 |
Blog 15 January - AGAP N packing up and heading for homeThe morning of January 10 dawned clear and still. Well, dawned is not quite the right term given that the sun hasn't come close to touching the horizon here for a few months. The 24-hour daylight makes this kind of survey work in Antarctica quite easy to manage. For example, when Fausto analysed that the best magnetic window for survey flying was not during our daytime, we switched to another time zone.
But although the amount of daylight doesn't trigger our diurnal rhythms, temperature does. With AGAP N located at 77 degrees south, we are still far enough from the South Pole for the sun's angle above the horizon to swing daily, giving us markedly different 'day' and 'night' temperatures. When we were surveying to the tune of the magnetic window, our days, which were really nights locally, were cold (-30C), yet our nights were relatively warm (-15 to -20C), particularly inside our sleeping tents. We still completed two flights on the morning of the 10th. The first a line, the second a calibration flight where the aircraft completes a series of rolls, pitches and yaws to offset any such manouvres seen in the data after surveying is complete.
Scott waves goodbye to the BAS team as they head for AGAP South
| |
CASA pilots Rod, left, and Troy, third from left, with Scott and Sharon, in front of Ginger
| |
With their bags packed and loaded, Doug, Kyle and Carl, with Ian at the controls of FBL, departed at 6 pm for AGAP South, where they continued surveying for a few days before heading back to Pole and McMurdo and onward to Rothera or Christchurch, New Zealand. Fausto and Tom were collected just after midnight in a USAP utility Otter and ferried to AGAP S. At 4.30 am our CASA arrived to collect some cargo and to return Catrin to Davis for a rest and then to look after the returning loads from AGAP N. With almost a week at the Grove Mountains as well as four weeks here at AGAP N, Cat has dedicated a huge amount of effort and know-how into this project and has had a hand in almost every element of life here.
And then there were three. Scott, Sharon and I remain here to pack up the camp and load the CASA on arrival. After four days of poor flying weather at Davis we finally had a visit today from CASA pilots Troy and Rod. Tomorrow morning we dismantle the Polarhaven tent and it will form part of the next load, together with Scott who will need to service all of the generators and other machinery back at Davis before heading to Casey Station to resume work there. Scott was the fix-it man of AGAP N. A whizz with any machine, he kept things purring despite their regular tendency to cough and splutter due to cold, overloading or any other form of stress. Lately Scotty and I have turned to dastardly pranks on each other. He doesn't know it yet, but something awaits him back at Davis tomorrow. Moo ha ha!!
Sharon and I will remain until our flight out on Saturday. She will continue to tailor the skiway and manifest the loads taken by the CASA, two of the many tasks she has done faultlessly since our arrival. I don't think we could have pulled this project off without her skill, knowledge and temperament.
AGAP North campsite panorama. In the foreground is the fuel-drop waste to be collected by CHINARE
| |
CASA-212 'Ginger' taking off from the AGAP N skiway
| |
The camp-scape around me is steadily reducing until all that will remain is the waste to be collected by the Chinese traverse team in February and the trampled snow from our month of toil. A few weeks after that the wind will have transformed the surface into a field of sastrugi, leaving no trace of our existence. But below us, invisible and untouchable, lies a mountain range that remains a mystery...until now.
From the computer screens of Fausto and his colleagues will grow a three-dimensional picture of this enigma, revealing not only summits, valleys and lakes, not just the geological structure and composition of the rock, but the tectonic forces that built this range, and in all probability, the location of the Earth's oldest ice. How cool!
The AGAP N team. Back from left, Cat, Doug, Sharon, Scott, Ian, Eric. Front from left, Carl, Kyle, Tom, Fausto.
|
I would like to thank everyone that collaborated in and assisted with the AGAP North project.
CHINARE for collecting our waste; the Basler Boys and the Alfred Wegener Institute for the Basler work; the British Antarctic Survey, both here and in Cambridge, for a wonderful team including the work of FAZ and her crew; USAP and Raytheon for their aviation assistance; and the untiring support of AAD expeditioners, staff and pilots, both in Antarctica and at Kingston, and in particular those that gave their all out on the ice.
It has been a privilege working with you and becoming a part of Antarctic history.
