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A view out my window in the C-130 along the Western coast of Greenland. Photo by John Maurer, CIRES/NSIDC, University of Colorado. (View photo detail.)
Another view out my window in the C-130 along the Western coast of Greenland. Photo by John Maurer, CIRES/NSIDC, University of Colorado. (View photo detail.)
Large crevasses in the ice near Jakobshavn glacier, viewed from the twin otter. Photo by John Maurer, CIRES/NSIDC, University of Colorado. (View photo detail.)
Swiss Camp as it appears when we first arrive. Photo by John Maurer, CIRES/NSIDC, University of Colorado. (View photo detail.)
Inside the kitchen tent. Photo by John Maurer, CIRES/NSIDC, University of Colorado. (View photo detail.)
The sauna room. A few nights during the expedition we would turn on this sauna and heat up this small hallway room to 50° C (122° F), which felt good after a full day out in the cold! (View photo detail.)
Another view of the C-130. Photo by John Maurer, CIRES/NSIDC, University of Colorado. (View photo detail.)
We land in Kangerlussuaq, Greenland. The people standing in this photo are the other civilians (scientists and journalists) who were on the flight with me.Photo by John Maurer, CIRES/NSIDC, University of Colorado. (View photo detail.)
Photo by John Maurer, CIRES/NSIDC, University of Colorado. (View photo detail.)
The U.S. Air National Guard plane that I took from Albany, New York to Kangerlussuaq, Greenland: a 6.5 hour flight. The plane is called a C-130. Photo by John Maurer, CIRES/NSIDC, University of Colorado. (View photo detail.)
The nearby lake in Kanger, called Tasersuatsiaq in Greenlandic, but also known as Lake Ferguson. The lake is frozen in this photo but had thawed by the time I returned in mid-June. The building is the local row club, as rowing is popular here in the summer. The lake is home to a kind of fish called Arctic char. Photo by John Maurer, CIRES/NSIDC, University of Colorado. (View photo detail.)
The valley surrounding the Akuliarusiarsuup Kuua (Watson River) in Kanger and running out to the frozen mouth of the fjord. Photo by John Maurer, CIRES/NSIDC, University of Colorado. (View photo detail.)
The river that runs through Kanger, called Akuliarusiarsuup Kuua in Greenlandic, but also known as Watson River. It was a block from the main street. This river is very milky looking because it is formed by melt-water from the ice sheet. The grey rocks surrounding the river are not ice, as some have asked me. Photo by John Maurer, CIRES/NSIDC, University of Colorado. (View photo detail.)
Another house on the shore of Tasersuatsiaq (Lake Ferguson). Photo by John Maurer, CIRES/NSIDC, University of Colorado. (View photo detail.)
A house on the shore of Tasersuatsiaq (Lake Ferguson). Photo by John Maurer, CIRES/NSIDC, University of Colorado. (View photo detail.)
A caribou that I spotted on a hike. There were also herds of musk-oxen that I could not get close enough to photograph, which are the other primary meat source in Greenland. Photo by John Maurer, CIRES/NSIDC, University of Colorado. (View photo detail.)
Inside the twin otter plane. On the left is Dr. Nicolas Cullen, from New Zealand, who recently completed his Ph.D. with Koni. Next to him is Russell Huff, from western Colorado, who is working on his Ph.D. with Koni. To Russ right with the video camera is Andy Revkin, a reporter from the New York Times. Photo by John Maurer, CIRES/NSIDC, University of Colorado. (View photo detail.)
Koni and his other graduate students finally arrive from northern Greenland three days after my arrival (bad fog had delayed their departure). This is the plane we leave in together for Swiss Camp, out on the ice sheet: referred to as a twin otter. Photo by John Maurer, CIRES/NSIDC, University of Colorado. (View photo detail.)
Another aerial photo of the streams of melt water that flow out of the ice sheet. Photo by John Maurer, CIRES/NSIDC, University of Colorado. (View photo detail.)
View from the twin otter out onto the beginnings of the ice sheet in the distance. Photo by John Maurer, CIRES/NSIDC, University of Colorado. (View photo detail.)
View from the twin otter out onto the beginnings of the ice sheet. Photo by John Maurer, CIRES/NSIDC, University of Colorado. (View photo detail.)
My first glimpse of the ice sheet (to the right of the photo) from the twin otter just outside of Kanger. Streams of melt water flow out of the ice sheet in beautiful patterns. Photo by John Maurer, CIRES/NSIDC, University of Colorado. (View photo detail.)
View from the twin otter out onto the ice sheet: clouds blanket the surface. Photo by John Maurer, CIRES/NSIDC, University of Colorado. (View photo detail.)
View from the twin otter out onto the ice sheet: Jakobshavn glacier can be seen by the flow lines in this photo. Jakobshavn is Greenland's largest outlet glacier and the fastest moving glacier in the world. Photo by John Maurer, CIRES/NSIDC, University of Colorado. (View photo detail.)
This is all you see wherever you look on the interior of the Greenland ice sheet. Flat and boring as Kansas! Photo by John Maurer, CIRES/NSIDC, University of Colorado. (View photo detail.)
