The morning started with another fabulous breakfast, but we were soon preparing for our first trip into the field. We took qamatuk into the field. I'll post a picture of one later, but basically, it's a wooden box on a sled that's pulled by a Skidoo. You can also think of it as a free chiropractic adjustment. Holy Moly, what a rough ride! If the Skidoo driver is kind, they'll slow down before they go over a big bump. If they don't, call the back surgeon.
We went out twice today and did field research at two different sites. I was on the "Forest Transition" team. We worked in the areas between the forest and the tundra. We dug 3 snow pits (two were 5 feet deep), and measured many different attributes of the snow: depth, temperature every 5 cm, hardness, density, snow crystal type. And then we did snow coring. That's where you drive a large tube into the ground to measure how deep the snow is, and then you weigh the snow in the tube to calculate the density of the snow. Easy, right? But we had to take 33 snow cores at each site. That's a lot of snow!
All in all, it was a fun day though. I wore all of my six layers today, and we had great weather. Only seven below! It turns out I have a lot in common with my new friends. We all quote Monty Python and 80's movies, and are prone to burst out in song (Bohemian Rhapsody, for instance, in 3 part harmony). In total, we spent six hours working outside and then returned to the center to do data entry and hear a lecture on snow. There are so many different kinds of snow. I had no idea it was so technical.
I got to see the Northern Lights last night. Vast is the only word to describe it. We're going out again tonight. I'll post pictures of that later too.
I've posted to my kids blog, so I feel my work is done for the day.
Till tomorrow, beware the pukak (a type of snow that has deconstructed to a more stable thermo-dynamic form, confusing...yes...but fun to say).
also, beware of yellow snow.
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