MASIN ACCACIA Longyearbyen July/Aug 2013


This is the diary of the MASIN field season flying out of Longyearbyen for the ACCACIA project during July/Apug 2013. ACCACIA is a NERC funded project with two fieldwork periods. For this second period the MASIN Twin Otter and RRS JCR are involved.


For this campaign Tom, Alex, Amélie and Russ are joined by Barbara and Ian from Leeds University and James from University of Manchester.

 

The main science campaign blog covers all the activities going on as part of the project.

 

Airport Weather - Sea Ice Chart


Tom, Vicky, Alex, Amelie, Russ fly via Oslo with visit to Fram. Barb and Ian join us in Oslo. All arrive Longyearbyen midnight. AZ flies Duxford to Trondheim with Bergen refuel.

 

+6 °C, sunny. AZ arrives late afternoon with Al and Robert. Firearms hired. Cargo sorted and office set up. Airport passes collected. Fittings prepared for install tomorrow. Big supermarket food shop. Ian cooked bolognese. Second plyon checked - base needs cable hole.

 

+8°C, sunny. A long day but all the external instruments fitted. Tom made hole in second pylon base and Robert did most of the technical fixings up the ladder onto the wings. Russ cycled to/from airport for the first time. Ready to ground test everything tomorrow.

 

Cooler day, cloud and rain setting in later. Robert, James, Vicky and Ian did their rifle course. Al walked to the airport. Aircraft safety briefing. Survival kit loaded. Instruments ground tested. James cooked veggie curry. No flying tomorrow due to weather forecast.

 

Sunny start, turning to cloud/rain after lunch. Filter pump equipment installed. Continuing problems with Rosemount Humicap, Brechtel Inlet Humicap and De-Iced temperature sensor logging, probably all related. Weight and Balance for instrument fit updated. Instrument checklists updated / printed. Pilot day off. Test flight planned for tomorrow morning. Filter pump shelf installed; plumbed and wired in.

 

Cloudy morning clearing later. An abundance of walking to the airport this morning after Al set the trend. Ian and Barb followed by Alex. Test flight 190 with Ian, Barb, Russ and James. Was also an attempt at an inlet characterisation. Some problems with temperature feed to Brechtel controller, no Licor data, Humicap or De-iced temperature. Laser possibly missing returns at nadir perhaps due to reflections from fitted perspex cover. Tom and James took CAPS off after the flight and did something with the CIP alignment. Amelie cooked garlic bread and pasta bake with Salad. Ian and Barb went out with some other Leeds friends who have just arrived.

 

Sunny day with forecast high of 11°C. Tom, Barb and James went off on flight 191 over the sea ice to the North. Licor working, Brechtel temperature feed fixed. Filter sample taken. Barb and Alex walked to the airport again. Russ taking his usual option of cycling.

 

Foggy start at the airport but clearing enough for James, Barb, Tom and Vicky to head North again on flight 192 then around the East of the island. GPS base station positioned. DHL batteries collected. Server updates installed. Barb added her Grimm exhaust in the evening. Alex cooked a chicken meal.

 

Rainy day, no flying. No flying tomorrow either.

 

Low Cloud, rain. Tom and James went to airport - fiddled with CIP? Vicky also there with Laser.

Tom cooked roast reindeer meat.

 

More cloud followed by rain later. Alex, Barb, James went off on flight 193 back up North. CPC data extraction routines added. Perspex removed from Lidar window on aircraft return. Vicky cooked chicken and yummy chocolate cake. Amélie cycled home from the airport.

 

Grey start but brightening up. James, Barb, Amélie went out on flight 194. Alex made waffles at the airport.

 

Brighter morning. Tom had a puncture in the car on the way to the airport. No flying due to poor conditions for measurements. Expecting to fly 25th and 26th. De-Iced T, Inlet T and humidty data problem sorted. CAPS Anti-Ice breaker upgraded. Trimble GPS ready for base station. 2D-S tip epoxyed. Amélie and Russ ran home from the airport giving Tom the opportunity to cycle. Ian cooked Risotto. Al moved into our house as the hotel was full.

 

Overcast morning. Tom, Barb, Amélie, Vicky headed out West on flight 195. James cooked a potato dish.

 

James, Barb, Tom head off on flight 196. Barbeque organised by Robert.

 

Planned no flying due to conditions and only 2 flights remaining. People headed to the hills, gaciers and shops. Tom did some calibrations on the cloud instruments.

 

Morning meeting at the airport, but no flying today. Robert headed out in the car and Al went up a hill. Tom, Amélie, Vicky and Russ went for a walk around the coast looking at wildlife. Turns out a rifle on your back is also a good defence against diving terns. Project meal at Kroa.

 

James departed on a 4am flight. Tom's birthday. Low cloud/mist here and Ny Alesund. Flying delayed. Alex, Barb and Amélie headed off to look for the JCR on flight 197. Lots of low cloud in vicinity. Amélie cooked smoked salmon pasta and Vicky baked another chocolate cake.

 

Last flying day. Tom, Barb, Amélie and Vicky heading out on flight 198 in search of clouds over the ice. Aircraft into the hangar on return. Sunny evening. Alex cooked meatballs. People headed out for walks along the coast and up to the fossil fields.

 

Rainy morning. JCR in port for the day so people visiting the ship. Tom showed a Swedish aviation journalist around the aircraft. 'A' check and equipment coming off of the aircraft.

 

Remaining kit removed from aircraft. Maintenance check complete. The long job of cargo packing and paperwork was started.

 

Barb and Ian left. Cars were paid for, firearms returned, packing, museum visits and last minute shopping. AZ engine run-up leak test, refual and loaded ready for depart.

 

Tom, Alex and Vicky flew home. Al and Robert departed in AZ for Bergen via Tromso. Cloudy day. Amélie and Russ pretty much finished packing the boxes.

 

Weather finally brightened after lunch and Amélie and Russ headed for the hills. AZ arrived Duxford and was met by Tom. Bills of Lading completed in the evening.

 

A final day of clearing out the office, returning firearms and searching out the office of the cargo handling company.

 

Amélie and Russ flew back to UK.