The PAGE21 project has now been officially closed. The four years of research came to an end on October 31 2015, leaving only...
PAGE21 project was featured in a plenary session "Permafrost in the 21st century" at the 2015 Arctic Circle conference in Reykjavik,...
Wednesday, 25 July 2012
After the last blog from Moritz on what we have been building here, of course, the question arises: how did all the equipment get delivered to the island and why did the cargo arrive only after the expedition team was already there?
The truth is that travelling for two months to Siberia in order to measure something as simple as what Moritz described in his blog, needs a lot of preparation.
The planning for our expedition this summer actually began immediately after the end of the expedition last year. No later than the winter before the expedition details have already been determined: Which people are traveling, what equipment and materials will be purchased and taken to the island? In addition of thinking about the plans and tariff provisions for the equipment to Russia, we also needed to finalize the formalities of obtaining visas for members of the expedition. These are complex processes for which you must allow yourself ample time.
As of early April, you could be hearing questions like "When do you need the big scale? And where there are the empty aluminum boxes?" in the corridors of the AWI. The cargo had at that time already been packed and ready to be sent for the expedition - three months before the actual departure. While packing the boxes, we had to consider several things. For one, the boxes should of course be so packed that all we need is stored appropriately. On the other hand, it was important to remember that we would have to be able to load the boxes ourselves in the near future. With a box, both the cabinets and the major aluminum plates, even the strongest man would get very quickly out of power. It was all pretty exciting, among other reasons because we received the last shipment of measurement sensors in the afternoon, at which the cargo had to be actually handed over completely finished.
The complete cargo transfer looks like this: First, collecting all pieces of cargo from all groups participating in the AWI trip to Bremerhaven harbor warehouse. That is, we accompanied the cargo to Bremerhaven, which was prepared there for transport. The handover in Bremerhaven offers the advantage of being able to handle a large part of the customs formalities already there.
Alone, our group ended up at the end with about half a ton of stuff - all packed in sturdy aluminum cases or large cardboard boxes.
Overall, therefore, piled up for the whole expedition, several tons of cargo was sent on a long journey to the Lena Delta. From Bremerhaven, it first went to the Russian Arctic and Antarctic Research (AARI) in St. Petersburg and from there to the Siberian north coast.
As mentioned in the beginning, the journey for the cargo was so long that it arrived only few days after our arrival in Tiksi, where we then loaded our boxes from both Germany and the crates of Russian scientists in to a helicopter, and headed off to the Samoylov Island together - as a team and with our luggage.
Best,
Max
______________________________________
Main page of the English translation of the blog "Tundra Stories": http://page21.org/blogs/59-samoylov
Original blog in German: http://www.awi.de/de/go/Tundra-Stories
After the last blog from Moritz on what we have been building here, of course, the question arises: how did all the equipment get delivered to the island and why did the cargo arrive only after the expedition team was already there?The truth is that travelling for two months to Siberia in order to measure something as simple as what Moritz described in his blog, needs a lot of preparation.
The planning for our expedition this summer actually began immediately after the end of the expedition last year. No later than the winter before the expedition details have already been determined: Which people are traveling, what equipment and materials will be purchased and taken to the island? In addition of thinking about the plans and tariff provisions for the equipment to Russia, we also needed to finalize the formalities of obtaining visas for members of the expedition. These are complex processes for which you must allow yourself ample time.
As of early April, you could be hearing questions like "When do you need the big scale? And where there are the empty aluminum boxes?" in the corridors of the AWI. The cargo had at that time already been packed and ready to be sent for the expedition - three months before the actual departure. While packing the boxes, we had to consider several things. For one, the boxes should of course be so packed that all we need is stored appropriately. On the other hand, it was important to remember that we would have to be able to load the boxes ourselves in the near future. With a box, both the cabinets and the major aluminum plates, even the strongest man would get very quickly out of power. It was all pretty exciting, among other reasons because we received the last shipment of measurement sensors in the afternoon, at which the cargo had to be actually handed over completely finished.
