IPF recently took part in a number of environmental events: the EU Commission's Green Week, the Belgian Energy and Environment Prize awards ceremony, and the Brussels Environment Festival.
On June 5th, the World celebrated Word Environment Day. This year's theme - "Seven Billion Dreams. One Planet. Consume with Care" - highlighted the need for responsible management of the planet’s natural resources. With the aim of “increasing the quality of life for all people without further environmental degradation,” World Environment Day invites us to become better stewards of our planet.
Biodiversity focus at Green Week
This year saw IPF return to the European Commission’s Green Week, the biggest annual conference on European environmental policy. From 3 to 5 June, IPF manned a stand where Green Week participants could learn more about the Polar Regions and IPF initiatives, including the annual Arctic Futures Symposium (which takes place every autumn in Brussels), IPF’s education and outreach resources (used by a large number of educators around the world), and the foundation’s flagship project, the Princess Elisabeth Antarctica Station – the world’s first polar research station designed and built to run entirely on renewable energy.
This year's focus for Green Week - Nature and Biodiversity – aimed to show how nature is “vital for our health and wealth.” The event attracted 2000 participants from countries all across Europe. The event was a perfect networking opportunity with other organisations from around Europe interested in environmental issues.
Belgian Energy and Environment Prize: sustainable management
On the evening of 3 June, several members of the IPF team headed to Brussels Environment's new eco-friendly administrative headquarters at the Tour & Taxis site for the 10th annual Belgian Energy and Environment Prize awards ceremony.
For the past decade, the International Polar Foundation has awarded the prize to a Belgian organisation or person who has shown outstanding leadership and initiative in finding solutions to live more sustainably. The 10th edition brought together past laureates, including IPCC Vice Chair Professor Jean-Pascal van Ypersele, who shared news of their latest activities.
This year’s laureate was Empreintes ASBL, an association dedicated to environmental education for children, teenagers, young adults and people in difficult social and economic situations. The organisation was recognised for its Eco Watchers programme, in which the non-profit runs workshops to help people in difficult financial situations reduce their energy consumption (and thus their energy costs). The programme also empowers people by working with them to identify actions they can do to improve their quality of living. By generating social, environmental and economic benefits, the EcoWatchers programme certainly makes a significant contribution to sustainable development!
You can read more about past laureates and nominees on the Belgian Energy and Environment Prize website (in Dutch and in French). Congratulations to all the laureates and nominees!
Sunny day for climate at the Brussels Environment Festival
Brussels Capital Region celebrated Word Environment Day on 7 June with its annual Environment Festival, organised by Brussels Environment at Park Cinquantenaire in Brussels.
The IPF was present at the festival – which focused on climate this year - with a stand where visitors could learn more about the Polar Regions. Throughout the day, many inquisitive people stopped by the IPF stand to have a chat with us. They were able to learn more about polar science, the impacts of climate change, and how they can learn more through IPF’s education and outreach tools.
Thanks in part to the great weather, the family-friendly event attracted an estimated 24,000 people keen to learn more about what they as citizens could do to reduce their impact on the planet and live more sustainably.
Overall, it was a wonderful week for the environment!
Photo: International Polar Foundation President Alain Hubert poses with members of Empreintes ASBL, who won the 2015 Belgian Energy and Environment Prize.
International Polar Foundaton President Alain Hubert received the 2015 Geographical Award at the UK Royal Geogrpahical Society.
Monday 1st June was a memorable day for Alain Hubert, as he was presented with the 2015 Geographical Award at a ceremony at the UK Royal Geographical Society (with Institute of British Geographers) headquarters in London, England.
The Geographical Award is a highly prestigious prize given each year to:
1) A company or individual that has provided outstanding, non-commercial support for individuals or groups learning about scientific through scientific expeditions, or
2) Expeditions that have had a significant impact on inspiring and improving school children’s and the general public’s understanding of geographical issues.
In presenting the award, Royal Geographical Society President, Professor Dame Judith Rees, highlighted Alain’s extensive polar achievements including his crossing of the Arctic and Antarctica, the creation of the first “zero emission” research station in Antarctica, and the work carried out by the International Polar Foundation to raise awareness about the polar environment and climate change.
