I thought I would give a quick update and let everyone who is following know that I have returned safely to Raleigh. I got back on Friday the 5th, and spent most of the weekend catching up on sleep, hanging out with friends, and spending time with Mitch. Now I am fervently trying to finish schoolwork that I missed as quickly as possible.
I am going to let more time pass before I provide an in-depth reflection of the trip. I think that I need some space from my time on the Ron Brown and in Chile to see the experience clearly. It was a great experience for me and I am extremely happy I had the opportunity to be part of VOCALS-Rex 2008.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
2nd Leg
Group photo of all scientists aboard the Ron Brown for the second leg of VOCALS-Rex. I am not confident that I know all the last names and affiliations so here is my best shot at labeling everyone.
Front Row: Sarah Tucker(NOAA), Fiamma (WHOI), Leilia Hawkins (Scripps), Tomas (Reading), Rebecca Simpson (Hawaii), Dave Covert (Washington/PMEL), Sean Coburn (Colorado), Carlton (Bigelow), Paquita (Miami)
Second Row: Dave Grant (Teacher at Sea), Xue (Miami)
Back Row: Derrick Coffin (PMEL), Carolina (Chilean Observer), Sergio Pezoa (NOAA), Chris Fairall (NOAA- Chief Scientist), Barry Huebert (Hawaii), Ann Weickmann (NOAA), Me (NCSU), Catherine Hoyle (PMEL), Carlos Moffat (WHOI), Sean Whelen (WHOI), Andy Hind (Bigelow)
Carmen, an oceanographer from Chile was not photographed.
There were 23 scientists on board the Brown, and 27 crew members for a total of 50 people.
We are back in Arica, and are awaiting clearance from immigration/customs before we can get off the ship. I am looking forward to a good meal and a cold beer.
Front Row: Sarah Tucker(NOAA), Fiamma (WHOI), Leilia Hawkins (Scripps), Tomas (Reading), Rebecca Simpson (Hawaii), Dave Covert (Washington/PMEL), Sean Coburn (Colorado), Carlton (Bigelow), Paquita (Miami)
Second Row: Dave Grant (Teacher at Sea), Xue (Miami)
Back Row: Derrick Coffin (PMEL), Carolina (Chilean Observer), Sergio Pezoa (NOAA), Chris Fairall (NOAA- Chief Scientist), Barry Huebert (Hawaii), Ann Weickmann (NOAA), Me (NCSU), Catherine Hoyle (PMEL), Carlos Moffat (WHOI), Sean Whelen (WHOI), Andy Hind (Bigelow)
Carmen, an oceanographer from Chile was not photographed.
There were 23 scientists on board the Brown, and 27 crew members for a total of 50 people.
We are back in Arica, and are awaiting clearance from immigration/customs before we can get off the ship. I am looking forward to a good meal and a cold beer.
Friday, November 28, 2008
Post-Tryptophan
Thanksgiving dinner yesterday on the boat was excellent. It has been the best meal on the boat to-date, for sure. The beer was also great. All-in-all it was a much better day than I had anticipated.
I thought I should provide some additional insight into my post yesterday. Although it was not an ideal situation to be away from home for the holiday. I would not have ever turned down the opportunity to partake in this field study. It is an experience that I will probably never have again. I learned a lot about my science, along with other sciences that are being studied on the boat. I have seen science in action. So all-in-all I am happy with the decision to come on this trip, and I am still thankful for the opportunity of getting to be here.
I have also learned a lot about myself on this trip. It is interesting how being away from home, friends, having no cellphone, and limited internet forces you to evaluate your life. What this re-evaluation will mean when I get home, and how it will manifest itself in my life is unknown. This re-evaluation is referred to as a 'sea-change'. The sea has changed me, hopefully for the better, but that has yet to be seen. I am curious to see how long it will take me to slip back into my life in NC.
I thought I should provide some additional insight into my post yesterday. Although it was not an ideal situation to be away from home for the holiday. I would not have ever turned down the opportunity to partake in this field study. It is an experience that I will probably never have again. I learned a lot about my science, along with other sciences that are being studied on the boat. I have seen science in action. So all-in-all I am happy with the decision to come on this trip, and I am still thankful for the opportunity of getting to be here.
I have also learned a lot about myself on this trip. It is interesting how being away from home, friends, having no cellphone, and limited internet forces you to evaluate your life. What this re-evaluation will mean when I get home, and how it will manifest itself in my life is unknown. This re-evaluation is referred to as a 'sea-change'. The sea has changed me, hopefully for the better, but that has yet to be seen. I am curious to see how long it will take me to slip back into my life in NC.
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Sea Turkey
Happy Thanksgiving from the Southeast Pacific!
The past few days I have been kind of down. It sunk in that I will not be spending Thanksgiving with any of my loved ones. Every Thanksgiving I have either spent with my family, or with Mitch and his family. It has been hard realizing this would not be the case this year. When I signed up to come, I knew I would be gone for the holiday, but talking about it is much different than experiencing it. I hadn't really thought about the implications until the time actually got here and I was already in the middle of the ocean. I think this is forcing me to grow up a little bit and be even more of an independent person. I do think I should caveat this with the fact that I have made some really good friends on the boat. And if I had to spend Thanksgiving with a group of strangers from around the country, I probably wouldn't choose anyone else. Well, I might make a few substitutions ;-).
