NEEM > Field diaries
Field diaries
Field season 2011 has been finalized
2011-08-16
NEEM camp is closed after a succesful season.
Taking the last surface tents down
2011-08-14
The D-day for camp pull out is closing in and today the last surface tents where taken down
Celebrating Gunnars birthday
2011-08-13
The last Saturday in camp AND Gunnars birthday.
Grey, white and snow
2011-08-12
Waking up to another overcast, foggy and snowy day!
Goodbye to 16 from NEEM
2011-08-11
At 4:00 am when the weather reporting started we had ground fog with no visibility.
A really warm and foggy day
2011-08-10
As we have seen many times before the weather changes just when the flight period starts.
Last day in camp – perhaps?
2011-08-09
Today all science equipment is palletized in preparation of the skier mission tomorrow.
Packing everywhere in camp
2011-08-08
The next flight period is getting closer and all science, drill and UAV equipment will leave camp 10-12 August.
Last day of science
2011-08-07
Days are counted because the closure of camp is getting close.
Moving the Dome again
2011-08-06
The time has come to move the Dome back to its original position but 4.5 m higher.
Recovering the AWI drill
2011-08-05
Waking up the first thought went to the AWI drill.
Back to science
2011-08-04
After the great event of moving the Dome yesterday life is back to normal.
D-day for moving the NEEM Dome on sledge
2011-08-03
After a night with stage fever and nerves, time came to move the Dome.
Meridian wins the race
2011-08-02
The weather was perfect for outdoor work and for flying.
A good start of the last science week at NEEM
2011-08-01
August already! It is time to finish all projects and start thinking about packing down.
Sunny and windy day
2011-07-31
The weather forecasts had predicted clearing weather and decreasing winds.
Big game evening
2011-07-30
During Saturday the wind picked up to 26 knots and the morning was used to secure camp for the strong winds.
The Main Dome is standing on skies
2011-07-29
At 10:33 local the last supporting leg of the Dome was cut and the Dome solely was standing on the four skies.
Drill traverse departs NEEM
2011-07-28
After training of the team and packing the sledges the Traverse team is ready to depart. The traverse leaves with two skidoo’s and 5 sledges.
The first skies are placed under the Dome
2011-07-27
The Skies of the Dome weigh 1250 kg each and nearly match the skies under a Hercules in size – at least in the mind of NEEM
Shallow drilling is on again
2011-07-26
Today the weather is good and cold with blue sky and winds up to 20 knots and the shallow drilling programs continue.
Dome sledge construction dominates life in camp
2011-07-25
You cannot avoid noticing the banging and shaking of the main Dome.
Active day with preparations for new projects
2011-07-24
With a new team, new projects are starting up
A warm day with a very successful Skier mission
2011-07-23
After a warm night with temperatures no lower than -3 °C Skier 61 came early to camp at 08:14 local.
Last day in camp for many
2011-07-22
Now all setups have to work before the science groups leave camp.
High school students visit
2011-07-21
Today highschool students from Denmark, Greenland and Norway visited NEEM.
D-Day for the Dome Sledge Project
2011-07-20
The day has come where Alli, Villi, Sepp, Gunnar and Sverrir mounts the first panels of the ring of fifteen panel that form a ring around the Dome legs
Good flight weather and digging again
2011-07-19
Finally we have cold night temperatures and the Skier mission to NEEM could be done.
A day of digging
2011-07-18
Again a very warm day with no hope for efficient Skier missions. After weather reports from 4 am to 6 am local we decided to cancel the mission for the next 24 hours.
ATO take off at 01 am towards Thule Airbase.
2011-07-17
During the evening of Saturday the temperatures barely dropped to -3 deg C. It was decided to stick to the decision of a 0100 am departure but to attempt as light a skier as possible
Warm weather no go
2011-07-16
Our Distinguished Visitors experienced a night at NEEM sleeping in the weatherports at NEEM. After breakfast the first attempt for take off was made with no luck
Showing our camp to our Distinguished Visitors.
2011-07-15
Finally the great day came where our DV’s managed to get to camp for a three hour visit. The camp was ready and we had carefully planned a program that would present the ongoing science at NEEM.
Very warm weather at NEEM delays the DV visit
2011-07-14
The weather at NEEM at 4 am was foggy with temperatures no colder than 5 deg C. The DV mission to NEEM was cancelled and the camp hurried to finish project – taking advantage of the extra day.
Preparations for crew and activity exchange
2011-07-13
The DV visit and the exchange of crew will be tomorrow.