Eric Philips - AGAP North Field Leader
Blog 8 January - Final survey flight at AGAP NorthWe've been feeling the cold lately which has prompted me to imagine what it will be like here in another six months. As the sun migrates towards the northern hemisphere, sinking Antarctica once again into winter oblivion, grey shadows cast by sastrugi, the only feature capable of casting a shadow in these lifeless parts, will lengthen, stretching daily towards the horizon. Slowly the shadows will darken and merge until the sun slips below the horizon and a uniform brittle-cold blackness pervades the plateau.
Every day we emerge from our tents, thankful for the sun. It still sits above the horizon, for now, and we are so familiar with its course we can tell the time of day by the quadrant of sky it inhabits.
The AGAP North mob. Back row from left, Carl, Tom, Ian, Catrin, Fausto, Nick, Detlef, Kyle, Doug. Front from left, Scott, Eric, Sharon.
| |
Our camp has become an airport more than ever in the last week. On Friday a USAP Twin Otter arrived from AGAP South, completing one of the scheduled long survey lines between AGAP S and N. We also welcomed a visitor on that flight - geophysicist Detlef. With 18 Antarctic seasons under his belt Detlef is a veteran of aerial surveys and is representing the German geological survey, BGR. The USAP Otter returned twice more, Detlef returning to AGAP S on the final flight. Another departure from the AGAP N team was Nick who returned to Davis on January 3 when we had our second visit from the Casa. Nick gave 110% to the program and put his talented hands to almost everything aside from piloting a plane. Thanks Nick!! The Casa again returned on January 6 and has now flown almost 3000 kg of equipment back to Davis, giving us a great headstart on our demobilisation, which officially starts January 10.
The Casa 212 at AGAP North
| |
Aside from a well-earned rest day on Friday, AGAP North's Twin Otter, call sign 'FBL', has continued to fly daily, having to date completed 44 flights and over 90 survey lines. In terms of manpower this equates to over 170 hours and almost a lap of the Earth between pilots Doug and Ian. Kyle has pumped almost 300 drums of fuel into FBL; Scott and Sharon have hauled over 400 drums out of the ice; Fausto, Carl and Tom have processed more than five terrabytes of radar, magnetic, gravity, GPS and laser data and Cat has cooked in excess of thirty hearty meals and crushed over 200 drums. FBL will complete its final survey flight on January 10 morning before flying with Doug, Ian, Carl and Kyle on board back to AGAP South and onward to its base, the English station 'Rothera'. Fausto and Tom will follow on yet another Twin Otter scheduled to demobilise the BAS cargo to AGAP South and onward.
Fausto processing data in the science tent
| |
It's now 7.50pm and the sound of machinery is, as always, in the air. Cat is operating the drum crusher; Sharon and Scott are parking the quad in its blizz cover; Kyle has started the Hermann Nelson heater to keep the aircraft engine warm on its return and Carl is clanking pots, cooking up a rich-smelling prawn risotto. It's hard to concentrate on my typing there's so much going on. I will miss it.
Eric Philips - AGAP North Field Leader Blog 1 January - Chinese New Year at AGAP NorthWe'd been anticipating the arrival of the CHINARE traverse for some time, both as an influx of visitors to our humble camp and to shanghai their bladed Kassbohrer to further groom our skiway. Come the morning of Dec 31, Doug enters the tent with an exclamation, 'I don't remember seeing that before, are they the Chinese?' Bundling outside as one, we saw our eastern skyline altered, as over 500 tonnes of machinery and cargo came to a grinding halt. Within minutes their traverse leader, Mr Lee, and three of his colleagues had unhitched the lead vehicle and drove the 300 metres from their traverse line to AGAP North. A cup of tea broke the ice and we were soon discussing the intricacies of our respective projects.
Part of the CHINARE traverse |
CHINARE and AAD staff at AGAP N |
Although, like many of the Antarctic projects this year, they were delayed by two weeks, they were also pushing hard to reach the summit of Dome A to begin construction of their new base, the first ever on the summit of the Antarctic plateau. Their construction window is tight as it won't be long before the relative placidity of summer begins to spiral into the alien frigidity of Earth's coldest natural freezer. In a wonderful gesture of international co-operation they handed over their Kassbohrer without a hint of hesitation and before we could utter Pisten Bully, Sharon was in the drivers seat running laps of our skiway. This was a win win as one of their mechanics had been slated to groom a skiway at their Dome A base with little prior experience.