I should start this next story with the preface that I LOVE BEER. My friends all know this about me. I love good beer. It has been one of the three things I have missed the most (ask me what the others are if you are curious). But, last night we got some excellent news which raised my spirits a great deal. The crew is providing us with beer for Thanksgiving dinner tonight!! How cool is that? I do think that wine would go better with dinner, but I love beer. One of the crew members commented that it would be like a redneck Thanksgiving. I told him that I wouldn't have it any other way.
This holiday has made me realize how important my friends and family are to me. I am thankful for them and their love. I am thankful for Mitch, and the love we share. I am thankful for my health. I am thankful for the education and wisdom I have received over the years. I am thankful for this experience of getting to be a part of VOCALS-Rex. I am thankful for the beer I will drink at dinner. Most of all I am thankful for life.
Take this day and let those around you know you love them. I think that love is the one emotion that makes us human and connects each of us on a level beyond the material world. Love is love, no matter who shares it.
Happy Thanksgiving,
Jake
The past few days I have been kind of down. It sunk in that I will not be spending Thanksgiving with any of my loved ones. Every Thanksgiving I have either spent with my family, or with Mitch and his family. It has been hard realizing this would not be the case this year. When I signed up to come, I knew I would be gone for the holiday, but talking about it is much different than experiencing it. I hadn't really thought about the implications until the time actually got here and I was already in the middle of the ocean. I think this is forcing me to grow up a little bit and be even more of an independent person. I do think I should caveat this with the fact that I have made some really good friends on the boat. And if I had to spend Thanksgiving with a group of strangers from around the country, I probably wouldn't choose anyone else. Well, I might make a few substitutions ;-).
I should start this next story with the preface that I LOVE BEER. My friends all know this about me. I love good beer. It has been one of the three things I have missed the most (ask me what the others are if you are curious). But, last night we got some excellent news which raised my spirits a great deal. The crew is providing us with beer for Thanksgiving dinner tonight!! How cool is that? I do think that wine would go better with dinner, but I love beer. One of the crew members commented that it would be like a redneck Thanksgiving. I told him that I wouldn't have it any other way.
This holiday has made me realize how important my friends and family are to me. I am thankful for them and their love. I am thankful for Mitch, and the love we share. I am thankful for my health. I am thankful for the education and wisdom I have received over the years. I am thankful for this experience of getting to be a part of VOCALS-Rex. I am thankful for the beer I will drink at dinner. Most of all I am thankful for life.
Take this day and let those around you know you love them. I think that love is the one emotion that makes us human and connects each of us on a level beyond the material world. Love is love, no matter who shares it.
Happy Thanksgiving,
Jake
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Windows to the Universe
While at sea, I am taking part in a community outreach project through UCAR (University Center for Atmospheric Research). The goal is get kids K-12 interested in the science that we are doing. Two of my 'postcards' have been posted, so I thought I would link to them. They give a good example of what I am doing on the boat.
Doppler Radar
Moonlight Balloon Launch
Doppler Radar
Moonlight Balloon Launch
Monday, November 17, 2008
Living Quarters
I thought I would provide an update with photos of my living quarters. It is strange because I am taking pictures to show everyone what my room for a month will be, and at the same time someone lives in the room all of the time. It is small and cramped, but my roommate Tyrone will be living in their a hell of a lot longer than me.
I guess my biggest complaint is the size of the beds. They are maybe 3 feet wide, and a little over 6 feet long. I am kind of a big guy. When I close the curtain at night, and it is dark, I feel like I am in a coffin. Then in the room there are the noises. We are on the outter hull. So there is constantly water splashing up against it, and it sounds like when you take your car to a car wash, and you sit inside. There is storage above the room, so when seas get rough, all sorts of stuff starts to fall over and clang around. Then there is the motion of the ship, which is sometimes strong enough to physically roll you over. This scared me a few times since I am on the top bunk.
I guess it all adds to the charm of it. The thing I am most grateful for, is that I am working so much that by the time I go to bed I am utterly exhausted and I don't care.
My room:
My bed:
My bathroom:
I guess my biggest complaint is the size of the beds. They are maybe 3 feet wide, and a little over 6 feet long. I am kind of a big guy. When I close the curtain at night, and it is dark, I feel like I am in a coffin. Then in the room there are the noises. We are on the outter hull. So there is constantly water splashing up against it, and it sounds like when you take your car to a car wash, and you sit inside. There is storage above the room, so when seas get rough, all sorts of stuff starts to fall over and clang around. Then there is the motion of the ship, which is sometimes strong enough to physically roll you over. This scared me a few times since I am on the top bunk.
I guess it all adds to the charm of it. The thing I am most grateful for, is that I am working so much that by the time I go to bed I am utterly exhausted and I don't care.
My room:
My bed:
My bathroom:
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Where has all the rum gone?
Greetings from the SE Pacific! I am finally settling in nicely to my new life at sea. I am not longer sea sick, and I feel like a human being again. Those days that I was sick, I didn't know if I could last 3+ weeks at sea.
If you look at our online tracker, you can see we are making a butterfly figure. We are chasing an ocean eddy. The eddy originated near the coast, where there is significant upwelling. The eddy moves the cold water from the coast westward out into the Pacific. The edge of the eddy was sampled the past 2 days, we were trying to make our way into the middle of it and sample. The oceanographers use a tool called a CTD (conductivity, temperature, depth) instrument, which is dropped into the water and lowered to near a depth of 1km. The instrument measures velocities in the water, and takes samples at different depths. These samples are then studied by the chemist onboard. They have been doing these samples all day today. Unfortunately it looks like we might have lost the eddy. It might have moved or dissipated. Later on today I will be helping in one of the CTD measurements. See picture below for the instrument being brought back onto the ship.
