Field season 2011

NEEM camp is closed after a succesful season.

The D-day for camp pull out is closing in and today the last surface tents where taken down

The last Saturday in camp AND Gunnars birthday.

Waking up to another overcast, foggy and snowy day!

At 4:00 am when the weather reporting started we had ground fog with no visibility.

As we have seen many times before the weather changes just when the flight period starts.

Today all science equipment is palletized in preparation of the skier mission tomorrow.

The next flight period is getting closer and all science, drill and UAV equipment will leave camp…

Days are counted because the closure of camp is getting close.

The time has come to move the Dome back to its original position but 4.5 m higher.

Waking up the first thought went to the AWI drill.

After the great event of moving the Dome yesterday life is back to normal.

After a night with stage fever and nerves, time came to move the Dome.

The weather was perfect for outdoor work and for flying.

August already! It is time to finish all projects and start thinking about packing down.

The weather forecasts had predicted clearing weather and decreasing winds.

During Saturday the wind picked up to 26 knots and the morning was used to secure camp for the…

At 10:33 local the last supporting leg of the Dome was cut and the Dome solely was standing on th…

After training of the team and packing the sledges the Traverse team is ready to depart. The…

The Skies of the Dome weigh 1250 kg each and nearly match the skies under a Hercules in size – at…

Today the weather is good and cold with blue sky and winds up to 20 knots and the shallow drillin…

You cannot avoid noticing the banging and shaking of the main Dome.

With a new team, new projects are starting up

After a warm night with temperatures no lower than -3 °C Skier 61 came early to camp at 08:14…

Now all setups have to work before the science groups leave camp.

Today highschool students from Denmark, Greenland and Norway visited NEEM.

The day has come where Alli, Villi, Sepp, Gunnar and Sverrir mounts the first panels of the ring…

Finally we have cold night temperatures and the Skier mission to NEEM could be done.

Again a very warm day with no hope for efficient Skier missions. After weather reports from 4 am…

During the evening of Saturday the temperatures barely dropped to -3 deg C. It was decided to…

Our Distinguished Visitors experienced a night at NEEM sleeping in the weatherports at NEEM. Afte…

Finally the great day came where our DV’s managed to get to camp for a three hour visit. The camp…

The weather at NEEM at 4 am was foggy with temperatures no colder than 5 deg C. The DV mission to…

The DV visit and the exchange of crew will be tomorrow.

Time has come.. The processing of the deep ice core is finalized and it is time to pack much down…

The drilling is followed with great attention by all in camp. Will this be the final run?

After a slow start we had brunch with omelette and fresh garden salad.

A very special day at NEEM. Most of the morning was used by all to prepare the Royal visit of Her…

After the ice core from yesterday with a very high content of basal material we decided that ther…

The morning started with preparations for the airdrop that happened at 1100 local.

Today the HT drill was used with the new and innovative carbide step cutter and they drilled…

There is great excitement around the drilling at the base of the deep NEEM borehole.

Today was the first day where we drilled in the 2537 m deep borehole.

After waking up to a calm and sunny day many went for a morning walk on the skiway.

The wind is down and the sky blue with light clouds from time to time.

Finally the 2011 S2 hole was completed with an angle of 3-4 degrees to allow us to test replicate…

Again we have had a day with perfect weather: very light wind and blue sky.

The big working groups like the science trench and the big CFA teams are no more in strong…

The science processing of ice cores from the 411m deep shallow ice core and the CFA processing of…

Last night the last samples of the NEEM main core brittle zone ice were measured in the CFA lab.

This afternoon the deepest part of the S1 shallow core was processed in the science trench and…

Yesterday night the drilling of the S1 ice core was terminated and this morning drilling of the…

Due to logistical constraints the drilling of the S1 borehole in the sauna tent terminated this…

Today is midsummer, ‘Sankt Hans’ in Danish, and normally we should have a small bonfire this…

Early next week we’ll have a major crew exchange in camp and new people with new projects will…

The drilling of the S1 core is now in a stable mode running 16h a day. This has produced enough…

After a slow Sunday morning camp came up to speed after lunch

With the higher liquid level in the bore hole the core quality is now consistently good. Today,…

Today drillers have been...

Setting up flag line on Main Street

...a bit of a hard time in camp...

Ice core processing passed the very significant 1259 AD eruption...

The drill was cooled in the drill liquid....

The CFA team dug a pit...

The mood in camp today is special.

As the plane flew overhead, fog came...

Much work was done on the skiway

And it snows...

Today camp has been covered by....

During the night....

Bad weather continued today, and it got even worse. For more than 24 hours, strong winds have bee…

This morning the bad weather began. Wind picked up, and soon the snow began to move.

The drillers were eagerly going to work this morning, hoping that their new winch contraption…

It was a good day for the drillers as mechanical work over the past few days paid off and the…

In the processing line everything is running fine. Although one instrument for gas analysis has…

For most people in camp the day was productive; but the drillers had to face the fact that they…

Many in camp need a weekend break. This week, all have been working hard

The six members of the GRIT traverse joined us for meals today and it was nice to spend an evenin…

There was some cleaning up to do after two days of strong wind from the East. Several entrances…

Again, our forecasters were spot on. Strong winds came to camp this morning; but we were prepared…

A drama is unfolding regarding air traffic in Greenland.

Now things begin to happen. The drillers made good progress today...

No, we haven’t got the calendar wrong; but because of the three days delay of the last plane, we…

Today it happened. The plane finally made it and 15 new members made it to NEEM camp.

As there only was one plane available today, the decision had to be made whether it should fly to…

Today we found ourselves in a bizarre situation. There were very few clouds (that later…

Today we put the finishing touches to the flight operations area. Everything is now ready to…

On Thursday we hope to receive a plane with cargo, food and 16 new members of the NEEM staff. W…

As weather continues to be good to us, work on getting camp into shape before reaching full…

In the coming week we are expecting a flight with many new NEEMers.

We drilled the first ice core today.

During the whole morning temperatures stayed well below -20 °C and with a constant wind, work…

We erected a weatherport today, and two more will go up soon.

Weather is good now, and the forecast gives us several good days ahead.

While there were some clouds and wind in the morning, weather improved and the afternoon was…

Another day for in-side or trench activities. Today a lot of snow decided to change position...

Just as our Belgian forecasters had forecasted, we got hit by strong winds today

The night to Saturday was very cold. Some people moved from the red dome to the main dome, as…

First night in a cold camp is always something special.

Today we had a successful put-in. We departed Kangerlussuaq at 9.25 and landed at NEEM 11.30

Daily for the period 2nd., 3rd., and 4th. of May 2011