We have now been aerial surveying Dome Argus for fifteen days straight and Fausto and his crew are starting to get some great preliminary results. They even detected a mountain-top only 50 metres below the ice surface. I proposed we started digging to claim a summit rock but had no takers. In some ways we are itching for bad weather so that we have an excuse to take a day off from flying and associated tasks, but I suspect the weather will hold as it is and we will take a break anyway. We're over half way through the program and a battery recharge will do us the world of good as we head towards out January 10 closure.
We had some visitors on Xmas day!!
| |
A Caterpillar Challenger pulls one of the numerous trains
| |
Pilot Doug (left) and scientist Tom show some of the CHINARE team around the Twin Otter.
| |
Our C-212 is due to return here on January 3, collecting a load of redundant equipment and Nick as a passenger. It'll be sad to see him return to Davis, his input here has been exceptional, however they are short of chippies there and require his services.
Happy New Year everyone.
Eric Philips - AGAP North Field Leader Blog 25 December - Christmas cheer at AGAP NorthIt really is amazing to think that eleven of us are perched on the flank of Dome Argus in temperatures averaging -28°C, operating a mini airport and refuelling station, living in fibre-thin shelters that protect us from the brutal elements. In the last couple of days we've really hit our straps, finding a rythym that has enabled us to get ahead of everything and breathe a little easier. Life is pretty grand actually; we have great food, a warm Polarhaven tent to recover, eat and socialise in and individual sleeping tents through which the sun shines and embraces us in a warm and cosy fuzz.
Not far from here lies the coldest place on Earth. The Russian station, Vostok, has logged the world's lowest recorded temperature at -89°C, but the very summit of Dome A, the largest and highest ice dome in the world, will more than likely eventually break that record. An Australian automatic weather station was placed on Dome A by a Chinese tractor traverse three years ago and has already logged -81°C. Watch this space!
We began the airborne survey a week ago and already we have a pretty impressive tally of progress. Over 100 parachutes have been extracted and bundled, over 210 drums have been dug from their icy tombs and almost 140 drums used for aerial surveying and camp input. Doug and Ian have flown a combined 14,000 km across sixteen survey flights out of AGAP North, Kyle has single-handedly refuelled the Otter after each flight and Sharon has continued to manicure the skiway and, together with Scotty, pull out drums from the ice and sled them to the refuelling area.
Scott cranked up the field drum crusher and we have to date crushed around 130 drums, over a quarter of the total. This is quite a task entailing punching drain holes in each empty drum, draining residue fuel via a special funnel into a reservoir drum (to be used as fuel for our heater), jig-sawing holes in either end and placing onto the hydraulic crusher to be mashed down to a third their original size. The crushed drums, together with the chutes, bundling and pallets will be collected by the Chinese in a couple of weeks as they traverse by tractor train from their coastal station to Dome A summit and back.
Scott pulls out another drum of fuel from its icy tomb
| |
A bundle of 4 fuel drums, wrapped in canvas and webbing, a parachute on top
| |
Fausto, Tom and Carl form the science crew and are slowly building up a database of information on the underlying Gamburtsev mountains. I was in their dedicated science tent only a few days ago and already a shadowy profile was spanning the computer screen - the first outline of a mountain range never before seen by human eyes. This data is obtained from radar sensors, affectionately known as coathangers, suspended below the Otter wings, one side for transmitting, the other side for receiving. Inside the aircraft is an array of sensitive machinery that collects the data, together with a technician, Tom or Carl, to tweak the computers. In order to maximise the quality of the data the pilots must fly very straight lines over the plateau with a tolerance of less than 50 metres, like walking a highway centre line for four hours without straying more than a shoe width either side.
Ginger, our Casa 212 aircraft, arrived from Davis on Tuesday with a small load and returned with Paul. He had been a great asset to the camp but his services were required back at the station. Sharon was happy to see Ginger land on the skiway that she had spent so much time grooming. The Casa will be responsible for demobilising the camp which begins January 10, though we will probably request a couple of earlier flights to begin returning unused or redundant items.