Packing the science trench
2011-07-12
Time has come.. The processing of the deep ice core is finalized and it is time to pack much down and return it to Europe.
The last run?
2011-07-11
The drilling is followed with great attention by all in camp. Will this be the final run?
Work goes on at NEEM
2011-07-10
After a slow start we had brunch with omelette and fresh garden salad.
Royal visit at NEEM
2011-07-09
A very special day at NEEM. Most of the morning was used by all to prepare the Royal visit of Her Majesty and His Royal Highness from Denmark, Kuupik Kleist from Greenland and Rigsombudsmand Mikaela Engell.
Refrozen basal water under the drill!
2011-07-08
After the ice core from yesterday with a very high content of basal material we decided that there was a high chance that we were at the bedrock.
A day with big events
2011-07-07
The morning started with preparations for the airdrop that happened at 1100 local.
A basal ice core with stones
2011-07-06
Today the HT drill was used with the new and innovative carbide step cutter and they drilled through ice, sediments and rocks!
Mystic ice from the rock drill
2011-07-05
There is great excitement around the drilling at the base of the deep NEEM borehole.
Drilling in the deep hole
2011-07-04
Today was the first day where we drilled in the 2537 m deep borehole.
A perfect Sunday
2011-07-03
After waking up to a calm and sunny day many went for a morning walk on the skiway.
A really nice and sunny day
2011-07-02
The wind is down and the sky blue with light clouds from time to time.
An amazing day with great successes
2011-07-01
Finally the 2011 S2 hole was completed with an angle of 3-4 degrees to allow us to test replicate drilling.
NEW - Video sequence of the bottom of the borehole is now up-loaded!
A very productive day at NEEM
2011-06-30
Again we have had a day with perfect weather: very light wind and blue sky.
The work in camp continues - but in a new way
2011-06-29
The big working groups like the science trench and the big CFA teams are no more in strong routine.
A day of exchange of personal in the NEEM camp
2011-06-28
The science processing of ice cores from the 411m deep shallow ice core and the CFA processing of the deep ice cores are finalized.
CFA analysis of NEEM main core terminated and packing
2011-06-27
Last night the last samples of the NEEM main core brittle zone ice were measured in the CFA lab.
Final processing of NEEM 2011 Shallow Core 1 (S1)
2011-06-26
This afternoon the deepest part of the S1 shallow core was processed in the science trench and the 79 AD Vesuvius eruption was clearly identified.
Initiation of the NEEM 2011 Shallow Core 2 (S2) drilling
2011-06-25
Yesterday night the drilling of the S1 ice core was terminated and this morning drilling of the S2 core was initiated.
Termination of the NEEM 2011 Shallow Core 1 (S1) drilling
2011-06-24
Due to logistical constraints the drilling of the S1 borehole in the sauna tent terminated this night at 11 pm at a depth of 411.83 m, which corresponds to an age slightly older than 79 AD.
No midsummers eve at NEEM this year
2011-06-23
Today is midsummer, ‘Sankt Hans’ in Danish, and normally we should have a small bonfire this evening, sing a few songs, and say cheers to one another
Full speed ahead
2011-06-22
Early next week we’ll have a major crew exchange in camp and new people with new projects will show up.
A day of many different tasks
2011-06-21
A productive day
2011-06-20
The drilling of the S1 core is now in a stable mode running 16h a day. This has produced enough core for the science trench to be open today to catch up with the drilling.
Drilling at two sites and maintenance
2011-06-19
After a slow Sunday morning camp came up to speed after lunch
Hard core breaks and science trench dream team dinner
2011-06-18
With the higher liquid level in the bore hole the core quality is now consistently good. Today, however, several runs had a hard core break
High quality cores and very shallow drilling
2011-06-17
Core breaks and sushi assembly line
2011-06-16
Today drillers have been...
2011-06-15
2011-06-15
Setting up flag line on Main Street
2011-06-14
2011-06-14
...a bit of a hard time in camp...
2011-06-13
2011-06-13
Ice core processing passed the very significant 1259 AD eruption...
2011-06-12
2011-06-12
The drill was cooled in the drill liquid....
2011-06-11
2011-06-11
The CFA team dug a pit...
Tomorrow we have a flight again and we are busy preparing.
2011-06-10
The mood in camp today is special.
A successful flight today!
2011-06-09
As the plane
flew overhead, fog came...
Tomorrow we have a flight and we are busy preparing
2011-06-08
Much work was done on the skiway
It is warm and we have Christmas snow
2011-06-07
And it snows...
It is getting warm
2011-06-06
Today camp has been covered by....
