Fieldwork
The Greenland Flow Distortion Experiment (GFDex)
Location: Keflavik, Iceland (64N,22W)
Dates: 19th February - 12th March 2007
Aircraft: FAAM BAE-146, specially adapted to perform atmospheric science research
Project Website: Greenland Flow Distortion Experiment , hosted by UEA. Read the weblog to find out what we got up to in Iceland - also includes some pretty pictures of Iceland and Greenland!
IPY-THORPEX-NORWAY
Location: Andenes, Norway (69N,16E)
Dates: 25th February - 16th March 2008
Aircraft: DLR (German Aerospace Centre) Falcon, equipped with LIDAR and able to release dropsondes.
Project Website: IPY-THORPEX-Norway . Warning for native English speakers- this is mostly in Norwegian as this is a Norwegian-run project, but there are a few pages in English.
Links to weather-related websites:
- Weather forecast for Andenes from the Norwegian Met Institute met.no
- DTS at ECMWF (login required for this site)
- Andreas Dornbrack's (DLR) campaign page Has links to forecast data for the campaign
- Dundee Satellite Receiving Station Satellite images from AVHRR and MODIS
- Observation coverage from ECMWF Can check here if our dropsonde observations made it into the forecast or not!
- Observation coverage from the Met Office As above.
- Upper air soundings from U. Wyoming
- Current QuikScat data Gives a global view of 10m winds over the ocean
- Delayed QuikScat data Can view N Atlantic winds here
- Ice charts on Polar View site
Links to other useful websites:
- WIKI site for IPY-THORPEX-Norway (Login required)
- Webcam looking towards Andenes from the Arctic Lidar Observatory (ALOMAR)
Weblog
I did some more targeted observing experiments in Spring 2008 as part of the IPY-THORPEX-Norway project. We were based in Andoya , a small island off the coast of northen Norway, 300km inside the Arctic circle. I wrote a weblog while I was there, which you can view below by clicking on the date to view the blog for that day.I also took hundreds of photos, the best of which are in two albums here:
My photos part 1 mainly of the beautiful scenery. 26th Feb. - 11th Mar.
24th Feb - day before departure
25th Feb - travel to Andenes
26th Feb - settling in to Andenes
27th Feb - first flight!
28th Feb - visiting the Falcon
29th Feb - touring Andoya
1st Mar - Mountains and polar lows
2nd Mar - Polar low forms on our doorstep!
3rd Mar - Hunting polar lows
4th Mar - A bad day to visit Trondheim
5th Mar - Day of rest (sort of)
6th Mar - Strong winds off Finnmark coast
7th Mar - Trip to ALOMAR
8th Mar - Changes Afoot
9th Mar - Lighthouses and Polar Lights
10th Mar - Moorings and Melting snow
11th Mar - Transit to Iceland through sensitive regions
12th Mar - Flight cancellations
13th Mar - Planning the final assault(s)!
14th Mar - Whale Songs
15th Mar - Praying for polar lows
16th Mar - The End.