In all, 18 people received different medals and awards were received by for outstanding contributions to geographical research, fieldwork, writing, photography, teaching and outreach activities. Royal medals were awarded to Professor Batty from University College London for the development and promotion of the geographical models of cities, and Paul Theroux for the encouragement of geographical discovery through travel writing.
Alain attended the award ceremony with British polar explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes, IPF Vice-President for International Affairs, Nighat Amin and IPF UK Executive Secretary Liz Pasteur.
Over three days (24th-26th April), the International Polar Foundation and the UK Polar Network ran a series of workshops at Birmingham Thinktank science centre.
The workshops used Sir Ernest Shackleton’s 1914-16 expedition as a focus for learning about the Polar Regions and investigating climate change over the last 100 years.
Three days of fun and discovery!
The team of two IPF staff and six PhD scientists were kept extremely busy over the three days of the workshop event. They welcomed school groups on Friday, Girl Guides and Brownies (scouts) on Saturday (ten groups!) and engaged with the general public on Sunday.
Workshop participants were able to learn a lot about the Arctic and Antarctic thanks to the visual aid the International Polar Foundation’s interactive polar puzzles provided. Participants also got to try on some polar gear, including clothing similar to that used by members of Shackelton’s 1914-16 expedition as well as clothing polar explorers and researchers wear today!
Meeting polar researchers
Polar researchers took time out of their busy schedules to inspire visitors with the fascinating world of polar science. Meteorological scientist Jenny Turton from the British Antarctic Survey in Cambridge and the University of Leeds, along with marine biologist Maddie Brasier from the University of Liverpool, shared their experiences working in Antarctica. Ecologist Catherine Docherty from the University of Birmingham and glaciologist TJ Young from the Scott Polar Research Institute in Cambridge talked about their research activities in the Arctic.
Participants even got the chance to become scientists themselves, putting on lab coats and conducting experiments on sea level rise, snow and ice albedo, and ocean acidification.
More to come…
The final event in the educational workshop series will be held at the At Bristol science centre from 30th May to 1st June 2015.
The IPF would like to thank the UK Polar Network volunteers for generously volunteering their time and expertise, Birmingham Museums for hosting the sessions, and the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office for financial support.
To mark UN World Environment Day in June each year, the Belgian Energy and Environment Awards are presented to Belgian citizens who have undertaken outstanding initiatives on environmental protection and promoting sustainable energy use. This year, the awards ceremony will celebrate its 10th edition!
An award to honour sustainable development
Since its first edition, the awards have honoured more than 1,800 initiatives that have contributed to building a sustainable future at the local, regional or national level.
As an organisation that actively promotes informed action on climate change and the development of a sustainable society, the International Polar Foundation has been an enthusiastic partner of the Belgian Energy and Environment Awards since the very beginning.
Like last year, eight awards will be presented to individuals and organisations that promote forward-looking initiatives in sustainable development.
Think you’re eligible for an Energy and Environment Award?
Do you think the work you or someone you know has done for sustainable development is worthy of recognition on a national level?
Citizens young and old, companies, associations, schools, universities, cities, municipalities...pretty much any person or organistion who has made significant contributions to sustainable development are all eligible to receive the prize.
If you think that you or an organisation you work for is eligible to receive a 2015 Energy and Environment Award, we would love to hear from you. All you need to do is fill out an application form online before April 1st.
Who knows? Maybe you or your organisation will be one of the eight laureates this coming June!
The 10th Belgian Antarctic Research Expedition (BELARE) was successful on all fronts. A lot happened to write home about, as followers were able to see on the Princess Elisabeth station website. Scientists were particularly happy with the research they were able to accomplish and the support they got in the field from the station team.
Excellent support for scientists
The expedition to the coast was really successful. Despite a few problems with the drill, scientists from the Glaciology Laboratory at the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) working on the IceCon project were able to extract a number of ice cores on the King Baudouin Ice Shelf at the coast in East Antarctica, 200 km away from the Princess Elisabeth station. Although they were hampered by bad weather and a stuck drill, the team was able to take a few ice cores from the ice shelf, including one as deep as 107 meters. The team also took a series of radar measurements of the ice shelf to get an idea of what the ice is like beneath its surface. In addition to collecting plenty of data to go back home with, the IceCon team also installed a live-tweeting automatic weather station on the King Baudouin Ice Shelf, which gives regular updates on the weather and how fast the ice is flowing!