Large patterns in the ice near Jakobshavn glacier, viewed from the twin otter. Photo by John Maurer, CIRES/NSIDC, University of Colorado. (View photo detail.)
We land at Swiss Camp and line up all our cargo: can you believe that all fit in the plane?? The yellow boxes are filled with food. The silver boxes are filled with instruments, tools, and wires. The bags are our personal gear. Photo by John Maurer, CIRES/NSIDC, University of Colorado. (View photo detail.)
A close-up of my tent. Inside my tent were bags with all of my gear and a small cot with two sleeping bags. Photo by John Maurer, CIRES/NSIDC, University of Colorado. (View photo detail.)
Our sleeping tents, which we put up after arriving at camp. Photo by John Maurer, CIRES/NSIDC, University of Colorado. (View photo detail.)
Another couple of cargo lines, with Nic in the photo. At the left is the cargo line of our food boxes. Photo by John Maurer, CIRES/NSIDC, University of Colorado. (View photo detail.)
Cargo lines outside Swiss Camp. Photo by John Maurer, CIRES/NSIDC, University of Colorado. (View photo detail.)
Me on a ski-doo before my first ski-doo trip. Photo by John Maurer, CIRES/NSIDC, University of Colorado. (View photo detail.)
One of our three snow-mobiles, which we called "ski-doos". Photo by John Maurer, CIRES/NSIDC, University of Colorado. (View photo detail.)
We all went on a short helicopter ride from Swiss Camp down to the coast near Jakobshavn glacier. Jay Zwally in foreground. Photo by John Maurer, CIRES/NSIDC, University of Colorado. (View photo detail.)
View from the helicopter. Notice all the bright blue rivers and ponds/lakes of melt water that form on the ice sheet down near the coast. The coastal mountains in the distance are near Disko Bay. Photo by John Maurer, CIRES/NSIDC, University of Colorado. (View photo detail.)
View from the helicopter at patterns in the ice sheet and blue melt ponds, near the coast by Jakobshavn glacier. Photo by John Maurer, CIRES/NSIDC, University of Colorado. (View photo detail.)
A close-up shot from the helicopter of one of the huge melt lakes. Photo by John Maurer, CIRES/NSIDC, University of Colorado. (View photo detail.)
View from the helicopter near the coast by Jakobshavn glacier, where the ice becomes very choppy. Photo by John Maurer, CIRES/NSIDC, University of Colorado. (View photo detail.)
A close-up shot from the helicopter of another huge melt lake. Photo by John Maurer, CIRES/NSIDC, University of Colorado. (View photo detail.)
A close-up from the helicopter of the choppy ice near the coast by Jakobshavn glacier. These patterns were almost as deep as a one-story house, I would guess. Photo by John Maurer, CIRES/NSIDC, University of Colorado. (View photo detail.)
The automatic weather station (AWS) near the coast that we are going to cut down since it has been so difficult to reach by ski-doo over the past few years. Photo by John Maurer, CIRES/NSIDC, University of Colorado. (View photo detail.)
After taking down the station in the previous photo, we fly back to Swiss Camp. This is a view from the helicopter of camp. Really shows how camp is just a small speck out on the vast Greenland ice sheet. Photo by John Maurer, CIRES/NSIDC, University of Colorado. (View photo detail.)
We land the helicopter on the ice sheet near the coast by Jakobshavn glacier. The Danish pilot, Karl, is shown tip-toeing over to where we are. There are deep crevasses here to avoid stepping into, some of them possibly hidden under the snow. Photo by John Maurer, CIRES/NSIDC, University of Colorado. (View photo detail.)
View of Swiss Camp from the helicopter. Photo by John Maurer, CIRES/NSIDC, University of Colorado. (View photo detail.)
Koni using the steam drill to make a new hole for the leaning weather station. Sitting above the pit in purple is Elizabeth (Betsy) Kolbert from The New Yorker magazine, who came out for a week to experience research in Greenland and to interview Koni for a three-piece article called, "The Climate of Man". Photo by John Maurer, CIRES/NSIDC, University of Colorado. (View photo detail.)
A leaning weather station that has slowly started to melt out of the ice in recent years. We have snow-mobiled here (a one-hour trip) to steam-drill a new 6-meter (20-foot) hole and secure the station into it. Photo by John Maurer, CIRES/NSIDC, University of Colorado. (View photo detail.)
Another view of us working on this weather station. Nic is making measurements of the snow at the left, Koni is steam-drilling, and Betsy Kolbert is observing. Photo by John Maurer, CIRES/NSIDC, University of Colorado. (View photo detail.)
The weather station outside of Swiss Camp had been toppled over by the wind during the winter and was buried a couple of meters under the snow. Photo by John Maurer, CIRES/NSIDC, University of Colorado. (View photo detail.)
Another view of Nic making measurements in the snow (temperature and density profiles) and Koni steam-drilling. The wooden box contains batteries that run the instruments on the weather station. Photo by John Maurer, CIRES/NSIDC, University of Colorado. (View photo detail.)
