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The weather gods maintained their displeasure with us yesterday
and the winds continued to blow all day long yesterday, suspending any
chances of play. The katabatics were helped out by winds generated by a
trough lying over the Amery Ice Shelf that ensured the anemometer kept
spinning all day, registering over 30 knots with higher speeds recorded
in at the station. We need less than 15 knots to undertake the mooring
in Horseshoe Harbour. As you can probably gather, this resulted in
another day of cruising amongst the icebergs of Holme Bay.
This morning, out in the iceberg fields, the wind is a mild 10 knots
with Mawson reporting winds of 25 knots. The good news is that the winds
over Mawson are mostly katabatic and are expected to ease late in the
morning. Currently we are on a southerly course towards in atticipation
of kicking off operations once the wind eases. The sun is shinning and
the sky is clear, a truly spectacular way to start the day. Hopefully it
stays that way!
Due to the lack of activity, this is too good an opportunity to pass up
to provide some information about some of the programs being undertaken
on this voyage. First of the blocks is the Australian Radiation
Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA) project being undertaken
by Zina and Alan, over to you guys:
The UV region of the solar spectrum is classified into three broad
categories, UVA, UVB and UVC. Ozone in the atmosphere absorbs all of the
UVC (the most dangerous) and most of the UVB radiation. UVB radiation
has significant biological effects on plants and animals. In humans
short term overexposure is commonly seen as sunburn. Long term exposure
is implicated as a major cause of skin cancer and cataracts.
Due to the effect of ozone in the atmosphere, low ozone levels can cause
corresponding high UV levels. Increased UV exposure can also be caused
by reflective surfaces such as water and snow and the intensity of UV
also increases with altitude. All these factors can be found in
combination the Antarctic region often resulting in increased UV levels.
ARPANSA maintains a network of detectors in major population centres
around Australia and also at the Antarctic stations. The detectors
measure the intensity of the UVB radiation and relay the readings via
the Internet to the ARPANSA UV laboratory in Melbourne. Information
about the current UV levels is continually updated on the ARPANSA web
site at http://www.arpansa.gov.au/uvindex. There are separate web pages
displaying mainland and Antarctic UV levels.
Calibration of the UV detectors is important to ensure the measurements
are accurate and ARPANSA has sensitive UV measuring equipment aboard
Voyage 3 to check the calibration of the Antarctic detectors. The
ARPANSA team will also be performing routine maintenance and upgrades on
the equipment at Davis and Mawson as well as making measurements of
ozone levels.
Thanks Alan, you've earned your fruit bun today! More updates to come.
On the wildlife front, the occasional Minke whale made an appearance,
but this morning we were buzzed by a Giant Petrel White Morph, not
exactly a common sight. Unfortunately I didn't have time to grab the camera.
News flash from the front line of the 42 day Dessert War of 2010, Ken rolled
out the big guns last night with a high explosive round of Apricot
Crumble with a side of lemon curd custard crowned with a medley of
berries. This was solid return to Kyle's Lemon Meringue serve last
night. Kate did a wonderful job of preparing the apricots, but the
crowning glory was the crumble on top. Sensational! There was talk last
night that the time of plenty was nearly at an end with both fruit buns
and cream coming into the 'limited supply' category...a true tragedy in
the making. For those who haven't had a bun yet, best get in soon,
before the fruit bun drought really sets in!
All aboard enjoying the sight of Mawson growing bigger in the bridge
windows.
Regards
Rob, Simon and George.
Map
A map showing Australia and Antarctica. The map shows the journey of one voyage that has occured in the season, with each route highlighted in a distinct colour.