Jan Lenaerts, the laureate of the 2014 InBev-Baillet Latour Antarctica Fellowship, who is studying surface melt of ice shelves in East Antarctica, travelled to the King Baudouin Ice Shelf with the IceCon team to start research on the BENEMELT project the Fellowship is funding. In addition to taking a number of firn cores along a transect of the ice shelf, Jan was able to set up an automatic weather station (AWS) at the grounding line of the ice shelf. The AWS is currently transmitting weather data to the Princess Elisabeth station, which then relays this weather data via satellite antenna to Jan at Utrecht University in the Netherlands. He's keeping a close eye on what's happening in Antarctica, as he'll be heading back next season to do more research funded by the Fellowship. Overall, it was a very successful season for Jan.
This season, seismologist Denis Lombardi from the Royal Observatory of Belgium unfortunately had to deal with a few defective data loggers in the seismic stations installed in a number of different locations in the vicinity of the Princess Elisabeth station. While he was disappointed that faulty electronics had caused the data loggers to malfunction, the station's logistical team was there to help him. They managed to replace some of the data loggers and install a few new seismometers, so the collection of seismic data in the region could continue.
Meanwhile, back at the station, Quentin Laffineur and Alexander Mangold from the Belgian Royal Meteorological Institute (RMI) continued their observations of ozone, aerosols, and cloud-forming particles using instruments already installed at the station for a few years, as well as a new instrument brought from Leipzig University in Germany. Throughout the entire season, the station team launched a meteorological balloon every day for the RMI scientists to take measurements of the atmosphere in a vertical column from the ground to the stratosphere, 30 km up!
The construction of a brand new geomagnetic observatory fro the GEOMAG project was also an interesting challenge for the station team. Built over a few weeks, the shelter that now houses instruments that measure Earth's magnetic field had to be constructed without using any magnetic materials to avoid any possible interference with the magnetic field measurements. The station team helped Stephan Bracke from the Geophysical Center of Dourbes set up two instruments in the completed observatory, with a third instrument invented by scientists in Dourbes called Autodif to be installed next year.
A Belgian teacher in Antarctica
As he and his class were awarded 1st prize in the second edition of the Polar Quest competition, Electronics teacher from the Athénée Royal d'Ans Roger Radoux spent several weeks in Antarctica this season. Roger was able to learn about how the Princess Elisabeth station uses renewable energy to run, and how energy use at the station is managed to maximise energy efficiency.
During his time at the station, Roger Skyped with his students back in Belgium, teaching them what he learned about how the station works and life in Antarctica. He was also lucky enough to take part in a few field expeditions during the season. So he was able to experience Antarctica to the fullest!
Some media attention
One highlight of the 2014-15 season was visiting the emperor penguin colony on the Princess Ragnhild coast for the third time, to see how the colony was doing. International Polar Foundation President Alain Hubert confirmed the existence of the penguin colony in late 2012, after a team of British scientists had found evidence supporting its existence via satellite imagery some years before. Alain and Belgian reporter Jos Van Hemelrijck paid a visit to the colony this season for the third year in a row, and they colony is doing very well.
Geophysicists from the Alfred Wegner Institute (AWI) were also operating from Princess Elisabeth Antarctica this year, conducting aerial geophysical surveys of the bedrock of Antarctica from their Polar 6 research plane. While flying one of their missions, they spotted a massive circular structure on the King Baudouin Ice Shelf. At first, they hypothesised that the structure might have been caused by a meteorite impact. However after scientists form around the world commented on the story on social media, a more convincing explanation emerged after conversations between scientists on social media: an ice doline. We will be following the developments of this story closely, as collected data are analysed in Germany. Jan Lenaerts plans to visit the structure next year to have a clear look at it.
Regardless of what the structure turns out to be, Alain and the station team were happy to welcome a number of German VIPs to the Princess Elisabeth station for a short impromptu visit in mid-January. The Germans were very impressed with the comfort and convenience that a scientific research station in Antarctica can afford scientists, including scientists from the Alfred Wegener Institute!