Weather is improving and we can see camp again
2011-06-05
During the night....
The wind gets stronger with clouds and snow on top!
2011-06-04
Bad weather continued today, and it got even worse. For more than 24 hours, strong winds have been blowing through camp.
The wind came!
2011-06-03
This morning the bad weather began. Wind picked up, and soon the snow began to move.
Processing brittle ice is finished
2011-06-02
The drillers were eagerly going to work this morning, hoping that their new winch contraption would live up to expectations, and the rebuilt winch worked really well.
A happy day for the drillers
2011-06-01
It was a good day for the drillers as mechanical work over the past few days paid off and the reconstructed winch with a new motor worked well.
A good day for processing and we got visitors
2011-05-31
In the processing line everything is running fine. Although one instrument for gas analysis has broken down (SARA), we have a back-up instrument (JUDY), and now it is running fine.
A good productive day, except for the drillers; but they have ideas.
2011-05-30
For most people in camp the day was productive; but the drillers had to face the fact that they now have two broken motors for the winch, however, as the Danish proverb goes, “Need will teach the naked woman to spin yarn”.
A beautiful Sunday
2011-05-29
We take a sort break ... it is Saturday
2011-05-28
Many in camp need a weekend break. This week, all have been working hard
We have visitors and enjoy the company
2011-05-27
The six members of the GRIT traverse joined us for meals today and it was nice to spend an evening in new company.
Today the wind relented and we have to push snow again
2011-05-26
There was some cleaning up to do after two days of strong wind from the
East. Several entrances had to be excavated
Outside the wind blows; but we are all busy inside
2011-05-25
Again, our forecasters were spot on. Strong winds came to camp this morning; but we were prepared
We receive the second plane
2011-05-23
A drama is unfolding regarding air traffic in Greenland.
Camp in full swing
2011-05-23
Now things begin to happen. The drillers made good progress today...
A Saturday on Sunday
2011-05-22
No, we haven’t got the calendar wrong; but because of the three days delay of the last plane, we decided to move the week-end one day.
Finally the plane made it
2011-05-21
Today it happened. The plane finally made it and 15 new members made it to NEEM camp.
Plane cancelled again today
2011-05-20
As there only was one plane available today, the decision had to be made whether it should fly to the American camp at Summit or to here.
Plane cancelled today
2011-05-19
Today we found ourselves in a bizarre situation. There were very few clouds (that later disappeared) and we had good visibility. All o.k. for a flight.
Plane tomorrow, and we are ready to receive it
2011-05-18
Today we put the finishing touches to the flight operations area. Everything is now ready to receive the plane tomorrow.
Building up for the plane on Thursday
2011-05-17
On Thursday we hope to receive a plane with cargo, food and 16 new members
of the NEEM staff. We are busy preparing everything in camp for the new
arriving people.
Fine weather continues - we make good progress
2011-05-16
As weather continues to be good to us, work on getting camp into shape before reaching full manning this week is going fine
Preparations for the flight next week
2011-05-15
In the coming week we are expecting a flight with many new NEEMers.
First core in 2011
2011-05-14
We drilled the first ice core today.
Nice, but a bit chilly to work outside today
2011-05-13
During the whole morning temperatures stayed well below -20 °C and with a constant wind, work with erecting weatherports became a chilly affair
We are enjoying the weather and camp is changing shape
2011-05-12
We erected a weatherport today, and two more will go up soon.
Busy – making up for lost time
2011-05-11
Weather is good now, and the forecast gives us several good days ahead.
Beautiful weather - let's get digging
2011-05-10
While there were some clouds and wind in the morning, weather improved and the afternoon was beautiful.
Strong wind continues into the evening
2011-05-09
Another day for in-side or trench activities. Today a lot of snow decided to change position...
First blusterous day of the season
2011-05-08
Just as our Belgian forecasters had forecasted, we got hit by strong winds today
A cold Saturday
2011-05-07
The night to Saturday was very cold. Some people moved from the red dome to the main dome, as temperatures in the red dome did not exceed -15 °C
First day at NEEM after the usual cold night
2011-05-06
First night in a cold camp is always something special.
Finally we go to NEEM
2011-05-05
Today we had a successful put-in. We departed Kangerlussuaq at 9.25 and landed at NEEM 11.30
Arrival in Kangerlussuaq and awaiting put-in
2011-05-04
Daily for the period 2nd., 3rd., and 4th. of May 2011
Opening of NEEM camp, 2011
2011-04-25
The NEEM field office in Kangerlussuaq is now manned and the 5th. NEEM field season on the ice is starting up