The complete cargo transfer looks like this: First, collecting all pieces of cargo from all groups participating in the AWI trip to Bremerhaven harbor warehouse. That is, we accompanied the cargo to Bremerhaven, which was prepared there for transport. The handover in Bremerhaven offers the advantage of being able to handle a large part of the customs formalities already there.
Alone, our group ended up at the end with about half a ton of stuff - all packed in sturdy aluminum cases or large cardboard boxes.
Overall, therefore, piled up for the whole expedition, several tons of cargo was sent on a long journey to the Lena Delta. From Bremerhaven, it first went to the Russian Arctic and Antarctic Research (AARI) in St. Petersburg and from there to the Siberian north coast.
As mentioned in the beginning, the journey for the cargo was so long that it arrived only few days after our arrival in Tiksi, where we then loaded our boxes from both Germany and the crates of Russian scientists in to a helicopter, and headed off to the Samoylov Island together - as a team and with our luggage.
Best,
Max
______________________________________
Main page of the English translation of the blog "Tundra Stories": http://page21.org/blogs/59-samoylov
Original blog in German: http://www.awi.de/de/go/Tundra-Stories
Thursday, 26 July 2012
Next door to our island is an island that consists almost exclusively of a large mountain called Stolb - a Russian word for pillar. A rather apt name when one sees the silhouette in the horizon from Samoylov. And this is actually common here, for the other islands on the Delta also stand out more than a few meters from the water level.
A climb to the top would probably provide a magnificent panorama, which is why "Stolb" makes a perfect destination for Sunday, our day off here on the island. Despite the day off there are always some colleagues who still work a little bit in the laboratory on samples or want to keep the data logger program running, but mostly it works quite well to convince everybody that day off from an extensive scientific research is only good.
Waldemar Schneider, our logistician, took us with a "Kasanka", which is a metal boat for five people, to our destination. The boat ride was again an opportunity to look at our island, Samoylov, again from a different perspective from the water.
Arriving to the stony beach of Stolb raised the first question, "How are we going to climb up there?". A brief search around the island revealed that the best way up was right where we had went ashore. The climb was still quite difficult, which may well have to do with the fact that some of us had somewhat flabby legs after a long night the day before.
From the top, as expected, we had a magnificent view over the adjacent islands of the delta and the meandering river channels of the Lena. In addition, among hundreds of colorful blooming flowers, we found a large wooden beacon and flat stone with a Russian inscription. As we pushed aside the cover plate, all kinds of little treasures came to light; cigarettes, a ring in frog form, a broken camera. A very special place - each of us could make a wish. It made us wonder what the people, who had hidden these things, had wished for.
The many mosquitoes in the area, however, did not let us in peace even here at the top. I, for one, was looking at the view quite relaxed when I was suddenly startled by a prick on my upper lip!
There was still some time to shoot some group photos before we noticed a small metal boat appearing on the horizon next to our home island. We found a way down to the beach and jumped from the last steep part of the descent in perfectly right time as our water taxi slid to the stony beach.
Greetings,
Max
______________________________________
Main page of the English translation of the blog "Tundra Stories": http://page21.org/blogs/59-samoylov
Original blog in German: http://www.awi.de/de/go/Tundra-Stories
Next door to our island is an island that consists almost exclusively of a large mountain called Stolb - a Russian word for pillar. A rather apt name when one sees the silhouette in the horizon from Samoylov. And this is actually common here, for the other islands on the Delta also stand out more than a few meters from the water level.A climb to the top would probably provide a magnificent panorama, which is why "Stolb" makes a perfect destination for Sunday, our day off here on the island. Despite the day off there are always some colleagues who still work a little bit in the laboratory on samples or want to keep the data logger program running, but mostly it works quite well to convince everybody that day off from an extensive scientific research is only good.
