What light through yonder window breaks?

Dawn breaks at Summit Station for the first time in 2012. From left, in the distance, the Temporary Atmospheric Watch Observatory, Swiss Tower (on which instruments are mounted), Science and Operations Barn, the Green House, and the Big House. January 31, 2012. Photo: Ben Toth

Our friends at Summit Station welcomed the sun yesterday. “I could almost even feel its warmth on my face…. almost,” wrote station manager Ben Toth.

The sun is returning, and so is a small plane, which should approach the station via Iceland tomorrow. It will drop off fresh veggies and an advance team of staff, then fly to Kangerlussuaq to pick up the remaining staff waiting to get in to Summit.  It’s time for a fresh crew to prepare for the busy research season ahead.

So far, the forecast is favorable, so cross your fingers. Meanwhile, here’s another picture of the dawn.

The Temporary Atmospheric Watch Observatory blocks the sun, which helps reveal the Yukimarimo (snow doodles) in the foreground. Photo: Ben Toth

Comments (0) Feb 01 2012

Yukimarimo. Photo: Shannon Coykendall

A late December bedecking of Yukimarimo around Summit Station seemed like “a present befitting the season,” wrote Ben Toth, whose team is keeping the NSF-funded research station and its ongoing experiments running through mid-winter.

“These little snowballs occur when fine frost layers form on the snow surface at cold air temperatures,” Ben explained. “These balls form due to weak wind conditions and become mobile, like little tumbleweeds across the surface, collecting in pockets sculpted by drift or in footprints.”

Ben says the team of five “finished off the year with a productive week sandwiched between the two holidays. Christmas Sunday was celebrated with the requisite Christmas tunes, a lit tree, decorations, and a Kiwi-style meal of “good tucker.” Rack of lamb and pavlova was on the menu as was roasted squash (the very last) and amazing maple syrup pies.

“New Year’s Eve was celebrated [with] a plethora of appetizers. . . . The tapas-themed meal segued into a comfortable evening counting down to 2012. All hands made it to midnight but retired shortly thereafter, rising somewhat later than usual on New Year’s Day to spectacular light and clear weather bringing in the new year.”

For more on Yukimarimo, visit http://homepage3.nifty.com/takaokameda/index.html)

Tumbled snow or Yukimarimo at Summit Station, Greenland. Photo: Shannon Coykendall

Comments (1) Jan 02 2012