I thought I would show a picture of my work area. I am conveniently seated at the end of the lab, so I can see the entire main lab. I am also behind the chief scientist, so I can stay up to date on what is going on. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else on ship.
If you look at our online tracker, you can see we are making a butterfly figure. We are chasing an ocean eddy. The eddy originated near the coast, where there is significant upwelling. The eddy moves the cold water from the coast westward out into the Pacific. The edge of the eddy was sampled the past 2 days, we were trying to make our way into the middle of it and sample. The oceanographers use a tool called a CTD (conductivity, temperature, depth) instrument, which is dropped into the water and lowered to near a depth of 1km. The instrument measures velocities in the water, and takes samples at different depths. These samples are then studied by the chemist onboard. They have been doing these samples all day today. Unfortunately it looks like we might have lost the eddy. It might have moved or dissipated. Later on today I will be helping in one of the CTD measurements. See picture below for the instrument being brought back onto the ship.
I thought I would show a picture of my work area. I am conveniently seated at the end of the lab, so I can see the entire main lab. I am also behind the chief scientist, so I can stay up to date on what is going on. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else on ship.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Onward!
We just turned into the wind... which means less ship motion side to side! I feel so much better! Too bad we are only on this heading until morning.
nausea ad naueam?
Greetings from the Southeast Pacific. We have been at sea for almost 48 hours. I have been sick for about 98% of them. It will probably take me a while to complete this post because I can only look at a computer screen for about 10 minutes before needing to go outside and stare at the horizon (the only thing that is stationary).
I was lucky to make friends with a lot of the grad students on the boat, and they have generously offered me drugs. The boat moves a lot more than I thought it would. I am guessing my body undergoes a total displacement of 10 feet every 2-3 seconds. It is exhausting. Luckily I think that I am nearing the end of my sickness and am finally getting used to the sea life.
I am working on ironing out my routine and what needs to be done on boat. I am finding it really really hard to focus, so it takes me 3x as long to do anything as it normally would. The soundings are definitely the highlight of my day. We have a competetion to see who can get the highest sonde. I am leading with just over 25km. Sergio thinks he can beat me. The winner gets a bottle of scotch.
FYI, the Chilean observer was able to make it on the boat. So we will be able to use all of the data we obtained early in the cruise. I feel bad for her, she is only 1 of 4 people on board who speak spanish.
There have been some concern about our return to Chile. While in port in Arica, the Ron Brown was not able to re-fuel because there was not high enough octane in port. So now we have to return to Iquique before going to Arica to get fuel. This means 1 of 2 things. We can cut the trip short, and go to Iquique before Arica and get us back to Arica on schedule. Or we can just show up late in Arica. There are alot of pissed off people because depending on what is decided, we might have to change our flights and many of the scientist will have to change their plans to ship home their instruments.
Life on ship (between illness bouts) has been ok. I enjoy the company of a lot of the people. This might change after 20+ more days, but I hope it doesn't. The food isn't that bad.. not great.. but not horrible. All meals are really early, with dinner being over by 5:30, leaving all of us who work late with PB&J sandwiches. It is easy to get away, by going out on the deck.
The most exciting thing that has happend so far has been the low passes by the aircraft near the ship. Everyone goes out on deck and takes photos and waves. It is good clean fun. Well except for the filthy exhaust from the C-130 which screws up the aerosol measurements. I have a video, but it would take me forever to upload it.
That is it for now. I will try to update with photos in the coming days!
Jake
I was lucky to make friends with a lot of the grad students on the boat, and they have generously offered me drugs. The boat moves a lot more than I thought it would. I am guessing my body undergoes a total displacement of 10 feet every 2-3 seconds. It is exhausting. Luckily I think that I am nearing the end of my sickness and am finally getting used to the sea life.
I am working on ironing out my routine and what needs to be done on boat. I am finding it really really hard to focus, so it takes me 3x as long to do anything as it normally would. The soundings are definitely the highlight of my day. We have a competetion to see who can get the highest sonde. I am leading with just over 25km. Sergio thinks he can beat me. The winner gets a bottle of scotch.
FYI, the Chilean observer was able to make it on the boat. So we will be able to use all of the data we obtained early in the cruise. I feel bad for her, she is only 1 of 4 people on board who speak spanish.
There have been some concern about our return to Chile. While in port in Arica, the Ron Brown was not able to re-fuel because there was not high enough octane in port. So now we have to return to Iquique before going to Arica to get fuel. This means 1 of 2 things. We can cut the trip short, and go to Iquique before Arica and get us back to Arica on schedule. Or we can just show up late in Arica. There are alot of pissed off people because depending on what is decided, we might have to change our flights and many of the scientist will have to change their plans to ship home their instruments.
Life on ship (between illness bouts) has been ok. I enjoy the company of a lot of the people. This might change after 20+ more days, but I hope it doesn't. The food isn't that bad.. not great.. but not horrible. All meals are really early, with dinner being over by 5:30, leaving all of us who work late with PB&J sandwiches. It is easy to get away, by going out on the deck.
The most exciting thing that has happend so far has been the low passes by the aircraft near the ship. Everyone goes out on deck and takes photos and waves. It is good clean fun. Well except for the filthy exhaust from the C-130 which screws up the aerosol measurements. I have a video, but it would take me forever to upload it.
That is it for now. I will try to update with photos in the coming days!
