The flight plan for science flight #13 on Tuesday November 3

A high-altitude flight using the LVIS laser is tentatively scheduled for Wednesday November 4.  This flight will likely take-off at 11 am local time.

Science flight #12 was scheduled to take-off at 9 am on Monday November 2, but a decision to wait and see if the weather over Antarctica would hold out delayed take-off by one hour.  This science flight will be the second survey of the Thwaites, Smith and Kohler Glaciers.

The DC-8 flight track for science flight #12

The first-half of the flight track

The second-half of the flight track

A low-level flight over the Bellingshausen Sea for the Antarctic Peninsula science flight

Science flight #11 was done on Saturday October 31 - Halloween.  October 31 is also a national religious holiday in Chile called Reformation Day, where Chileans celebrate reformation by Lutheran and other reformed church communities.  It has been celebrated nationally in Chile since 2008.

Take-off of this flight was on schedule at 9 am.  Clouds were present upon arrival to the Peninsula and for the first hour of the flight line so that no data was able to be collected over the George IV Inlet.  However, these clouds soon dissipated and the remainder of the flight lines successfully collected data on glaciers, starting with a survey of Clifford Glacier.

Other flight lines during this Antarctic Peninsula science flight surveyed the Larsen Ice Shelf, the Atlee Glacier, the Central Plateau, the Crane Glacier, Exasperation Inlet and an overflight of Palmer Station.

DC-8 Science flight #11 tracks

Photos from the DC-8 flying low-level survey lines across the Antarctic Peninsula

Sunday November 1 will be a hard-down day for OIB personnel.  Weather permitting, the next science flight will be Monday November 2 with a likely take-off time of 9 am.

Science flight #10 was slightly delayed because of the accumulation of snow and ice on the tail and wings of the DC-8.  DC-8 crew member Don Bailes was able to de-ice the plane so that the take-off time was only a half hour behind schedule at 9:30 am.  Previous snow and ice accumulations on the DC-8 have been so severe that flights had to be canceled. 

This is the second time that the DC-8 flew over the Weddell Sea to survey sea-ice thickness and extent and seafloor depth.  The flight track went over the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, where some low-level clouds were present and interfered with data collection at the start of the first survey line.  DC-8 pilots decided to descend from 1,500 feet to 800 feet in an attempt to get below the cloud cover so that laser ATM data could be collected along the flight lines uninuterupted.  After the first 100 miles along the first flight line, the clouds began to disperse and were no longer a problem for data collection.

Like the first low-level survey of Weddell Sea ice, DC-8 crew and scientists saw seals and penguins during one of the flight lines that was about 65 miles off the edge of the Bonne Ice Shelf.  The flight path then headed north for another long survey line along the Weddell Sea, after which the DC-8 began the transit back to Punta Arenas.

Overall, mission scientists were very happy with the survey and instrument operators reported that, despite some cloudiness, data was collected for 90% of the flight track.

Bob Billings works at the POS-AV Console on the DC-8

Weddell Sea ice from 1,500 feet

Weddell Sea ice during science flight #10

With 26 people on board, the DC-8 departed from Punta Arenas Airport at 9 am on Wednesday October 28 for an 11 hour low-level survey of the Smith, Kohler and Thwaites Glaciers, which are all along the west coast of the Amundsen Sea.  Along with radar and laser measurements of these glaciers, piggyback atmospheric sampling instruments collected data on the atmospheric vertical profile above Punta Arenas.

Pilots reported clear conditions during the low-level survey and scientists confirmed that ATM laser measurements were uninterrupted by cloud cover through out the entire flight line.  MCoRDS radar data were able to detect bedrock below the glaciers for about 80-90% of the flight line.

Beautiful sceneries of mountain ranges and glaciers entering the Amundsen Sea were visible from the DC-8.

A ninth science flight for a second low-level survey of the Pine Island Glacier will be conducted Thursday October 29.  The DC-8 is scheduled to take-off at 9 am.