Our flags represent the five nations involved in AGAP N - USA, England, Australia, Germany and China
| |
Ginger parked at AGAP N
| |
Today is Christmas day and the sky is clear and still. The Otter is out on a line, the final for the day, keeping an eye out for Santa and his reindeer. It's been a pretty quiet day, literally, the vehicles and drum crusher operating only briefly. People have been scrubbing up for dinner, enjoying a rare sponge bath in our ablutions tent. Cat has a spread lined up that will knock our festive socks off. Her cooking skills are greatly appreciated and she keeps coming up with ingredients and meals that keep even the best weight-loss program at bay. Yesterday Nick took over, cooking us bacon and eggs for lunch and fish and chips for dinner. Yep, we're doin' it tough. We look forward to knocking back a couple of wines and celebrating both Christmas and our first week as a team out here in the great white yonder. All up, things are looking pretty rosy.
Eric Philips - AGAP North Field Leader Blog 19 December - Everything in readinessOver the last week the landscape around us has changed considerably. In her indefatigable style, Sharon blitzed away at the skiway, grooming into the bright night while I fed and watered her. Scott flew in on Saturday with a load and our camp grew to three tents with a pyramid, our kitchen base and separate domes for sleeping.
FAZ continued to ferry cargo from the Grove Mountains, including two larger Endurance tents; we finally had a walk in tent. Cat and Nick were doing a great job both loading and fuelling and surviving the desperate winds that dominate Groves. On Sunday Polar 5 arrived with 2000 kg of equipment, including our large Polarhaven tent and food. She continued on to South Pole where the crew rested eight hours before loading up with 2000 kg of scientific equipment and two BAS scientists.
On Monday FAZ returned to AGAP N with Cat and Nick and the final load from Groves and our first task as a team was to erect the Polarhaven. Cold but clear and windless weather continues to dominate here and we had the tent up in no time. Within an hour Scott had installed the fuel heater and for the first time we had a heated environment in which to relax and warm up.
Nick Cartwright, left, and Cat Thomas erecting the frame of the AGAP Polarhaven tent. Our Endurance tents are in the background.
| |
Bundles of palleting and parachutes ready to be airlifted back to Davis and shipped to Australia.
| |
Polar 5 came through later in the day with the BAS load and scientists Fausto Ferraciolli and Tom Jordan from South Pole and continued straight through to Davis to collect another load, and Webby and Paul Endersby, arriving back at AGAP N at 3 am, staying here for their mandatory eight hours sleep. More tents went up. On Tuesday they flew back to Davis for our final 2 tonne load, returning to AGAP N on the same day with loadmaster Ray as a day tripper. Unfortunately Webby was unable to stay with us due to a mild reaction to altitude and was returned safely back to Davis. What an epic run the 'Basler Boys' gave us, they were instrumental in getting both our equipment and BAS equipment into camp and getting back on schedule.
Scotty installed our water melter and Paul our gas oven (amongst a host of other things - a master-of-all-trades), and we are now settled in, enjoying great food and warm company. With so much plywood dropped with the fuel bundles, our chippy Nick has been unstoppable, installing flooring and desks in the scientists warm tent, together with endless shovelling of drums, tie downs and other miscellaneous holes. Meanwhile, Sharon and Scott continue to debundle and extract drums and Cat has arranged our tonnes of equipment in managable caches around the camp.
Scotty Adam with the installed kerosene heater in the Polarhaven.
| |
From left, Ray, Webby, Fausto, Cat, Brad, Paul, Sharon, Martin, Scotty, Chris, Tom, Nick and Eric.
| |
Yesterday the survey Otter, FBL, arrived in perfect conditions and we welcomed BAS pilots Doug Cochrane and Ian Potton, aircraft engineer Kyle Hegadus and science technician Carl Robinson. Our team is finally complete. Today Allan and Jamie returned in FAZ from Davis on their way to the Pole. Also today, Doug and Ian hope to fly FBL on her first survey flight.
This is a truly exciting moment, the activation of one of Antarctica's biggest scientific projects, the aerosurvey of the enigmatic Gamburtsev Mountains that underly the heaving icy bulk of Dome Argus. More on this incredible scientific endeavour next week.
Eric Philips - AGAP North Field Leader Blog 11 December - On the flanks of Dome Argus
Pyramid tent at Pyramid Mountain at the Groves
|
Well, we are finally at AGAP North. My apologies for this quick update but it is 11.45pm, I am sitting in a pyramid tent at 77 degrees south and 3000 metre altitude, it's -27°C outside, still and blue, and I must hit the hay.