Waldemar Schneider, our logistician, took us with a "Kasanka", which is a metal boat for five people, to our destination. The boat ride was again an opportunity to look at our island, Samoylov, again from a different perspective from the water.
Arriving to the stony beach of Stolb raised the first question, "How are we going to climb up there?". A brief search around the island revealed that the best way up was right where we had went ashore. The climb was still quite difficult, which may well have to do with the fact that some of us had somewhat flabby legs after a long night the day before.
From the top, as expected, we had a magnificent view over the adjacent islands of the delta and the meandering river channels of the Lena. In addition, among hundreds of colorful blooming flowers, we found a large wooden beacon and flat stone with a Russian inscription. As we pushed aside the cover plate, all kinds of little treasures came to light; cigarettes, a ring in frog form, a broken camera. A very special place - each of us could make a wish. It made us wonder what the people, who had hidden these things, had wished for.The many mosquitoes in the area, however, did not let us in peace even here at the top. I, for one, was looking at the view quite relaxed when I was suddenly startled by a prick on my upper lip!
There was still some time to shoot some group photos before we noticed a small metal boat appearing on the horizon next to our home island. We found a way down to the beach and jumped from the last steep part of the descent in perfectly right time as our water taxi slid to the stony beach.
Greetings,
Max
______________________________________
Main page of the English translation of the blog "Tundra Stories": http://page21.org/blogs/59-samoylov
Original blog in German: http://www.awi.de/de/go/Tundra-Stories
Thursday, 2 August 2012
The time flies by here on the island. Today is already Thursday and in a few hours, we expect the participants of the second stage to arrive, which will quadruple the population in our hut.
As Max has already reported, our continuous monitoring stations survived the winter very well. Honestly speaking, we were getting quite nervous during the last days just before the first reading of the stations: Is there data? Has the power been steady? Have we perhaps made some mistakes? We were relieved to find out that we could insert the data to my hard drive without any resistance.
To ensure less nerve-wracking first days on the island next, I've spent the last few weeks preparing the stations as well as possible for the winter. This has mainly included a thorough check of the power supply and a detailed inspection of the sensors for scratches, blemishes and obvious damage, nibbled by animals or by leaning cables fittings. The list of things you want to double check is never ending.
Each year, after the field season, certain sensors (such as those that measure humidity and temperature) are taken back for calibration purposes to Germany. Sensors, that for example measure methane, carbon dioxide and water vapor concentrations are very sensitive, and it would be too risky to leave them over winter out in the field. The sensors could be damaged since there is only little or no experience with these devices in such extreme environmental conditions.
This means that we have to take into account that we have certain sensor data gaps in our records for the winter months, since we will be measuring only over the summer time.
But there is still some time before we take the sensors down and pack our bags. Now we wait for the arrival of our colleagues and hope for better weather so that we can begin the second stage in good conditions and successfully complete the planned activities.
Best regards from the North,
Karoline
______________________________________
Main page of the English translation of the blog "Tundra Stories": http://page21.org/blogs/59-samoylov
Original blog in German: http://www.awi.de/de/go/Tundra-Stories
The time flies by here on the island. Today is already Thursday and in a few hours, we expect the participants of the second stage to arrive, which will quadruple the population in our hut.As Max has already reported, our continuous monitoring stations survived the winter very well. Honestly speaking, we were getting quite nervous during the last days just before the first reading of the stations: Is there data? Has the power been steady? Have we perhaps made some mistakes? We were relieved to find out that we could insert the data to my hard drive without any resistance.
To ensure less nerve-wracking first days on the island next, I've spent the last few weeks preparing the stations as well as possible for the winter. This has mainly included a thorough check of the power supply and a detailed inspection of the sensors for scratches, blemishes and obvious damage, nibbled by animals or by leaning cables fittings. The list of things you want to double check is never ending.
Each year, after the field season, certain sensors (such as those that measure humidity and temperature) are taken back for calibration purposes to Germany. Sensors, that for example measure methane, carbon dioxide and water vapor concentrations are very sensitive, and it would be too risky to leave them over winter out in the field. The sensors could be damaged since there is only little or no experience with these devices in such extreme environmental conditions.