A snow pit that I dug and analyzed at Swiss Camp. It was one of my primary duties to dig and analyze snow pits at the various sites we visited. Photo by John Maurer, CIRES/NSIDC, University of Colorado. (View photo detail.)
A close-up of the snow pit in the previous photo. At Swiss Camp this year, there were 1.2 meters (3.9 feet) of new snow that had accumulated in the past year that I had to dig through before reaching the hard, frozen ice of the ice sheet below. Photo by John Maurer, CIRES/NSIDC, University of Colorado. (View photo detail.)
Another close-up of the snow pit. You can see the floor of the pit better in this shot where there is darker ice. The yellow strip is a measuring tape. Photo by John Maurer, CIRES/NSIDC, University of Colorado. (View photo detail.)
Close-up of the sled with the propane for the steam drill as we work on clearing snow and ice from around Swiss Camp (Nic is in the background). Photo by John Maurer, CIRES/NSIDC, University of Colorado. (View photo detail.)
We begin the difficult task of shoveling all the snow and drilling out all the ice from in front of and around Swiss Camp. Photo by John Maurer, CIRES/NSIDC, University of Colorado. (View photo detail.)
A close-up of the wall of the snow pit. You can sort of make out some of the bluish layers that I look for when analyzing a pit. Photo by John Maurer, CIRES/NSIDC, University of Colorado. (View photo detail.)
Nic shoveling snow away from around the Swiss Camp tents. Photo by John Maurer, CIRES/NSIDC, University of Colorado. (View photo detail.)
All done! After two days of work, you can now actually see the wooden platform that Swiss Camp rests on. Hopefully when all of the surrounding snow melts this summer, it will now flow down this platform and away from the tents. Photo by John Maurer, CIRES/NSIDC, University of Colorado. (View photo detail.)
Dinner and a glass of wine after a hard days' work! Cheers! Photo by John Maurer, CIRES/NSIDC, University of Colorado. (View photo detail.)
A homemade chess set that Russ and I made from nuts, bolts, Triscuits, and Ritz crackers. Photo by John Maurer, CIRES/NSIDC, University of Colorado. (View photo detail.)
View from the plane (another 'twin otter') down onto the ice sheet during our flight south. Photo by John Maurer, CIRES/NSIDC, University of Colorado. (View photo detail.)
An even closer close-up of the wall of the snow pit, showing a couple of layers in the snow. These particular kinds of layers form when big snow storms occur with strong winds that cause the snow to compact at what was then the surface. Other layers may be caused by melting and refreezing of snow. Photo by John Maurer, CIRES/NSIDC, University of Colorado. (View photo detail.)
Our first stop on the southern traverse at the NASA-SE station. Here we are in the snow accumulation region ("dry snow zone") of Greenland where it rarely experiences any melt. Photo by John Maurer, CIRES/NSIDC, University of Colorado. (View photo detail.)
Our pilots for the southern traverse: Jonas and Tomas. Jonas (left) is from Iceland and a legendary pilot in Greenland. Koni has known him for 25 years, back when Jonas was somewhat of a daredevil pilot from the stories Koni told us. Tomas (right) is from Denmark. Both spoke English fairly well. Photo by John Maurer, CIRES/NSIDC, University of Colorado. (View photo detail.)
Less cargo on this flight. View from the inside of the plane. Photo by John Maurer, CIRES/NSIDC, University of Colorado. (View photo detail.)
While Nic and Russ are off working on the weather station at NASA-SE, I'm digging another snow pit. This one is 2.5 meters (8 feet) deep! At that point, I reached the layer from the previous year's snow surface. Photo by John Maurer, CIRES/NSIDC, University of Colorado.The work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 License. (View photo detail.)
One of a few last shots from Swiss Camp during our cloudy last days there. Photo by John Maurer, CIRES/NSIDC, University of Colorado.The work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 License. (View photo detail.)
Another last photo at Swiss Camp. Notice the ring around the sun. These were common during cloudy skies. Photo by John Maurer, CIRES/NSIDC, University of Colorado.The work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 License. (View photo detail.)
A very nice couple from Montana, Mark and Lou, live at Dye-2 in this small, black tent from April to August every year to maintain the air strip for the U.S. Air National Guard mentioned in the previous photo. Photo by John Maurer, CIRES/NSIDC, University of Colorado.The work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 License. (View photo detail.)
The last station that we serviced on the southern traverse was at Dye-2, the location of an abandoned U.S. military base, visible in this photo with the white-domed roof. This building used to hold 200+ soldiers in the during the Cold War and was eventually abandoned. Photo by John Maurer, CIRES/NSIDC, University of Colorado.The work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 License. (View photo detail.)
Another last photo at Swiss Camp. I call this one 'Ode to Shovel Camp'! Given all the shoveling I did on this trip, I thought it deserved its own portrait. Photo by John Maurer, CIRES/NSIDC, University of Colorado.The work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 License. (View photo detail.)
Another last photo at Swiss Camp. Me on the ice sheet in all my warm gear. Photo by John Maurer, CIRES/NSIDC, University of Colorado.The work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 License. (View photo detail.)
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