurora borealis led to a brief discussion on space junk when I realized that she had no idea that we were polluting outer space.
When we put satellites in orbit we generate space debris. The big stuff is spent fuel rockets, old satellites, picees from collisions. However most of the debris is small particles such as dust from rocket motors, paint flakes, and coolant. These are typically less than 1 cm in size. The space debris site on wikipedia has lots of details.
The NASA Obrital Debrid Program Office actually tracks all this stuff using telescopes. They seem to have at 5 or 10 telescopes dedicated to this. They care because collisions with small particles can damage satellites. Here is an image from NASA showing a hole in the Hubble space telescope caused by a small particle hitting it.
The interesting part of this story (for the apocaltypic minded among us) is as follows. This is taken directly from the wikipedia entry on space debris .
As the chance of collision is a function of the number of objects in space, there is a critical density where the creation of new debris occurs faster than the various natural forces that remove these objects from orbit. Beyond this point a runaway chain reaction can occur that reduces all objects in orbit to debris in a period of years or months. This possibility is known as the "Kessler Syndrome".
So space debris could eventually wipe out satellite communication. Whoops.
The image below is a NASA image from the wikipedia site. It shows all the particles being tracked. You can see that the majority of the debris is in low earth orbit and in the ring of geosynchronous satellite orbits. That is the particles are where the satellites are. The dots are not to scale relative to the earth.
Monday, October 17, 2011
Davis Strait 18 Oct 2011 crushing cups
We are now south of Davis Strait in the northern Labrador Sea. The air temperature is up to a balmy 3-4C and it no longer feels like the Arctic. Maybe the humidity is higher. But I did not check the humidity when we were further north.
We just completed a CTD station in 1500 m of water. It took about an hour to go down and back. The maximum speed of descent/ascent is 60 m per minute. Later tonight (or this morning) we will do a 2200 m station which will be a record for me. I am a continental shelf guy. It is hard to imagine doing 6000 m stations.
As a school project event we are doing every ones favourite ocean activity - compressing styrofoam cups. My colleagues brought a large number of cups that have been decorated by elementary school kids. We put them in a mesh bag, tie them to the CTD, and send them down into the depths. The compressed cups are the taken back to the kids. Very educational I am sure.
The 2 cups in the back are the regular size, the two in the middle went down to 1000 m and the two in the front went down to 1575 m (just a few minutes ago).
We just completed a CTD station in 1500 m of water. It took about an hour to go down and back. The maximum speed of descent/ascent is 60 m per minute. Later tonight (or this morning) we will do a 2200 m station which will be a record for me. I am a continental shelf guy. It is hard to imagine doing 6000 m stations.
As a school project event we are doing every ones favourite ocean activity - compressing styrofoam cups. My colleagues brought a large number of cups that have been decorated by elementary school kids. We put them in a mesh bag, tie them to the CTD, and send them down into the depths. The compressed cups are the taken back to the kids. Very educational I am sure.
The 2 cups in the back are the regular size, the two in the middle went down to 1000 m and the two in the front went down to 1575 m (just a few minutes ago).
Davis Strait 17 Oct R/V Knorr
A short shift tonight. We finished the lines across the sill in Davis Strait. We are now steaming to the next line - about 7 hours. So I am done.
The vessel I am on is the R/V Knorr named for Ernest R. Knorr who was appointed Chief Engineer Cartographer of the U.S. Navy Hydrographic office in 1860. She was built in 1969 and is about 85 m long. The Knorr wiki page has lots of information.
photo copyright Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.
A knorr (or knarr) is a viking merchant ship (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knarr), so that seems appropriate for working off Greenland.
The propulsion system for the Knorr is interesting. It is not a propellor on the end of a shaft. Rather the propellor is on a pod (called an Azipod) that can turn on its axis and drive the vessel in any direction. This explains why the Knorr seems to slow down very quickly as we approach station. I think they apply the brakes.
The Azipod was developed in Finland. So we have a family history connection there.
The vessel I am on is the R/V Knorr named for Ernest R. Knorr who was appointed Chief Engineer Cartographer of the U.S. Navy Hydrographic office in 1860. She was built in 1969 and is about 85 m long. The Knorr wiki page has lots of information.