Jake
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Down with the Brown
I moved onto the Ron Brown today. My stateroom is slightly larger than I thought it was going to be. I haven't met my roommate though. He is a cook, and I have heard he is a nice guy. Apparently the cooks are the best to room with because they have a strict set schedule, so I will know when to expect him in the room. I haven't decided if I am staying on ship tonight or not. Some of my new friends have hotel rooms tonight, and there are extra beds. It might be good to get one more good sleep on land.
I have been spending the afternoon getting my work station set up. I moved some things around from the way Matt had everything set up. There was nothing wrong with his set up, but I am kind of picky about my work area. I will try to upload some pictures later.
Tomorrow we have a meeting at 8am, when we will be instructed on what is and isn't allowed on ship. We don't sail until 11pm tomorrow night. There is an issue with the Chilean observer. Since we are collecting vasts amounts of data in Chilean waters, the government sends an official with us I guess to monitor what we are actually doing. If that person is not on ship, none of the data collected in Chilean waters can be used, ever. The woman who is doing this tested positive for TB, but she claims it is due to the TB vaccination she received and had a false positive. They are doing more tests to see if this is the case, and we are waiting on her results to sail. There will be a lot of pissed off scientist if something happens and she doesn't make it aboard.
That is it for now. I'm going to walk around the city for a bit, and maybe grab a bite to eat.
Jake
I have been spending the afternoon getting my work station set up. I moved some things around from the way Matt had everything set up. There was nothing wrong with his set up, but I am kind of picky about my work area. I will try to upload some pictures later.
Tomorrow we have a meeting at 8am, when we will be instructed on what is and isn't allowed on ship. We don't sail until 11pm tomorrow night. There is an issue with the Chilean observer. Since we are collecting vasts amounts of data in Chilean waters, the government sends an official with us I guess to monitor what we are actually doing. If that person is not on ship, none of the data collected in Chilean waters can be used, ever. The woman who is doing this tested positive for TB, but she claims it is due to the TB vaccination she received and had a false positive. They are doing more tests to see if this is the case, and we are waiting on her results to sail. There will be a lot of pissed off scientist if something happens and she doesn't make it aboard.
That is it for now. I'm going to walk around the city for a bit, and maybe grab a bite to eat.
Jake
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Clean Underwear
My luggage came last night! I caught a ride with Dr. Bruce Albrecht from the University of Miami to the airport. His group is working down in Iquique, about 300km south of us. He rented a car and drove up to Arica for the meeting today. He had to go to the airport to pick up one of his students and offered me a ride. I am so glad my luggage is here, I no longer have to stress out about whether it will get here before the boat leaves.
Today is the scientific objectives and findings meeting. I look forward to see what everyone on ship is doing.
That's it for now,
Jake
Today is the scientific objectives and findings meeting. I look forward to see what everyone on ship is doing.
That's it for now,
Jake
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Arica
So I finally made it to Arica. I got here last night around 8:30pm local time. Of course my luggage was not here. It took me about 20 minutes to communicate to the person working the airline booth about my luggage. She told me it is in Santiago, and it should be here today. I am waiting until about 6 to go up to the airport and see if it is there.
Today has been a very productive day. Matt and I went over everything I will be doing while at sea. It appears that nothing is going to be too hard, but there is just a lot that needs to be taken care of on a daily basis. He worked out a pretty rigid schedule, and I am going to attempt to stick to what he has done. It appears to have worked. Between taking cloud photos every 2 hours, and releasing weather balloons every 4 hours, making sure the radar is working, processing all of the radar data, and finally sending all data back to NCSU I should have my work cut out for me.
For reasons not known by me at this time, the departure of the ship is delayed until Sunday, so I will get a few extra days here to experience the country. I will also be using this time to get some school work done, but I am not sure how much time I will actually have to devote to school work on ship.
Arica has been a cool town to visit. It is much more European than I originally thought. All of the locals also seem to be very happy. The food is good and pretty cheap. My hotel is next door to the casino, so I might try to sneak in a trip. See below for some pictures I have taken.
Flying from Santiago to Arica along the Chilean coast
The Ron Brown
Coastal view
That is it for now,
Jake
Today has been a very productive day. Matt and I went over everything I will be doing while at sea. It appears that nothing is going to be too hard, but there is just a lot that needs to be taken care of on a daily basis. He worked out a pretty rigid schedule, and I am going to attempt to stick to what he has done. It appears to have worked. Between taking cloud photos every 2 hours, and releasing weather balloons every 4 hours, making sure the radar is working, processing all of the radar data, and finally sending all data back to NCSU I should have my work cut out for me.
For reasons not known by me at this time, the departure of the ship is delayed until Sunday, so I will get a few extra days here to experience the country. I will also be using this time to get some school work done, but I am not sure how much time I will actually have to devote to school work on ship.
Arica has been a cool town to visit. It is much more European than I originally thought. All of the locals also seem to be very happy. The food is good and pretty cheap. My hotel is next door to the casino, so I might try to sneak in a trip. See below for some pictures I have taken.
Flying from Santiago to Arica along the Chilean coast
The Ron Brown
Coastal view
That is it for now,
Jake
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Thom Yorke in Santiago?
So, something interesting about the Santiago airport. There are flat panel TVs everywhere. From my seat I can see 14. That is not the best part. All they are showing are Radiohead music and concert videos. Old Radiohead and new Radiohead... Thom Yorke is everywhere I look. I love Santiago.
Also sitting here, the smog has disspiated a little. There are snow capped mountains in the distance. Once again, my photography skills have failed. But I should probably just blame it on the glass panes and low visibility.