This means that we have to take into account that we have certain sensor data gaps in our records for the winter months, since we will be measuring only over the summer time.
But there is still some time before we take the sensors down and pack our bags. Now we wait for the arrival of our colleagues and hope for better weather so that we can begin the second stage in good conditions and successfully complete the planned activities.
Best regards from the North,
Karoline
______________________________________
Main page of the English translation of the blog "Tundra Stories": http://page21.org/blogs/59-samoylov
Original blog in German: http://www.awi.de/de/go/Tundra-Stories
Friday, 3 August 2012
We had not discussed before the expedition the possible need for privacy on the island. Well, I must admit, we have got on really well. For places in the tents we practically fought. The losers got the sleeping places at the warm station.
Nevertheless we have to explain: How can we get clean?
There was, of course, out in front of the station, the Lena River and on the adjacent bank almost perfect sand beach. And with about 17 degrees water temperature, we didn't need much encouragement to jump into it - the perfect cool down after a busy day.
But by far the best cure, however, for the several days under the mosquito shirt accumulated sweat is a twice a week our visit to the Banja - the Russian equivalent of the Finnish sauna. A few meters away from Banja Lake, there is the sauna cottage. The lake was named already by previous expeditions.
So, twice a week around 18 o'clock one can see the station residents armed with towels and toiletries marching the little path down to the lake. Two single-sex groups, each reserved two hours of banja, which group starting depending on the decision made each bathing day separately.
The banja, both the vestibule and pleasantly warm sauna itself offers relaxation, sweating and showering, but also a possibility for all sorts of interesting conversations. These discussions are, however, every now and then interrupted by a sudden "Oh, man, now it's getting too hot for me!" or the appropriate exclamation in Russian or English. Then the nearby lake, with its cold, clear water, becomes necessary cooling before the next round in the sauna. After about two hours clean, freshly shaved and relaxed researchers can be seen on their way back to the station.
Greetings from the relaxed - at least twice a week - "Wellness Island"
Max
______________________________________
Main page of the English translation of the blog "Tundra Stories": http://page21.org/blogs/59-samoylov
Original blog in German: http://www.awi.de/de/go/Tundra-Stories
We had not discussed before the expedition the possible need for privacy on the island. Well, I must admit, we have got on really well. For places in the tents we practically fought. The losers got the sleeping places at the warm station.Nevertheless we have to explain: How can we get clean?
There was, of course, out in front of the station, the Lena River and on the adjacent bank almost perfect sand beach. And with about 17 degrees water temperature, we didn't need much encouragement to jump into it - the perfect cool down after a busy day.
But by far the best cure, however, for the several days under the mosquito shirt accumulated sweat is a twice a week our visit to the Banja - the Russian equivalent of the Finnish sauna. A few meters away from Banja Lake, there is the sauna cottage. The lake was named already by previous expeditions.
So, twice a week around 18 o'clock one can see the station residents armed with towels and toiletries marching the little path down to the lake. Two single-sex groups, each reserved two hours of banja, which group starting depending on the decision made each bathing day separately.
The banja, both the vestibule and pleasantly warm sauna itself offers relaxation, sweating and showering, but also a possibility for all sorts of interesting conversations. These discussions are, however, every now and then interrupted by a sudden "Oh, man, now it's getting too hot for me!" or the appropriate exclamation in Russian or English. Then the nearby lake, with its cold, clear water, becomes necessary cooling before the next round in the sauna. After about two hours clean, freshly shaved and relaxed researchers can be seen on their way back to the station.
Greetings from the relaxed - at least twice a week - "Wellness Island"
Max
______________________________________
Main page of the English translation of the blog "Tundra Stories": http://page21.org/blogs/59-samoylov
Original blog in German: http://www.awi.de/de/go/Tundra-Stories