It's been a hectic week with Otter and Basler flights into the Grove Mountains camp, sending in equipment, food and fuel for aircraft. The Grove Mountains are spectacular, the camp surrounded by angluar peaks. But it's a windy place and lashed frequently by blizzards.
Webby returned to Davis on Monday for a rest and was replaced by Nick Cartwright. Also on Monday, Sharon flew with Alan in the Otter to the AGAP North site, where they found a scatter of fuel drums dropped by the C-17 Globemaster. They also depoted a groomer used to prepare the surface for aircraft landing. However the surface is full of sastrugi and Sharon has much work to do grooming a skiway for future landings.
Sharon Labudda next to a fuel bundle, parachute and the AGAP North quad bike.
|
On Tuesday Sharon and I were dropped off at AGAP N with the quad bike, basic camp equipment, food, medical supplies and a communications kit, and smiled as the Otter flew into the distance - we were finally on the flanks of Dome Argus.
An hour later the C-17 returned for the fourth and final fuel drop and we stood in awe as 28 parachuted bundles fell from the plane. We were also treated to a great fly by after the final pass (see images from US Air Force of the second airdrop, now added to the 4 December blog entry).
Over the past couple of days we have relocated our initial lightweight camp and begun grooming a skiway. It's a massive task but we are up for it and need to be ready to take the British Antarctic Survey scientists who are itching to get on with their work here. They will arrive in a survey Otter from South Pole in less than a week.
The Twin Otter at AGAP North field camp
| Scott Adam may join us tomorrow if the weather is good to fly, otherwise we plod along until our team can grow.
It's great to be here!
Eric Philips - AGAP North Field Leader Blog 4 December - We need A GAP in the weather!A bleak November weather summary for the Davis region meshes with equally bleak statistics at the Grove Mountains and AGAP N, painting a story of stymied air operations and frustrated attempts. Such is the Antarctic law, or A Factor, that we abide by. Weather rules and if it says no, one can't argue. Hence I write this update once again from the Operations Building at Davis Station.
The 'Riviera of the South', as Davis is often referred to, has in the past month seen 15 days of snowfall, 10 days of strong wind and 8 days of gale force wind, the highest gust peaking at 74 knots. The most telling figure is sunshine, a meagre 123 hours, or 5 days, in a month.
When last week's blog was posted, Polar 5 was in the air flying inland to the Groves to make the first fuel depot of 10 drums. However during the two hour flight a band of thick cloud moved in over the mountains and it was forced to return without landing. We were back to tweaking our load lists. On the same day, with coastal conditions suitable for flying, the BAS Twin Otter, callsign FAZ, arrived after its long transit from Rothera and we welcomed chief pilot Alan Meredith and engineer Jamie Neggers to Davis and the AGAP N team.
FAZ at the Grove Mountains.
| |
Polar 5 at Plough Island skiway.
| |
On Monday, small weather windows at both Davis and Groves aligned and FAZ flew Cat and Webby to our acclimatisation camp at 2000m elevation. But, with an expected change in conditions, the curtains were drawn over the Davis window and FAZ was forced to remain at the Groves. Such events are commonplace in the life of an Antarctic Twin Otter pilot so Alan, Jamie, Cat and Webby set up camp as snow began to fall around them. Snow continued to fall until yesterday when FAZ was able to return to Davis. Deploying a team at the Groves was an important step in our plan as we now have a ground crew in the field who can carry out beneficial tasks such placing skiway markers and phoning in weather observations.
Yesterday Sharon and the 'Basler Boys' choppered up to Polar 5 at the plateau skiway to dig her out of a mighty snow drift, working well into the night. Scotty, together with AGSOs Jason and Dominic, flew out to meet FAZ at Plough and helped to fuel and load her for tomorrow. But tomorrow came, another day, and as keen as we were to make two flights out to the Groves today, Cat at Groves and Sharon at the plateau skiway both reported blowing snow and worsening visibility and all returned to Davis with a heavy sigh.