And in late January, a 70 km2 chunk of the King Baudouin ice shelf broke off and started drifting out to sea. It created a bit of excitement because, according to ULB glaciologists, this is the first time since the 1960's that this ice shelf lost so much ice.
Successes for the technical team
The big achievement of the year for the technical team was the rebuilding of the main garages. Originally built on ice that slowly flows around the Utsteinen Ridge, it was time to find a more permanent engineering solution.
They devised a system in which the new garages are supported by three 17 metre-long timber beams anchored to the rock of Utsteinen Ridge on one side, and can slide on adjustable platforms anchored into the ice. The platforms will drift with the ice, with the beams sliding upon them. The height of the platforms can be adjusted year after year, which ensures that the building will remain level even as the ice moves. Over time, some new support platforms may have to be built, but that will be an easy job for the team of highly skilled professionals who take care of the Princess Elisabeth station.
For our chief mechanic Kristof Soette, the highlight of the season was certainly the arrival of two Toyota Hiluxes he had customised himself. The new vehicles proved to be very useful as soon as they went into service. The Hiluxes allow scientists and members of the logistical team to travel more quickly on a wide variety of difficult terrains. They are certainly a sight to see in action!
And speaking of a sight to see, the first drone flight over the Princess Elisabeth station took place during the 2014-15 season. It was able to record some impressive views of the station and surrounding landscape from never-before-seen perspectives!
Alain would like to give special thanks to all who made the 10th BELARE season such a successful one, especially the team in Antarctica. They can't wait to return to Antarctica next season!
With Earth’s magnetic poles in the Polar Regions, Antarctica is an interesting place to study the planet’s magnetic field. Stephan Bracke from the Belgian Royal Meteorological Institute’s Geophysical Center of Dourbes is involved in a project called GEOMAG, which has established a new geomagnetic observatory at the Princess Elisabeth station in Antarctica. Back from Antarctica, Stephan discusses the success of the season.
This is the second of three seasons during which a new geomagnetic observatory for the GEOMAG project is being set up. Last year, your colleague Jean Rasson travelled to the Princess Elisabeth station to conduct surveys to determine an ideal location near the station to build the observatory. What were your objectives this season?
The goals this season were to build a dome-shaped non-magnetic shelter to house the instruments, and to install in the shelter two instruments that can measure Earth’s magnetic field.
The station team built the shelter several weeks before I even arrived in Antarctica. The shelter was finished by the end of December, and when I got to the station at the beginning of February, the team was just finishing up the installation of a fiber-optic cable linking the shelter to the Princess Elisabeth station.
Which instruments did you install this season in the shelter?
One instrument we installed this season is called a variometer. It measures the variation in Earth’s magnetic field in three directions: north-south, east-west, and up-down, and it takes this measurement once every second. The second instrument I installed is a proton-magnometer. It measures the strength in Tesla (the SI unit for magnetic flux density) of Earth’s magnetic field every second. So with both instruments, one can see how the magnetic field moves in three dimensions and how its strength changes over time.
Data from these instruments is transferred in real time (with a total delay of half a second) to the Geophysical Center of Dourbes in Belgium. Originally, I had only planned to have data transmitted twice a day. But in the end, I managed to set it up so data is collected and transmitted every second. The fiber-optic cable transmits data from the instruments to the station, and from there the data is transmitted via satellite to Belgium. You can log in remotely and observe the data coming in!
How much does Earth’s magnetic field vary in Antarctica?
Earth’s magnetic field usually varies about 10 or 20 nT (Nano Tesla, or 10 to 20 billionths of a Tesla). But when I was in Antarctica, I noticed that the magnetic field varied by 300 nT.
In Antarctica, it’s normal to see larger variation in the magnetic field, as the South Magnetic Pole is located there. Solar activity has greater influence on Earth’s magnetic field at the poles.
Are you happy with how the setup of the shelter and instruments went?
Everything went really well this season. The installation of the instruments went very smoothly, and the instruments are working just fine. The station team was very helpful in building the shelter ahead of time and helping me set up the instruments.
What kind of work is planned for next season?