View from my terminal. You can almost make out the snow on the mountains.
Oh look... it's the Karma Police.
Jake
Also sitting here, the smog has disspiated a little. There are snow capped mountains in the distance. Once again, my photography skills have failed. But I should probably just blame it on the glass panes and low visibility.
View from my terminal. You can almost make out the snow on the mountains.
Oh look... it's the Karma Police.
Jake
Lost in Translation
So I made it to Chile. I’m currently in the Santiago International Airport, on my long layover. I got here around 10:00am local time. 8:00am NC time. Once I got here I had to pay a $131 Visa fee. It appears that only people coming from English speaking nations (USA, Canada, UK, and Australia) have to pay it. I find that interesting. After waiting in line to pay the fee for about 45 minutes, I had to wait another 90 minutes in immigration. Finally, I made my way to the baggage claim, and my luggage was nowhere to be found. I went to the American Airlines help desk, and they informed me that my luggage was probably somewhere between Raleigh and here, but it definitely wasn’t here. The woman saw I was upset, and told me that it usually only takes an additional day to find lost luggage. I have to wait until I am in Arica to file a lost claim though. Only the final destination airport can officially help me. This worries me because I figure even less people will speak English in Arica compared to Santiago. There are a few things in my luggage that I really wish I had put in my carry on now. My power adapter being one of them, so I am trying to conserve my computer battery as much as possible, but I really wanted to update here. Also there are two hard drives that we need on ship, one to replace the non-working lap top, and an external hard drive for bringing data back to the states. The ship doesn’t leave until Friday, so they still have a couple of days to get me my bag, but I can’t help but be a little pessimistic. At least I have a change of clothes and a few toiletries with me.
On a lighter note. Flying along the coast to Santiago and seeing the Andes was amazing. At first there were a lot of low clouds and only the highest peaks stuck out. Then as the day progressed, and the clouds burned off, we could see more and more. The mountains are red, and have very little vegetation on them. These are definitely the highest mountains I have ever seen, and it was a great experience seeing them from the air. I attempted to take pictures, but the bright clouds made the images white washed. I might have a better opportunity on my next flight.
The flights weren’t bad. I got to fly out of the new terminal at RDU, which was really nice. I didn’t get as much sleep on the red-eye flight that I would have liked, but there is a starbucks in the Santiago domestic terminal. I have been refueling on caffeine all morning, and they have free internet! Being here I wish I spoke more Spanish. Everyone seems to understand a little English, but I wish I could understand everything that is being said around me.
Alright, I should probably give my computer a rest. I have some reading to do for class and my flight isn’t for another 3ish hours.
Everyone hope I get my luggage before my ship departs on Friday!
Me without my luggage in Santiago.
Jake
On a lighter note. Flying along the coast to Santiago and seeing the Andes was amazing. At first there were a lot of low clouds and only the highest peaks stuck out. Then as the day progressed, and the clouds burned off, we could see more and more. The mountains are red, and have very little vegetation on them. These are definitely the highest mountains I have ever seen, and it was a great experience seeing them from the air. I attempted to take pictures, but the bright clouds made the images white washed. I might have a better opportunity on my next flight.
The flights weren’t bad. I got to fly out of the new terminal at RDU, which was really nice. I didn’t get as much sleep on the red-eye flight that I would have liked, but there is a starbucks in the Santiago domestic terminal. I have been refueling on caffeine all morning, and they have free internet! Being here I wish I spoke more Spanish. Everyone seems to understand a little English, but I wish I could understand everything that is being said around me.
Alright, I should probably give my computer a rest. I have some reading to do for class and my flight isn’t for another 3ish hours.
Everyone hope I get my luggage before my ship departs on Friday!
Me without my luggage in Santiago.
Jake
Sunday, November 2, 2008
The eve of departure
Here I am, on the eve of departure for VOCALS. I feel like I have been talking about this trip for a very long time, and it seems sureal that it is here. I have an overwhelming feeling, but don't really know how to explain it. I have anxiety about my travels there. I am a little nervous about actually being able to perform the tasks that I have been assigned in a way that will meet my advisor's expectations. I am excited about this once in a lifetime opportunity to take part in a field study examining a phenomenon that I find incredibily fascinating in a part of the world that I will probably never visit again. I am sad that Mitch was not able to come visit this weekend because of work issues, and I have been sick and didn't want to push my luck and go there before my journey. I know once I am in Arica, most of these feelings will fade, and I will be too involved in the moment to dwell.
The Ronald Brown ports tomorrow morning in Arica, so leg 1 will officially end. My flight leaves Raleigh tomorrow at 7:40pm and I will not arrive until Tuesday night around 8:30pm, and will meet up with Matt. There is a scientific objectives meeting on Thursday where scientist will present what data they were able to collect or not collect during the first part of the study. Matt will be giving a talk on the work we have been doing and the data we have. It will be a good time to see what everyone on the ship is doing, and to meet some of my shipmates. During the remainder of the time, I will be trained by Matt on his daily tasks, which will soon be my daily tasks. He ran into some obstacles along the way, but it sounds like he was able to iron everything out. I am assuming this will make my life much simplier, and I appreciate his help.
While I am on ship I will not have access to a phone, so my communication with the world will be limited to e-mail and chat. The bandwidth on ship is also pretty low, so those avenues will not be as quick and reliable as most are used to. I guess some communication is better than none. I am hoping word will come quickly and correctly about the election results.
That is it for now. I am sure I will update while in transit, so stay tuned.
Me waving bye!
