Sunday, June 3, 2007

Kangerlussuaq, Greenland

We arrived to "Kanger" at approximately 6:00 pm local time (4:00 pm Atlanta time). Our transport was a C-130 piloted by the New York Air National Guard. The flight was long, and mercifully uneventful. Topographically, we traveled over New York, Quebec, Labrador, Labrador Sea and on to Greenland. Ecologically, we traversed broad-leaf forests (maples, etc.), taiga (conifers), tundra (grasses and sedges), ice and ocean. The tundra is awash in small ponds clearly visible from the air, and if one looks the striations and paths of ancient glaciers remain. In the Labrador Sea, ice bergs floated serenely by. Since we are above the Arctic circle, the sun will not set tonight, merely dip lower in the horizon. The temperature at Kanger is shirt sleeve and shorts weather. I am told tomorrow in Summit the weather will be dramatically different. The flight to Summit will be about two hours in duration.

Our portion of the team (three members) will rotate in and others will rotate out. Tent space is tight in Summit, and some have peen here for a month already. The team will study atmospheric chemistry in an ever building effort to fully understand the natural and anthropomorphic changes we are participating in . I am told I will be trained in the use of some of the equipment, and I am looking forward to it. Additionally, I will focus on this blog and through it introduce you to another portion of the world.

Pictures will follow of this trip. If you want to see the Antarctica diary, the website is http://pbl.cc.gatech.edu/step/93.

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