May 2, 2016

First new structures built in camp

Christoph, Joel and Kaitlin build a weatherport.


Weatherwise, the day today was more normal for the season with a light wind and not above -20°C. Still, we got a lot done. Chris and Hans Christian (the older) dozed snow around the main dome to make the snow level to accommodate the main snow melter. They also laid out the pipes for transfer of radiator heat from the main generator to the main dome radiators. Part of this piping goes through the main snow melter. As we plan to receive a flight tomorrow, we were grooming the skiway. Hans Christian (the younger) has set up a snow measuring station for a shared project with GEUS (Danish and Grenlandic Geological Survey). He also spent a good part of the day writing down construction instructions on a water vapour sampling site. Due to unfortunate circumstances all his equipment did not make it to Greenland in time for the previous flight. It will arrive tomorrow, and then his successor will take over. Joel, Kaitlin, Christoph and Sepp built weatherports. Sune worked on the computer system and cooked us a wonderful meat pie for dinner. This is Sune's and Hans Christian's (the younger) last evening in camp this time around. After lunch Sarah had time off, which she spent looking at food orders. J.P. was negotiating loads for the flight tomorrow with Kangerlussuaq and writing reports.

What we have done today:

  1. Built two 10 by 15 weatherports.
  2. Moved snow around main dome.
  3. Mounted main snow melter.
  4. Activated central heating in main dome.
  5. Excavated fuel cache from last year and pulled the drums to camp.
  6. Groomed skiway.
  7. Repaired leak in main fuel pump.
  8. Computer work on new internet interface for camp.

Ad. 1: The stitching in the weatherport covers has broken several places. We had to do repairs; but we need a sowing machine to do a good job.
Ad. 7: During pumping of fuel from the last plane, we noticed that the main pump was leaking. It was caused by a cracked pipe. Chris spent the evening repairing it.Weather today: Sunny and clear. Temp. -22°C to -34°C, Wind 5 - 10 kt from SW. Visibility: To horizon.

FL, J.P. Steffensen