Jake
The Ronald Brown ports tomorrow morning in Arica, so leg 1 will officially end. My flight leaves Raleigh tomorrow at 7:40pm and I will not arrive until Tuesday night around 8:30pm, and will meet up with Matt. There is a scientific objectives meeting on Thursday where scientist will present what data they were able to collect or not collect during the first part of the study. Matt will be giving a talk on the work we have been doing and the data we have. It will be a good time to see what everyone on the ship is doing, and to meet some of my shipmates. During the remainder of the time, I will be trained by Matt on his daily tasks, which will soon be my daily tasks. He ran into some obstacles along the way, but it sounds like he was able to iron everything out. I am assuming this will make my life much simplier, and I appreciate his help.
While I am on ship I will not have access to a phone, so my communication with the world will be limited to e-mail and chat. The bandwidth on ship is also pretty low, so those avenues will not be as quick and reliable as most are used to. I guess some communication is better than none. I am hoping word will come quickly and correctly about the election results.
That is it for now. I am sure I will update while in transit, so stay tuned.
Me waving bye!
Jake
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Leaving on a jet plane
My departure is approaching. I am pretty much finished with school, well at least what I need to finish before I leave. I will be completing the remainder of the semseter from ship and after I get back in December. Unfortunately I have a caught a cold. Yesterday was pretty rough, but I feel a little better today. Luckily, I got sick right after I finished my last presentation in Convection. Hopefully I will feel better before I depart on Monday. Being the "sick guy" on ship, probably won't make me very popular.
According to Matt, everything seems to be on track on ship. Something that makes me happy, because it hopefully means there is less a chance of something going wrong while I am there.
We have come close to finishing our website that has the radar and sounding data and cloud photos taken from ship. See below for link.
Here a few important websites (some I have mentioned before) that you can check out for updates.
NCSU website
Arica, Chile weather
Postcards from the field - Something I will be taking part in once I am on ship.
Matt's journal
Ronald H. Brown ship tracker
That's it for now,
Jake
According to Matt, everything seems to be on track on ship. Something that makes me happy, because it hopefully means there is less a chance of something going wrong while I am there.
We have come close to finishing our website that has the radar and sounding data and cloud photos taken from ship. See below for link.
Here a few important websites (some I have mentioned before) that you can check out for updates.
NCSU website
Arica, Chile weather
Postcards from the field - Something I will be taking part in once I am on ship.
Matt's journal
Ronald H. Brown ship tracker
That's it for now,
Jake
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Around the bend
So, my departure for Chile is rapidly approaching. I leave in 13 days, and will be in Arica in 14.
There have been many pitfalls along the way, particularly with the ship. As mention before, there was the fire that set us back a week. Then after the Brown made its way through the Panama Canal early last week, one of the propulsion systems went out. This forced them to return to Panama and fly down a technician from the US. They finally got underway on Saturday night, putting us behind another 3 or so days. Timing is crucial for this field study, as the stratocumulus deck hits its peak around mid-October and lasts into mid-December. They have decided to not do some of the sampling they had originally planned, so they will be arriving in Arica a day later than the original schedule. My half of the trip is unaffected (so far).
Then on Saturday, one of the laptops that Matt took with him completely crashed. Fortunately he took two, but two is what is needed to complete the work in a timely manner. He was able to retrieve his processing scripts from the machine, so all is not lost. I will be taking a new hard drive with me and hopefully we will be able to fix it before I depart Arica.
On board Matt is taking cloud photos 360 degrees around the ship. Also we have sounding, radar, and satellite data being sent back to us every day. We are working on getting a website operational to display all of the data as it comes in. Hopefully it will be up by Friday.
Along side of this, my school work has been trudging along. I have one more presentation to give in my Convection class, along with the weekly readings. I also have a mid-term on Friday in my Tropical class. So after about next Tuesday, my schedule will lighten slightly, at least until I leave for the Ron Brown.
Onto the personal life (or what is left of it). This past weekend my best friend Alex came to visit, which was a nice reprieve. We went to the fair on Sunday with my awesome roommates and my friend Kristen, which was a lot of fun. I ate way too much fried food. I will be going back to WV this coming weekend to see the family one more time before I depart. It sucks I will be gone for Thanksgiving, so maybe we can make up for it this weekend with a big dinner. I also hope to squeeze in some time to visit old friends. The next weekend is Halloween. The plan is for Mitch to come visit and then take me to the airport on Monday afternoon to head to Chile. If for some reason this doesn't work out, I will be going there for the weekend. Hopefully that won't be the case.
That's it for now,
Jake
There have been many pitfalls along the way, particularly with the ship. As mention before, there was the fire that set us back a week. Then after the Brown made its way through the Panama Canal early last week, one of the propulsion systems went out. This forced them to return to Panama and fly down a technician from the US. They finally got underway on Saturday night, putting us behind another 3 or so days. Timing is crucial for this field study, as the stratocumulus deck hits its peak around mid-October and lasts into mid-December. They have decided to not do some of the sampling they had originally planned, so they will be arriving in Arica a day later than the original schedule. My half of the trip is unaffected (so far).
Then on Saturday, one of the laptops that Matt took with him completely crashed. Fortunately he took two, but two is what is needed to complete the work in a timely manner. He was able to retrieve his processing scripts from the machine, so all is not lost. I will be taking a new hard drive with me and hopefully we will be able to fix it before I depart Arica.
On board Matt is taking cloud photos 360 degrees around the ship. Also we have sounding, radar, and satellite data being sent back to us every day. We are working on getting a website operational to display all of the data as it comes in. Hopefully it will be up by Friday.