A knorr (or knarr) is a viking merchant ship (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knarr), so that seems appropriate for working off Greenland.
The propulsion system for the Knorr is interesting. It is not a propellor on the end of a shaft. Rather the propellor is on a pod (called an Azipod) that can turn on its axis and drive the vessel in any direction. This explains why the Knorr seems to slow down very quickly as we approach station. I think they apply the brakes.
The Azipod was developed in Finland. So we have a family history connection there.
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Davis Strait 16 Oct 2001 Aurora Borealis
Hello folks
Tonight we are doing a CTD line across the sill in Davis Strait. The sill is about 650 m deep which is much deeper than the sills in BC Inlets (fjords). But the more I think about Baffin Bay the more I draw analogies with fjords such as Knight Inlet.
Tonight is the first night we have seen a good display of the Aurora Borealis. They are pale green and extend in a line across the sky, passing right overhead. So far tonight these are not as impressive as the ones in Fort McMurray several years ago. But the night is young.
For those interested in the 30 second lesson on the Aurora and the relationship with sun spots and coronal mass ejections I recommend this website.
http://www.aurorahunter.com/aurora-prediction.php
I see that Theodore's team won again. That is three in a row against the two teams that usually win their division. Looks like CPC will be competitive this year.
Tonight we are doing a CTD line across the sill in Davis Strait. The sill is about 650 m deep which is much deeper than the sills in BC Inlets (fjords). But the more I think about Baffin Bay the more I draw analogies with fjords such as Knight Inlet.
Tonight is the first night we have seen a good display of the Aurora Borealis. They are pale green and extend in a line across the sky, passing right overhead. So far tonight these are not as impressive as the ones in Fort McMurray several years ago. But the night is young.
For those interested in the 30 second lesson on the Aurora and the relationship with sun spots and coronal mass ejections I recommend this website.
http://www.aurorahunter.com/aurora-prediction.php
I see that Theodore's team won again. That is three in a row against the two teams that usually win their division. Looks like CPC will be competitive this year.
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Davis Strait Oct 16, 2011
Passing time while waiting for the next station I ventured a look at the Clan Hannay entry in Wikipedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clan_Hannay
It makes for interesting reading.
It sounds like the family fortunes peaked in the 1500's. Sorbie Tower (or Keep), which marks the ancestral home of the Hannahs, was started in 1550.
.
The picture is taken from the wikipedia entry.
But things went down hill in the 1600s due to feuding with the neighbours. The Hannay's even managed to get themselves outlawed. The 'Hannah' spelling is associated with those that stayed in Scotland.
There is a Nova Scotia connection. Sir Robert Hannay of Mochrum was created a Baronet of Nova Scotia in 1630. So I guess we do have roots in Nova Scotia.
As some of you know the family motto is 'per ardua ad alta.' Loosely translated it means 'Work your butt off and good things happen' Which all in all is a pretty good rule to live by.
I know that Theodore is taking latin this fall and he may choose to provide an alternative translation.
I will say that blogging is easy for the first few days. but then you have to start thinking of things to say. That can be dangerous as I think alot of things that I probably should not say in public.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clan_Hannay
It makes for interesting reading.
It sounds like the family fortunes peaked in the 1500's. Sorbie Tower (or Keep), which marks the ancestral home of the Hannahs, was started in 1550.
. The picture is taken from the wikipedia entry.
But things went down hill in the 1600s due to feuding with the neighbours. The Hannay's even managed to get themselves outlawed. The 'Hannah' spelling is associated with those that stayed in Scotland.
There is a Nova Scotia connection. Sir Robert Hannay of Mochrum was created a Baronet of Nova Scotia in 1630. So I guess we do have roots in Nova Scotia.
As some of you know the family motto is 'per ardua ad alta.' Loosely translated it means 'Work your butt off and good things happen' Which all in all is a pretty good rule to live by.
I know that Theodore is taking latin this fall and he may choose to provide an alternative translation.
I will say that blogging is easy for the first few days. but then you have to start thinking of things to say. That can be dangerous as I think alot of things that I probably should not say in public.
Davis Strait Oct 15, 2011
It has been a quiet night with no wind. We will do 7 CTD stations. Not much to report.
