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Expedition to Chokurdakh (Sakha Republic) 23 April - 5 May 2013
30 April, Kytalyk
Today is an important day: we have to set up the new lake side eddy covariance station. We spent the whole day at the lake tower, which piece after piece, was completed and activated thanks to Ron who rearranged the power supply system from scratch.
Overall another fine day with funny anecdotes: Kostia has accepted that he can not smoke inside the house, but asked for more money in order to wake up later than 5.30-6.00am. Today we woke at precisely this time thanks to the Kostia's cigarette smoke filling the room.
Side note: today the Netherlands celebrate the last Queen's day and the coronation of King Williem-Alexander. I still do not understand well with what kind of mercenary feeling I bought a Dutch flag before leaving Amsterdam, now it hangs, fluttering outside of our Kytalyk home. From a dutch perspective it is remarkable that the new flux tower was inaugurated today. A case of arctic neo-colonialism?
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Luca
Expedition to Chokurdakh (Sakha Republic) 23 April - 5 May 2013
1 May, Kytalyk
Sustained winds from the east reshaped the landscapes by forging continuously new snow dunes. A new snow rolling wave seems to be braking against the window of the kitchen. The wall of the banya, looking east, is entirely covered by snow providing precious insulation if we are luck enough to get the time to have a sauna.
In the morning I accompanied Ko and Kostia to the lake tower to collect some ice samples from the lake and to check that new tower is functioning properly. Along the way I noticed that the wind had removed snow from larger areas of the river bank.
The majority of the work to be carried out today takes place at the old tundra tower and involves setting up the eddy covariance system. The increasing wind makes climbing the Generic Viagra tower frame quite uncomfortable, especially when performing delicate tasks such as connecting small wires. However it is done, and in the late afternoon the tundra tower is up and running.
In the evening we receive the daily weather forecast, the wind is expected change to a southerly direction and bring warmer temperatures of +2oC for tomorrow and +7 oC for the following day!!
This prompts us to organise an slightly earlier than expected return to Chokurdakh.
Before going to sleep we have the first and last banja of the trip, after becoming accustomed to the cold during the past week I cannot stand the build up of heat in my body due to the banja, before dressing I step outside into the snow for a few minutes in my bare feet. But just a few minutes.
Luca
Expedition to Chokurdakh (Sakha Republic) 23 April - 5 May 2013
2 May, Kytalyk
Final day at the camp, fortunately we have just a minor tasks to complete. The sustained southerly winds have brought a sudden snowmelt, as today our feet sinking deeper into the snow and our boots have become snow packed and wet.
We make some improvements to the energy supply system of the tundra tower, double check the regular functioning of the whole tower and download the very first flux data of 2013. Everything is fine.
Meantime the silence is broken by the sound of an approaching snow-mobile announcing the arrive of Valerij. The picture of the aligned sleighs in front of the house waiting to be loaded speaks for itself, the fieldwork time is coming to the end. We just have some time left for one last check at the lake tower, so Ko and I jump on a snowmobile and return to the lake side tower so that we can be reassured that all will be well when we return in summer.
Back at the camp we get ready for the return trip to Chokurdakh, putting on very warm clothes although after few kilometres it is already clear that they are not justified due to the change in the weather. The favourable change in temperature allowis us to expose a few extra centimetres of skin on our faces, with the increase in temperature we have the added advantage that it is easier to use our cameras while wearing our lighter gloves.
The tundra passes by the sides of the sleigh as we repeatedly bounce on its wooden boards, we try to hold ourselves up loading all our weight onto our arms. The lakes are still entirely covered by a thick layer of snow hiding the shorelines, however the snowmelt has already uncovered some tussocks of Eriophorum and the highest thin branches of willow trees.
Along the route we cross over some frozen rivers with steep banks, the rubber belt of the snowmobile sinks into the deep snow and only with the engine at full power it is possible to reach the top of the steep banks. During one of the last crossings Payday Loans we even have to jump off the sleigh, which seconds earlier dropped into the deep snow almost rolling on it's side and caused the snowmobile to remain stuck half way up a steep bank.
Chokurdakh is now close and when we overcome the last steep lake bank, we can already see the first scattering houses of the village and the two snowmobiles suddenly stop. Cigarette break,...right here,..right now...Valerij and Kostia take a break as if to recompose themselves before entering the village.
Behind us there is a massive pingo, one of the most interesting for its shape, towering over the tundra. Engines start up and off we go, the two drivers gain rapidly speed, the sleighs beat violently on the bumps of the track made harder by the passage of many snowmobiles travelling to and from the village.
The last kilometre of our return journey rattles our bones more than during the whole trip. Fortunately our collective yelling of complaint to the drivers prompts them to slow down to a reasonable speed just as we approach the border of village with partially snow free roads. Two dogs escort us up to the vehicles dump, which flows on the left hand side.
On the right we catch a glimpse of the rubbish dump reminding us how places like Chokurdakh are undeniably associated to some degree of environmental impact and problems of ecological sustainability, the solutions of which has been, so far, postponed to the future. Nevertheless the size of the problem appears paramount, even if only witnessed for a brief moment.
The snowmobiles move forward between puddles and at one point the snowmobile gets stuck in the mud. We continue on foot for the last few hundred meters. The first water pools have already formed on the icepack of the river Indigirka and Valerij says that soon wild geese will arrive completing their spring migration.
Tomorrow we'll catch the plane to Yakutsk and some of us will come back in June, when at that time migrating birds will fly over the green tundra. We hope that till then our towers will have continued to monitor the "carbon breathing" of this extraordinary ecosystem.
Luca