Being the assistant operator

Yes, there is some work required being the assistant operator.  Though now with the sun up it doesn't quite feel like work with all the beauty of the barrens around me.  I'll give you a general overview of a typical week in Alert (for me at least) :

We (the operator and I ) go up to the lab usually three times a week: Monday, Wednsday, and Friday.  In the track truck it's about a 20 - 30  minute drive depending how bad the snow drifts are on the road (which is not plowed, hence the need for tracks and 4 wheel drive).  Once we get to the "TX site" we plug the truck in to keep the motor warm, and walk the next kilometre to the lab.  This sometimes includes pulling sleds full of sample cases to and from the lab, which I think is the only reason I have not become 200 pounds with the all-you-can-eat meals everyday.



Mondays: I usually think of Monday as 'filter day' because all the filters I put on the week before need to be changed.  This includes the Hi-Vol filter, POPs/Toxics filter, PS-1 filters, ozone etc.. most of which are outdoors.  I'd be kidding myself if I told you I knew everything these filters are being tested for.  But in general, they are looking for stuff such as toxic metals, soot, POPs, and many other chemicals that have made their way up to the arctic. 

To the right is the Hi-Vol filter apparatus, which is located about 500 metres west of the lab.  The walk was a bit spooky when it was complete darkness, especially since when I would turn the pump back on the porch light would turn off and it was just me and my headlamp.  At the bottom right of the picture is the air intake, and the box on the left is where I change the filter.   The picture below is the POPs/Toxics apparatus, which is at the top of the lab's tower, and requires many trips up and down the couple flights of stairs.  Field blanks are taken about once a month for most of the filter systems to be able to measure the contamination from shipping and handling.

Me getting ready for the hike to change the Hi-Vol filter in the dark months

Tuesdays & Thursdays: We usually don't go to the lab on these days, but work in the office that is on the station.  I am in charge of the well being of Captain Nom Nom and SharkBait, the GAW lab's goldfish that have been living in Alert for about ten years. . While I'm not tending to their needs (which takes a whole 10 seconds a day, except for when the tank is crying to be cleaned), I am handling the shipping of all the sample boxes from the week before, which requires making shipping carfs, packing them into tri walls, (similar to putting a giant puzzle together) and strapping them together.   Other duties on these days include backing up and converting files from the lab's computer on the office computer, doing weekly checks on the trucks, getting the tracks greased, and any other miscellanious jobs that come up. 

Wednesday: 'Flask day' This is the day that both the operator and I take our weekly air flasking samples that come from all over the globe.  We are filling flasks for places like Japan, Australia, California, Germany, and France that are being tested for greenhouse gases and other pollutants.  To be able to take the flasks the wind has to be strong enough and cannot be coming from the north or else they will be effected by the emmissions from the base.
Left: Japanese flask.  Right: Scripps flask, from California.  Bottom: Flasks being taken for NOAA ( National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the US)

Friday: Off to the lab again.  I don't have a special name for this day since I just do my daily lab tasks and then we are off again.   These tasks include checking the ozone level, a PSAP filter change which collects the particulate matter in the atmosphere (like black carbon) , tank pressure checks, taking inventories, shoveling, tidying etc.  Whenever their is enough fresh snow I go outside with Matt (the operator) to take snow samples which are being tested for mercury. (It's not actually warm enough out to wear just a sweater, but the shoulder gloves needed to take the samples don't fit over a parka unfortunately)

The view from the truck on the drive back from the lab: (the multi coloured buildings in the distance is the station with the frozen Arctic Ocean behind it)
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Sunrise Carnival

 

The first "official" sunrise was supposed to be on Tuesday, February 28th.  On this day half the disk of the sun was going to be above the horizon, but there are very large hills to the south of the base which delayed the date that anyone could actually see any of the sun.  Everyday that week I waited outside around the time that the sun was supposed to rise but it was either blocked by the hills or overcast skies.  Finally, on Saturday March 3rd, the day of the Sunrise Carnival, I joined a trip up Mt. Pulan (not actually a mountain, but a very very, very, big hill) in hopes of seeing the sun.  It was about an hour ride in a military PV, with ten of us in the back in our parkas and sitting on pillows since it was an extremely bumpy ride (almost like being on a slow wooden roller coaster).   

We couldn't see anything out of the back, so I wasn't sure if we'd even be able to see the sun, but as soon as I stepped out of the PV at around 10 am I stared right into the full disk of the sun (I'll admit, I forgot just how bright the sun was and had to close my eyes instantly).  Instantly I felt my mood lift and could not stop staring at the sun and my surroundings.  It was absolutely breathtaking.. which may have been partly due to the fact that it was - 48 outside.

Below is a picture from Mt. Pulan, and the hill across from it is Crystal Mountain, (on these range of hills you can actually find crystals, but unfortunately that has to wait for the ground to thaw in the summer) and beyond it is the Arctic Ocean.  The box-like black speck is the PV that we drove up in.

    



In the afternoon of the Sunrise Carnival there was a number of games like smoosh races, sumo wrestling, and blind volleyball (unfortunately I pulled a muscle in hockey a couple days earlier and couldn't really participate). 

Dinner was a giant PIG ROAST in the maintenance building.  I think 2-3 pigs were roasted outside on giant barbeques, and their was plenty of amazing food, desserts, and of course, beer.  It was awesome.



Since it is the sunrise of the year 2012, and could potentially be the last sunrise ever (if you believe in that sort of thing), it was only suitable to have an 'end of the world' theme to the carnival.   Some people gathered in groups and put on skits and made sculptures that represented the Mayan End of the World.  They were pretty entertaining to say the least.
     The one below was a Mayan temple with a beaver on top that was supposed to be in a ring of fire.  Unfortunately, since it was -54 with the wind chill, all the propane in the ring had froze and wouldn't light. 


The final event of the day was the sunrise bonfire.  It was absolutely the biggest bonfire I had ever seen, and the smoke plumes were almost as fascinating as the fire (don't worry, the GAW lab is about 7 km away from the base and located so that the wind is usually in the direction from the lab to the base so events like these won't affect our air samples).  As I mentioned, it was - 54 by this point, but if you were standing within 5 metres of the fire it was pretty toasty.

Now the sun is up before 9 and sets around 5, but it is getting longer every day.  We do not have any complete darkness anymore, a bit of twilight is always present at night.  In april there will be 24 hours of sunlight!