As I watch the world (via news.google.ca, the NY Times and the Globe and Mail) from the peaceful environment of Davis Strait, I am reminded of the saying that will be next in my signature block
The vast majority of human beings are not interested in reason or satisfied with what it teaches. Aldous Huxley.
People and political discourse has not changed too much in 100 years.
I don't have any new pictures so I have included two of Sisimiut for those who have not seen them.
As I watch the world (via news.google.ca, the NY Times and the Globe and Mail) from the peaceful environment of Davis Strait, I am reminded of the saying that will be next in my signature block
The vast majority of human beings are not interested in reason or satisfied with what it teaches. Aldous Huxley.
People and political discourse has not changed too much in 100 years.
I don't have any new pictures so I have included two of Sisimiut for those who have not seen them.
Friday, October 14, 2011
in keeping with the title
In keeping with the title 'Keefers trivia' I give you the following web site
http://www.roadsidethoughts.com/bc/keefers-tidbits.htm
with important trivia about Keefers BC.
I also think that a family member should add a bit of information to the wiki page. It is a bit bare - blank actually. Perhaps Dad (Grandpa) should contribute a couple of old photos.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keefers,_British_Columbia
http://www.roadsidethoughts.com/bc/keefers-tidbits.htm
with important trivia about Keefers BC.
I also think that a family member should add a bit of information to the wiki page. It is a bit bare - blank actually. Perhaps Dad (Grandpa) should contribute a couple of old photos.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keefers,_British_Columbia
Oct 14, 2011 part 2
Got to bed early last night (4 am) so I am up during the day.
It is calm, bright and beautiful today. Just not much to see.
I was wrong about not being able to see Baffin Island last night. The full moon provided just enough light to see the outline of Baffin Island. We could also see a lonely light at the old DEW station on top of Cape Dyer. The lone evidence of human presense.
Someone asked about icebergs. As I said earlier, I had not seen any big ones until I saw 20-30 at once offshore of Disko Island. Since then I see 1 or 2 per day when I am awake during the daylight and the weather is decent. Of course the ship stays away from them so it is hard to get decent pictures with my little camera. Below are some attempts.
Today. I think this one is very big but it is far away and there is no sense of scale.
Yesterday evening. Two pictures of the same iceberg and the full moon.
The pictures have been artificially brightened.
But then the pictures taken were much darker than my eyes recorded so fair is fair.
A few days ago. I think this is actually a single piece of ice. The pink is the light from the setting sun.
It is calm, bright and beautiful today. Just not much to see.
I was wrong about not being able to see Baffin Island last night. The full moon provided just enough light to see the outline of Baffin Island. We could also see a lonely light at the old DEW station on top of Cape Dyer. The lone evidence of human presense.
Someone asked about icebergs. As I said earlier, I had not seen any big ones until I saw 20-30 at once offshore of Disko Island. Since then I see 1 or 2 per day when I am awake during the daylight and the weather is decent. Of course the ship stays away from them so it is hard to get decent pictures with my little camera. Below are some attempts.
Today. I think this one is very big but it is far away and there is no sense of scale.
Yesterday evening. Two pictures of the same iceberg and the full moon.
The pictures have been artificially brightened.
But then the pictures taken were much darker than my eyes recorded so fair is fair.
A few days ago. I think this is actually a single piece of ice. The pink is the light from the setting sun.
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Davis Strait - Oct 14, 2011
Today is the second night of continuous CTDs. Getting tired. We have one more station and then a 90 mile transit to the next line to the south. We are very close to Baffin Island but I cannot see anything because it is pitch black. But there is a nice full moon and clear sky.
In September I was in Yellowknife and Inuvik for a few days.
Here are a couple of pictures that bring back memories of a family vacation at Plummers Lodge.
In September I was in Yellowknife and Inuvik for a few days.
Here are a couple of pictures that bring back memories of a family vacation at Plummers Lodge.
Davis Strait - Oct 13, 2011
Hello all
This is a test blog. I thought I would trying blogging rather than emailing stuff to people.
This is also a chance to figure out how this all works.
This is a test blog. I thought I would trying blogging rather than emailing stuff to people.
This is also a chance to figure out how this all works.
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