Cat Thomas finishes preparing the camp at the Grove Mountains.
| |
A quad just fits into the Twin Otter. The quad is used to tow a groomer to prepare a skiway at AGAP N, and to move fuel drums.
| |
Finding small windows in the cloud over AGAP N this week, the USAP parachuted two of the four fuel loads onto the snow, delivering 232 drums to our site. Both were textbook drops, the C-17 Globemaster crew reporting all bundles accounted for and intact. One of our biggest tasks at AGAP N is to dismantle each bundle of 4 drums, eventually totalling 448 drums, moving them to the skiway for refuelling the survey Otter and packing the parachutes and associated strapping, and spent fuel drums, for removal from Antarctica.
A fuel bundle with attached parachute is deployed from the C-17
| |
Fuel bundles parachute gently to earth
| |
Fuel bundles touch down close to the site selected for the AGAP N field camp
| |
On a team front, unfortunately Ray has had to step down from the field team and takes up the position of 'loadmaster', overseeing the dozen or so loads we have ready to move to AGAP N. Taking Ray's place is Mawson chippie and outgoing winterer, Nick Cartwright, and we welcome him to the AGAP N family.
Hope to be posting the next blog from a tent!
Eric Philips - AGAP North Field Leader Blog 27 November - The AGAP N team at Davis grows
The CASA and Basler aircraft at Plough Island skiway
|
Canadian pilots Brad and Chris and engineer Martin arrived in the Alfred Wegener Institute Basler, Polar 5, on Saturday afternoon, arriving just as the wind started to pick up again. The met folks here at Davis have been spot on with their weather forecasting and Polar 5 touched down on the sea ice near Plough Island in time to hunker down before the next blow.
The British Antarctic Survey Twin Otter crew, pilot Alan and engineer Jamie, departed Rothera a few days ago, ovenighted last night at Mawson station and arrived at Plough Island this afternoon. The Otter is now parked next to the Basler and Alan and Jamie are currently being ferried across the six kilometres of sea ice to Davis. They will no doubt be looking forward to a short rest before heading to the Grove Mountains and beyond.
Making use of the perfect coastal conditions and with high cloud over the Groves, Polar 5 made an attempt to depart for a fuel run to the Grove Mountains early this afternoon. Unfortunately fast-onset snow showers and low visibility forestalled that plan; tomorrow we try again if conditions allow. But we are brimming with excitement; our fleet has arrived and we can begin to head southward and upward into the great white.
Mawson plumber Doug B road tests the AGAP N dunny outside the Living Quarters. This modern masterpiece is compliments of the Davis chippies, in particular Chris H.
| News just at hand - the first airdrop of fuel drums at AGAP N was completed today with a C-17 Globemaster flying from Christchurch to AGAP N, parachuting 112 drums onto the snow. The fuel will be used to refuel the survey Otter that will be based at AGAP N. The AGAP N location is now 'written in ice' so to speak, and it's here that we build a skiway and set up camp.
On more local matters, the Davis chippies finished the AGAP N toilet, a modern masterpiece, and our prioritised loads are spread from one end of the station to the other, wherever we could find space among the station hustle and bustle. Ray will take charge of these loads, ensuring our steady supply of food and equipment to AGAP N. Yesterday we completed our final clothing check, modifying items to suit the extremes of the high Antarctic plateau. We are ready to move into the freezer.
Eric Philips - AGAP North Field Leader Blog 20 November - AGAP N preparations continueWith the Twin Otter aircraft finally cleared to fly south to the British Antarctic Survey's Rothera station on the Antarctic Peninsula, we hope for a good weather window for them to proceed as soon as possible. One of these four Otters will fly around the coast to Davis to assist with the AGAP N camp input and another will proceed to AGAP N via the South Pole to fly survey lines over Dome A.
The AWI Basler aircraft is ready to depart Rothera and make its way to Davis. Once here it will be used to ferry fuel and a small team and their equipment to our staging camp at the Grove Mountains. Once the Otter arrives it will make the first flight to AGAP N, bringing Sharon and myself with it, and a basic camp, a tracked quad bike and grooming equipment. Once Sharon has groomed a skiway the Basler and Otter can then bring in the camp and science infrastructure.
Davis looks like a ski resort with fresh snow covering everything. The weather has been unkind to us here at Davis, with the helicopters undertaking brief spells of local flying between long spells of low cloud and blowing snow. Of course everyone in Antarctica is beholden to the weather gods for good flying conditions, and we remain patient, poised, ready for action.