Along side of this, my school work has been trudging along. I have one more presentation to give in my Convection class, along with the weekly readings. I also have a mid-term on Friday in my Tropical class. So after about next Tuesday, my schedule will lighten slightly, at least until I leave for the Ron Brown.
Onto the personal life (or what is left of it). This past weekend my best friend Alex came to visit, which was a nice reprieve. We went to the fair on Sunday with my awesome roommates and my friend Kristen, which was a lot of fun. I ate way too much fried food. I will be going back to WV this coming weekend to see the family one more time before I depart. It sucks I will be gone for Thanksgiving, so maybe we can make up for it this weekend with a big dinner. I also hope to squeeze in some time to visit old friends. The next weekend is Halloween. The plan is for Mitch to come visit and then take me to the airport on Monday afternoon to head to Chile. If for some reason this doesn't work out, I will be going there for the weekend. Hopefully that won't be the case.
That's it for now,
Jake
Monday, October 6, 2008
Let the good times sail
So, the RHB left port this morning! After all of the headaches of the past few weeks, things are finally underway. Check out Matt's blog for updates (http://www.millercommamatt.com/journal/).
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Fire... Oh no!
So last week, during prep for departure, there was a fire on board the Ronald Brown. I'm not 100% sure of the details, but it had to do with the electrical switch in the engine room. Apparently there was quite a bit of damage. After a lot of frustration, it was decided that the boat will now depart this coming Monday (a week late). My leg of the trip shouldn't be affected. They are doing a sea trial on Friday, so Matt is heading down to gear everything up. The issue with that is he doesn't have a way to Charleston. That is where I come into play. I'll be driving him down tomorrow after my afternoon class. It's kind of nice though because I will get to see some old friends while I am in Charleston. The bad news is that I have to be back in Raleigh for class on Friday at 12:25.
I really hope all of the bad things that might happen on the boat have already occurred. I might freak out a little bit if we are drifting around the South Pacific and there was a fire on board.
I should get back to work. I need to prepare for a presentation I have to give in my Convection class. It is the 2nd of 4 that I have to present before I live in a month. If I can make it through the next 33 days, I have a feeling I shouldn't have any problem with the rest of my graduate school career (I hope).
I really hope all of the bad things that might happen on the boat have already occurred. I might freak out a little bit if we are drifting around the South Pacific and there was a fire on board.
I should get back to work. I need to prepare for a presentation I have to give in my Convection class. It is the 2nd of 4 that I have to present before I live in a month. If I can make it through the next 33 days, I have a feeling I shouldn't have any problem with the rest of my graduate school career (I hope).
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Online Ship Tracking
My officemate showed me this cool website through NOAA. It is a ship tracker for the Ronald H. Brown. This will be a handy tool to see where we are while on the cruise.
http://shiptracker.noaa.gov/ship.aspx?ship_code=RBSCSACQ&timeframe=cc&mapservice=st_nmao
http://shiptracker.noaa.gov/ship.aspx?ship_code=RBSCSACQ&timeframe=cc&mapservice=st_nmao
Monday, September 22, 2008
Scholastic Stress
I haven't updated in a while since I have been swamped with school work. I am taking 3 courses this semester and auditing another. Last Friday I had my departmental seminar. It is basically a 15 minute intro to my thesis in front of the department and serves as public speaking practice. I got some good feedback and feel satisfied with how everything turned out.
For my other two courses, I am trying to get as much of the work done for the semester as possible. It would be ideal for me not to take an incomplete in either of them, but that might not work out. So basically that means I won't have any real weekends to do anything fun until after I get back. I guess that is just the price I will have to pay to get to go on the trip. But I think it's worth it!
The boat is leaving next week from Charleston, SC. That means we are scrambling to get everything packed up that we will need while on ship. Dr. Yuter is taking a box of my stuff and stowing it on board, so I won't have to worry about taking on the plane. Pretty good deal. I can also leave anything on the boat afterwards, and will be able to get it in January when the boat makes its way back to Charleston.
One non-research thing I am pretty excited about is the Chilean wine. Heard it is phenomenal. I'll be sure to let everyone know if it's true.
That's it for now.
Jake
For my other two courses, I am trying to get as much of the work done for the semester as possible. It would be ideal for me not to take an incomplete in either of them, but that might not work out. So basically that means I won't have any real weekends to do anything fun until after I get back. I guess that is just the price I will have to pay to get to go on the trip. But I think it's worth it!
The boat is leaving next week from Charleston, SC. That means we are scrambling to get everything packed up that we will need while on ship. Dr. Yuter is taking a box of my stuff and stowing it on board, so I won't have to worry about taking on the plane. Pretty good deal. I can also leave anything on the boat afterwards, and will be able to get it in January when the boat makes its way back to Charleston.
One non-research thing I am pretty excited about is the Chilean wine. Heard it is phenomenal. I'll be sure to let everyone know if it's true.
That's it for now.
Jake
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
The trip down
It appears that my travel plans to Arica have been solidified. It will take about 24 hours to get there and about the same to get back.
I leave Raleigh at 7:45pm on November 3rd and 3 layovers (Miami, Santiago, and Inquique) later I arrive in Arica 8:30pm on November 4th.