If all goes well, next season we plan to install an instrument that was developed at the Geophysical Center of Dourbes called Autodif (automatic declination, inclination flux). This instrument will measure the angles of the magnetic field.
A magnetic field is a vector, meaning at each moment in time it has a strength it has strength and a direction. The strength is measured with the proton magnetometer and the direction is measured by two angles : the declination and the inclination. The declination of Earth’s magnetic field is the angle between the magnetic field and the Geographic North Pole. The inclination is the angle of the magnetic field relative to a horizontal plane tangent to where you are on Earth’s surface (straight down near the North Magnetic Pole, and relatively horizontal in the Tropics, for example).
There’s a photo of you from this season using a theodolite to measure the angle of the magnetic field angle. How is Autodif different?
You can use a theodolite to measure the inclination and declination of Earth’s magnetic field. But this is a manual process that takes about three quarters of an hour to do.
However the Autodif instrument will take exactly the same kind of measurements, but without any need for a human to be present to take them. This means measurements of Earth’s magnetic field declination and inclination can be taken during the eight months of the year that the Princess Elisabeth station is unmanned. Also, it can take the measurements in five minutes - much faster than a human can take the same measurements using a theodolite, and it can take these measurements at regular intervals (Autodif can do it every half hour but in a normal setup we take a measurement once a day).
Autodif sounds like a very useful device. How many of them are currently in use?
Autodif is a unique device developed in Belgium at the Geophysical Center of Dourbes. There are currently two installed in Dourbes as well as one in Austria at the Conrad Observatory. During the 2015-16 research season, the fourth Autodif in the world will be installed at the Princess Elisabeth Antarctica research station.
Are a lot of the measurements taken of of Earth’s magnetic field around the world still done mostly by hand?
For the inclination and declination of the magnetic field, it’s still done manually. Geomagnetic observatories around the world usually take these kinds of measurements once a week. So if the Autodif instrument can take these measurements at regular intervals, this is a huge improvement.
Are there plans for more Autodif instruments to be installed elsewhere on the planet?
The aim over the next few years is to place more Autodif instruments in other parts of the world. Geomagnetic experts in Japan, Spain, Australia and Italy have already expressed interest in having one.
Was this your first trip to Antarctica?
Yes, it was the first time I went. I really enjoyed it.
Before coming, I was worried about how things would work, and whether it would be too cold. But after a few days in Antarctica, I noticed that while it’s cold, if there’s sun and no wind, then it’s not so bad. It’s a nice environment. I enjoyed working there.
The last days I was there it was very windy, and we couldn’t go outside much. But we had all the luxuries we needed at the station.
Will you go back next season?
Probably not. I have a colleague who is specialised in the Autodif instrument who will probably go to set it up. But it will be exciting to finally have an Autodif taking measurements of the magnetic field in Antarctica!
Today the BELARE 10 team closes the station for the winter and starts the journey back to Belgium. Over the past week, everyone has been busy finishing up their work for the season and making the final overwintering preparations.
GEOMAG instruments installed and transmitting data
Over the past few weeks, the station team helped Stephan Brack from the Royal Meteorological Institute of Belgium’s Geophysical Center of Dourbes set up a triaxial variometer, which measures the Earth’s magnetic field vectors in three directions, and an Overhauser magnetometer, which measures the strength of Earth’s magnetic field. All the necessary work was completed without any problems. Thanks to a fiber optic cable linking the instruments to the staiton's satellite antenna, data from the instruments is now being transmitted in real-time to the the Geophysical Center in Dourbes.
A third instrument invented by scientists from the Geophysical Center will be installed in the shelter next season.
Thumbs up for the Hiluxes
It was the station’s chief mechanic Kristof Soete who came up with the idea of modifying Toyota Hiluxes - fitting them with treads instead of tyres - so they can be used in Antarctica. Since they’ve arrived on the White Continent, the station team has used them extensively. “They’ve made transporting people and equipment much easier,” Kristof explained. "The vehicles are more fuel efficient and mobile than tractors and can transport much more than a skidoo."
The Hiluxes “can climb up steep slopes covered in snow with no issue, and cross a crevasse half a metre wide without any problem,” Kristof continued. “They have a lot of cargo space, and the provide good comfort and protection to the driver and the passengers.”