Some AGAP equipment being readied for deployment
| |
Cat and Sharon testing the Portable Altitude Chamber in the Davis medical facility
| |
Webby measuring up the stove flue for the Polarhaven tent
| |
Meanwhile, our food and equipment loads grow and spread in the building we have been allocated to prepare our equipment. Cat has been the queen of lists and has done a brilliant job at managing our prioritised cargo. We are currently weighing every item, shuffling bits of gear from one pile to another, from one list to another, to eventually arrive at a deployment plan that works within a tight configuration of aircraft type and payload, pilot hours, fuel input, load priority, altitude acclimatisation and intitial flights to AGAP N.
Scott and Sharon have streamlined a swag of tools to mend everything but a broken heart and have continued their relentless skiway preparations at Plough Island and now the Davis plateau skiway, from which most of our deployment will occur. Once completed the helicopters will begin to cache drums there to be flown to the Grove Mountains by the Basler and Otter to refuel themselves en route to AGAP N.
This afternoon we will all meet to put our plan through a rigorous verbal 'stress test' after which we plug any holes, finalise our loads, modify our personal clothing and kit for life in the freezer and await the arrival of our aircraft.
Eric Philips - AGAP North Field Leader Blog 13 November - Introducing AGAP North and progress so far
The AGAP North team: (L-R) Paul, Eric, Scotty, Cat, Sharon, Ray and Webby.
| Welcome to the AGAP North 'blog'. This will be a weekly feature, posted initially from Davis Station, Antarctica, and then, once we mobilise, from the heart of the continent - our AGAP North field camp. This update is somewhat of an overview and subsequent blogs will be shorter with news of our weekly progress.
For the uninitiated, AGAP (Antarctica's Gamburtsev Province) is a multi-national scientific project involving agencies from Australia, USA, England, Germany, China and Japan. The objective is to complete an airborne ice-radar survey of the subglacial Gamburtsev mountains, or in other words, get a 3-D picture of mountains buried under the ice. Scientists believe these mountains may be the birthplace of the colossal east-Antarctic icesheet. Two Twin Otter aircraft will be fitted with ice-radar equipment and will fly a grid of survey lines over the course of approximately five weeks. One of these Otters will be based at AGAP North, the other at the American-operated AGAP South located between Dome Argus and South Pole. AGAP N will be positioned around 900 km inland of Davis, approximately 4 hours flying time.
Five of the six participating nations are involved in AGAP N - with the USA parachuting our aircraft fuel to the camp location; BAS (British Antarctic Survey) providing a utility Twin Otter for the camp input, an Otter for the survey and stationing scientists and technicians at AGAP N; Germany providing a Basler aircraft and crew during the input phase; China collecting our waste during their tractor traverse to Dome A and of course the Australian Antarctic Division providing personnel and camp infrastructure and a CASA aircraft to demobilise the camp in mid-January.
Our highly experienced AGAP N core team consists of Catrin Thomas from BAS as field guide, Sharon Labudda as Aviation Ground Support Officer, wintering Plant Inspector Scott Adam as our plant and vehicle expert, and myself, Eric Philips, as field leader. We also have a 'tiger team' of helpers that include outgoing-winter plumber John 'Webby' Webb, outgoing-winter electrician Ray Wright and incoming-winter storeman Paul Endersby. Wayne Finlayson, outgoing-winter plumber from Casey, is unable to join us for the input phase due to the diversion of the ship, but we may see him later in the season. In early December the remainder of our team, a scientific and pilot crew from BAS, will arrive in the survey Otter via South Pole, completing our AGAP N family.
Our work at Davis prior to input has been assembling all of our equipment so that we can iron out any weaknesses in the system. We'll be operating in one of the most extreme environments on Earth so we can leave nothing to chance. Cat has done a great job sorting out and refining mountains of food and Sharon has been busy grooming skiways that will accommodate all of the various aircraft involved in both AGAP N and Davis operations. With the Davis resupply complete, Webby, Ray and Scotty are out gathering our heavy equipment such as generators, heaters and a fuel drum crusher, for testing.
We're on schedule and enjoying the warmth and hospitality of Davis while we can. The utility Otter and Basler hope to be here at Davis within a week after which we begin the input phase. The photo is of the AGAP N team at Davis (minus Wayne), dressed in our polar suits, and in a frivolous mood before the demanding work we have ahead of us.
Eric Philips - AGAP North Field Leader
|