I will get to spend a few days in Arica before getting on the ship. I am going on the second leg of the trip, so I have to fly down to meet up with the boat. The first leg leaves from Charleston, SC on September 29th and travels through the Panamal Canal into the South Pacific. My officemate Matt is going on this part. The ship will dock in Arica on November 2nd. There is a meeting between legs to discuss issues and scientific ojectives on November 6th. The ship will then leave Arica on November 8th. Matt and I will use this time between legs to go over what worked and what didn't work on his leg and will allow me to get more comfortable with my responsibilities. I will at least have a few days in Arica to explore and get a feel for the region. (I've always wanted to visit South America).
This ship will re-dock in Arica on December 2nd and I leave on the morning of December 4th at 9:30am and will be back in Raleigh at 11:50am on December 5th.
Writing this reminds me that I need to look into getting my absentee ballot for the November election. *Note to self
I am sure this trip will be exhausting. I will be on ship for 24 days, without seeing land. Good thing I don't get sea sick. But the experience is going to be amazing. I have been looking forward to it for a while now and it still hasn't really sunk in that it is approaching.
I leave Raleigh at 7:45pm on November 3rd and 3 layovers (Miami, Santiago, and Inquique) later I arrive in Arica 8:30pm on November 4th.
I will get to spend a few days in Arica before getting on the ship. I am going on the second leg of the trip, so I have to fly down to meet up with the boat. The first leg leaves from Charleston, SC on September 29th and travels through the Panamal Canal into the South Pacific. My officemate Matt is going on this part. The ship will dock in Arica on November 2nd. There is a meeting between legs to discuss issues and scientific ojectives on November 6th. The ship will then leave Arica on November 8th. Matt and I will use this time between legs to go over what worked and what didn't work on his leg and will allow me to get more comfortable with my responsibilities. I will at least have a few days in Arica to explore and get a feel for the region. (I've always wanted to visit South America).
This ship will re-dock in Arica on December 2nd and I leave on the morning of December 4th at 9:30am and will be back in Raleigh at 11:50am on December 5th.
Writing this reminds me that I need to look into getting my absentee ballot for the November election. *Note to self
I am sure this trip will be exhausting. I will be on ship for 24 days, without seeing land. Good thing I don't get sea sick. But the experience is going to be amazing. I have been looking forward to it for a while now and it still hasn't really sunk in that it is approaching.
VOCALS-Rex Overview
Hello blogsphere,
I started this blog to keep my friends, family, and colleagues updated on what is going on in my life as pertains to a field study I will be taking part in later this year. I will leave November 3rd and return to the U.S. December 5th. The study, VOCALS-Rex, will be looking at ocean-atmosphere interactions in the South Pacific off the coast of Chile. The name VOCALS is a nested acronym, but illustrates well what we are actually looking at. VOCALS-Rex stands for VAMOS Ocean Cloud Atmosphere Land Study - Regional Experiment, while VAMOS stands for Variability in the American Monsoon System. A mouthful, I know. The aspects that my research group is most interested in are the clouds. We will be looking at the marine stratocumulus which form over the region and produce drizzle. These clouds are poorly represented in present global climate models, and better understanding of these clouds will aid in better model parameterizations in the future. Also, having these intense observations of the clouds will allow us to investigate how processes within clouds lead to the formation of precipitation size droplets.
I will be operating the C-Band radar which mounted atop our ship the NOAA Ronald H. Brown (see link below). I will be monitoring any shifts in calibration, so we can correct for these in post-processing. I will be releasing weather balloons every 4 hours. This will give us a better picture of the vertical properties of the atmosphere. I hope I can find someone on board to take at least one of these off my hands each day. Just so I get enough sleep. My last task will be taking cloud photos every hour there is sunlight.
That is it for now. I just wanted to give everyone somewhat of an overview of what I’ll be doing while on this trip. I will be providing personal and professional reflections while preparing for VOCALS, while I’m on ship, and of course, on my journey there.
Our ship: http://www.moc.noaa.gov/rb/
A good overview: http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/vocals/vocals_intro.html&edu=high&portal=vocals
-Jake
I started this blog to keep my friends, family, and colleagues updated on what is going on in my life as pertains to a field study I will be taking part in later this year. I will leave November 3rd and return to the U.S. December 5th. The study, VOCALS-Rex, will be looking at ocean-atmosphere interactions in the South Pacific off the coast of Chile. The name VOCALS is a nested acronym, but illustrates well what we are actually looking at. VOCALS-Rex stands for VAMOS Ocean Cloud Atmosphere Land Study - Regional Experiment, while VAMOS stands for Variability in the American Monsoon System. A mouthful, I know. The aspects that my research group is most interested in are the clouds. We will be looking at the marine stratocumulus which form over the region and produce drizzle. These clouds are poorly represented in present global climate models, and better understanding of these clouds will aid in better model parameterizations in the future. Also, having these intense observations of the clouds will allow us to investigate how processes within clouds lead to the formation of precipitation size droplets.
I will be operating the C-Band radar which mounted atop our ship the NOAA Ronald H. Brown (see link below). I will be monitoring any shifts in calibration, so we can correct for these in post-processing. I will be releasing weather balloons every 4 hours. This will give us a better picture of the vertical properties of the atmosphere. I hope I can find someone on board to take at least one of these off my hands each day. Just so I get enough sleep. My last task will be taking cloud photos every hour there is sunlight.
That is it for now. I just wanted to give everyone somewhat of an overview of what I’ll be doing while on this trip. I will be providing personal and professional reflections while preparing for VOCALS, while I’m on ship, and of course, on my journey there.
Our ship: http://www.moc.noaa.gov/rb/
A good overview: http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/vocals/vocals_intro.html&edu=high&portal=vocals
-Jake
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