After testing them out in the rough terrain of Antarctica, Kristof says some improvements can still be made to the suspension of the vehicles. But he pointed out that it was his intention form the beginning to see how well they did during their first season in action, and then make any necessary modifications. Once back in Belgium, he and fellow mechanics will start working on preparing the necessary modifications, which he plans to install on the Hiluxes when he gets back to the station next season.
Going through the final checklist
The mechanics and the electricians have spent their final days at the station doing the final maintenance on the backup generators. This includes putting in new oil, new filters, running a diagnostic check, and doing a test run.
While the station continues to run on wind energy after the sun disappears entirely during the dark months of the Antarctic winter and solar energy is no longer avaialble, the back-up generators are necessary to ensure the Princess Elisabeth Antarctica can keep running in case something happens to other sources of power. The station uses much less energy during the eight months that it’s uninhabited, but some energy is still needed to keep the systems of the station and the scientific instruments running.
Mechanics Kristof Soete and Walter Cumps have also been servicing the vehicles to make sure they’re ready to go as soon as the team arrives on site next season. They’ve been keeping track of the running hours of each vehicle and noting any maintenance requirements and new parts that need to be ordered for them.
The team has also stored all the vehicles in the container park next to the air strip 2 km from the station. The containers were sealed today with heavy-duty tape and secured with rope to make doubly sure no snow gets into the containers over the winter.
“As a mechanic at the station, there are no boring days,“ Kristof admitted. “There’s always something to do!”
Heading home
The remaining members of the BELARE 10 team are scheduled to close up the Princess Elisabeth station later this afternoon and head for the Russian Novo station, weather permitting. From there they will fly on to Cape Town, and then back to Belgium. Most of the BELARE 10 team is scheduled to be back home by the weekend.
Here’s wishing them a safe journey home, and congratulations on a job well done this season!
BELARE 10 leader Alain Hubert recounts finishing the technical facilities and garage ahead of schedule, and thanks the team who has made everything possible.
The best team in Antarctica
The three to four weeks prior to closing the station are always very busy from a technical point of view. This year the main challenge was to rebuild one part of the technical facilities (which include the garages) on the south side of the station. Given the fact that the supply ship arrived very late this season, it left us with only three weeks to finish the construction work.
Nonetheless, we’ve been able to build a structure that solves the issue of the ice moving around it as it flows. We’ve put together a two-floor wooden building articulated on three timber beams 17.5 metres long and almost 6 metres high. The entire structure of the new technical facilities building and garage is anchored onto the rock of Utsteinen Ridge on one side, and supported on the other side by a structure built on 12 posts sunk 5 meters deep into the ice. This new structure can slide with the ice as it slowly flows around Utsteinen ridge, and it can be jacked up when necessary in order to keep the level of the entire building horizontal.
Like many things here at the Princess Elisabeth Antarctica, all the time we have to find solutions to for the upkeep of the station and room to grow.
We all were a bit afraid of not being able to complete the work before the end of the season, which would have been catastrophic, as the snow would invade the empty space over the eight months the station is uninhabited. But you have to take into account that I have here the best team on the entire continent: guys who enjoy working seven days a week in – 20°C weather to make sure the job gets done!
We've even managed to finish building the technical facilities ahead of time! Now we have enough time to finish other tasks, like the new science shelter to be set up on the ridge, moving 39 solar panels onto the ridge, as they can no longer be on the garage anymore, and properly prepare the station, the vehicles and container park for overwintering.
Supporting scientists all the way
We haven’t forgotten our mission to support scientific research. I’m leaving tomorrow with the new Toyota Hilux to pick up the 17th seismometer station Denis Lombardi from the Royal Meteorological Institute of Belgium installed at the grounding line of the King Baudouin Ice Shelf 160 km away from the station.While we’re in the field, we also have to collect data for microbiologists at the University of Ghent.
Back at the station, our team continues to collect atmospheric data for scientists. The daily launches of the meteorological balloon with a radio sounder attached to it continue. They will continue doing this until we have to leave at the end of February.
The 2014-15 season is the tenth season since we made the first survey to determine where to build the Princess Elisabeth Station, which we started building in 2007. This is also the sixth season during which our team has supported scientific teams coming to the station to conduct research scientific season without any injuries or major problems.
