July 1, 2008 No helicopter ride today. July 2, 2008

Polar Date July 2, 2008

Today the weather was not with us.  The skies were completely overcast and reached down to the mountaintops and into the passes.  Due to those bad conditions, the helicopter field trip was postponed until Saturday.   We found that out after we got up really, really early, ate a quick breakfast (sausage, eggs, fruit and coffee) and gathered at Lab2.  The helicopter pilot had to make the call, and certainly it’s better to postpone when she tells you that she can’t see the mountains while flying.

Staying back was actually a blessing in disguise.  We had plenty of time to review protocol for the trip and review equipment and materials necessary and we took a jaunt up the boardwalks to do some work on tussocks. 

Elise is actually laying down on the tundra, not napping, but writing down data. She was unconcerned with the approximately 1 billion mosquitoes flying around her trying to invade her bug jacket.

Donie wanted to practice measuring tussocks  and the organic layer surrounding the tussocks.  These measusrements can be used as a comparison that will be needed to answer the question, "How much of the organic layer was lost during the burn?"  *The technique n*eeded to be streamlined so when the same measurements are done at the burn site, the measuring can be done efficiently.

  A device was built from a metal meter stick, a metal ruler and a level.  The idea was to measure the height at the very edge of the tussock and then every 5 centimeters away from the tussock until the measurements ran into the next tussock.  Here’s a picture to show the set up. The flags are stuck in the ground every 5 centimeters.

The tussock is first randomly selected, then a flag is placed at its margin. Flags are subsequently placed at 5 centimeter increments until they reach the next tussock located at a random angle from the first tussock. Whew, that's a little complicated, isn't it?

After taking the measurements, we took a large serrated kitchen knife and sliced down into the tundra along the flag line.  **Yes!  We cut the tundra then peeled it back to make a large divot.  *

Surprised

Here I am, Mrs. Campbell decked out in my bug jacket, bug pants and, no gloves wielding a knife and slicing into the tundra, all in the interest of science.

Using bare hands, we dug down to the base of the organic layer, which was either a mineral layer (rocky/sand) or permafrost.  We then repeated the measuring along the flag line.  After successfully using the device to measure three tussocks we called it a day.  

(iDinner was grilled pork chops, creamy polenta, steamed broccoli, rolls/butter and chocolate cookies or lemon custard trifle with fresh blueberries.

Signing off from Toolik Lake, and remember, "There are no passengers on Spaceship Earth. We are all crew”. ~Marshall McLuhan, 1964