A special word of thanks
Together with the International Polar Foundation team in Brussels and Cape Town, we succeed in doing our job despite the challenges that have come our way over the years.
This season is one of the best ever for the Princess Elisabeth Antarctica polar research station. I would like to thank the all team and all the people who support what we do. We will continue to go ahead with new projects at Princess Elisabeth and do our best to support the work of all scientists coming to the station to conduct research that helps humanity better understand the planet we live on.
InBev-Baillet Latour Antarctica Fellowship laureate Jan Lenaerts reflects on the time he spent in Antarctica on the King Baudouin Ice Shelf conducting research for the BENEMELT project and discusses plans for next season.
How was your season in Antarctica? Did you accomplish everything you set out to accomplish?
In terms of scientific research, I’m very happy. I accomplished everything I planned to do this past season, so I’m more than satisfied.
How was adjusting to life in Antarctica for you?
It was a rather smooth adjustment when I went there. But it’s a different world. You’re completely secluded form normal life, especially when you’re doing field research. You have no internet connection, no phone, no way to communicate with the outside world all the time. It’s another rhythm of life. You’re just a group of scientists. It makes life very regular, and very simple in a way.
How was it adjusting to life after you came back?
When you return, you immediately find yourself back in the normal world all of a sudden. It takes some time to get used to all that again.
It’s also kind of strange when you go to Antarctica and you’re confronted with 24-hour daylight. I liked it a lot. I didn’t have a problem to sleep or anything.
It was only hard once I got back to Europe in the heart of winter that I had difficultly. It was a bit depressing. All of a sudden, I was missing the sunlight. It’s not only the number of hours of daylight - which is low in Northern Europe in winter - but also the intensity of the sunlight. In the Netherlands, it’s dark, grey and humid, while in Antarctica, it’s very sunny and bright most of the time.
So you prefer the sun?
I prefer the sun, and I also prefer the cold. That’s what’s very attractive about Antarctica. Antarctica is a place where you can have the sun and the cold at the same time - at least during the austral summer.
What have you done for the BENEMELT research project since returning?
I’ve been trying to automatically link via satellite the data coming from the automatic weather station I set up on the King Baudouin Ice Shelf this past season under the BENEMELT project blog. This means that near realtime data is plotted on this blog. I and everyone who is interested can follow weather conditions on the King Baudouin Ice Shelf.
The weather station has been operational for more than a month now, and it seems that there’s a lot going on in terms of melt. It’s quite impressive. There are a lot of days where temperatures are above freezing during the day. Over the past month, there have only been about 10 days where the temperature has been below 0°C on the ice shelf. So it’s a relatively warm place - considering it’s Antarctica in the summer.
What about the firn cores you extracted?
I took eight firn cores during the field expedition, and I’ve already managed to digitize the data I recovered from those cores (ice density and the position of each of the ice layers in the firn cores). So now I can start to plot the data on graphs and analyze the data.
To be honest, I’ve got a lot of work to do outside of the BENEMELT project. I just need to find time to analyze the data.
Has the King Baudouin Ice Shelf turned out to be warmer than you expected?
Before going there, I had had a few hypotheses. Based on satellite data and my intuition, I suspected that there would be the largest gradient in surface melting of the ice shelf along a transect between the coast and the grounding line of the ice shelf (where the ice sheet ends and the ice shelf begins). This turned out to be true. I observed that there was a huge change in snow conditions travelling from the coast towards the grounding line.
During the expedition, we spent four days at the grounding line. It was extremely nice weather - not a lot of wind and warm. In fact, it was 5°C the day I set up the automatic weather station. I didn’t know what to expect in terms of temperature. But from the data I’ve collected, surface melt appears to be very active on the King Baudouin Ice Shelf near the grounding line.
I’m surprised that the melt is as continuous as it is. It’s not just happening for a few days during the summer. It’s happening for more than a few days - at least this year. We know there’s a lot of variability from year to year in terms of melting. But we can say that this past season was warm on the King Baudouin Ice Shelf.
What’s also striking is that almost every day we had very nice weather on the ice shelf - sunny and not a lot of wind.
You experienced a rough storm when you were out on the ice shelf, though. Will the automatic weather station (AWS) be able to hold up?
Because it melts and then re-freezes repeatedly, the snow on the surface of the ice shelf is very hard and dense. When we set up the AWS, we dug a big 60 cm-deep hole in the snow surface. We put the AWS in there and filled up the hole around it with lots of snow. And as the melt / refreeze cycle continues, the station will become more and more fixed into the ice. So I’m quite sure the AWS is stable. The only problem is that it will be a challenge when we have to dig out the station next season.
Speaking of next season, what is your plan for BENEMELT project when you return at the end of 2015?
I’m planning to have a detailed discussion with my colleagues on this, but my plan is to go back to the grounding line, close to where the AWS is, and camp there for a few weeks so we can measure in detail the interaction between the snow and the surface melt.
We’ll bring instruments that can measure snow albedo (how much the snow reflects the sun’s energy) in detail. We’ll also bring instruments that can measure snow temperature. We plan to make a hole inside the snow and put some temperature sensors inside the snow at the surface, and others more deeply into the snow, so we can get a vertical temperature profile of the snow.
We’re also bringing instruments that can measure the size of snow particles. I suspect that the size and the shape of snow particles near the surface changes when there’s surface melt going on.
So compared to the season I just finished, which aimed to get an idea spatial and temporal variability of melting across the King Baudoin Ice Sheet, next season we’ll be doing a lot more detailed observations in one place, at the grounding line, where the AWS is. This seems to be a very interesting spot to investigate. There seems to be a lot going on in terms of melt activity.
I understand you’re also very interested in paying a visit to the mysterious circular structure on the King Baudouin Ice Shelf that the team of geophysicists from the Alfred Wegener Institute discovered during their geological survey.
My colleagues and I have a lot of interest in visiting this feature next season. We think it’s an ice doline - which forms from snow at the surface melting, re-freezing and draining form the ice shelf, but we have to verify this hypothesis in the field.
Overall, how did you find the quality of the logistical support given to your research project this season?
I’d have to say thumbs up to everyone involved. The station team took care of all of our logistical needs as scientists.
The Toyota Hiluxes go on their first field trip, the last of the containers are brought from the coast, and preparations are made for installing instruments in the geomagnetic observatory.
Getting to work with the Hiluxes
Expedition leader Alain Hubert and cook Riet Van de Velde took one of the Toyota Hiluxes on its first field expedition to the high plateau. It was much easier to transport tools and equipment in the Hilux than on skidoos. Being inside a Hilux certainly helps one avoid getting frostbite while driving out to the plateau!
Their mission was to retrieve two of the seismic stations Denis Lombardi had installed there last season, along with the solar panels that gave them energy. As you may remember, an number of Denis Lombardi’s seismic stations malfunctioned over the last austral winter, and need to be brought back to Belgium to be repaired.
Alain and Reit also serviced a Swiss automatic weather station, which was due for some maintenance.
Still lots to do
Since the first convoy carrying containers returned form the coast at the beginning of last week, the BELARE team have done a few more runs to get the remaining containers at Breid Bay and bring them to the Princess Elisabeth station. Today, three Prinoth tractors left for the coast to fetch the last six containers unloaded form the ship. It will be good to finally have them, as the materials and equipment inside them is needed to finish the work we need to do this season.
Speaking of which, everyone at the station is working hard to complete the reconstruction of the garages before the end of the season. There are only three weeks left until the last members of BELARE 10 leave for home, so the crew is working long hours to make sure the job gets done in time.
Meanwhile, preparations continue for the installation of instruments at the Geomagnetic observatory. Last night, Nicolas Degand dug out a 400 metre-long trench from the station to the magnetic observatory in order to lay down a fiberglass cable that will provide power from the station to the instruments. Stephan Bracke, the geophysicist from the Royal Observatory of Belgium arrives tomorrow to start the work setting up the instruments.
Inside the station, the electricians are checking to make sure that everything is in order with the electrical systems to get the station through the austral winter. In order to know what is needed for next season, Kristoff continues to take inventory of parts and supplies needed to maintain the vehicles, and Doc Jacques Richon is doing the same for medical supplies and equipment.
The end of the season is fast approaching.
