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3 November 2011
The PIG has A Problem- Pine Island Glacier In Antarctica Develops Huge Crack
Big news from Antarctica, where it is very early spring. The Pine Island Glacier has developed a huge crack and is being monitored closely. NASA has a great video with the details: It’s normal for ice shelves break off icebergs as they reach the sea, but the rate they do so is of intense interest to those who are studying the climate of Antarctica. If this crack breaks off, …
18 August 2011
Sweden Cancels Lease on McMurdo Icebreaker
McMurdo Base, Antarctica is located where it is, because it is as far south as you can get a ship in for resupply a couple of times per year. Every year the ice breaker breaks up the ice, and a ship with tons of food and science supplies arrives. It carries back all the waste (virtually none is allowed to stay in Antarctica). Going to the restroom at a field …
10 August 2011
Tsunami from Japan quake breaks off huge bergs from Sulzberger Ice Shelf in Antarctica
We live on a very connected planet!
7 March 2011
Christchurch Quake from Space
Lyttelton Harbour was ground zero for the Christchurch earthquake. It’s an historic village with a big connection to Antarctica. Sir Robert Falcon Scott made his last stop here on the way to McMurdo Sound in 1910. They had a farewell party at the Mitre Hotel. As history notes, he died attempting the Pole. Remote sensing is amazing these days… Dan
22 February 2011
Some Tears For Beautiful Christchurch
If you go to Antarctica with the U.S. Antarctic Program (NSF), you will be very familiar with Christchurch. It’s the take off and return point for all of those who go to work, and do science “on the ice”. Last night, when I emailed a friend at Amundsen Scott station (at the South Pole) about the quake, I quickly got a request for more information. Everyone “on the ice” loves …
21 February 2011
Huge Quake Brings Down Christchurch Cathedral
I took the photo on the right a year ago on New Years Day 2010. Christchurch New Zealand is one of the most beautiful cities you will ever see. Without doubt that building was the most famous in all of NZ. It’s now mostly destroyed. The quake struck just after 12:51PM Tuesday, in Christchurch, a magnitude 6.3 quake struck the city. It was centered just 5 km below the city …
17 January 2011
Shackleton’s Scotch Heads Home
When I visited Antarctica last January, the talk was all about the discovery of the Scotch that was found buried under Shackleton’s hut at Cape Royds. Five cases in all were found frozen in the ice beneath the hut. The dry cold of Antarctica preserves everything in a state of suspended animation. Jeep tracks in the dry valleys from 60 years ago are still visible. A carved cross by Robert …
31 December 2010
Science Education in America
We aired this just after Christmas. My thanks to photojournalist David Wood whose work (as always) is excellent. Dan
22 December 2010
The Strangest Telescope On Earth is Complete!
It’s called ICE CUBE and it’s at the bottom of the World. Actually it’s IN the bottom of the World, and without doubt it’s the strangest telescope on Earth. Ice Cube is a neutrino observatory. It’s made up of hundreds of detectors embedded in the ice 1 km beneath the South Pole. My name is on one of those detectors, and it something I am very proud of! The NSF …
22 September 2010
Taking Weather Obs At The Bottom of The World
Ann Posegate, my travel partner to the Pole last January, has a fantastic piece in Weatherwise magazine this month. It’s all about the difficulties of taking weather observations and forecasting in Antarctica. Highly Recommended! I never look at an ob from down there without thinking of the people who are there.. Later, Dan
Dan Satterfield has worked as an on air meteorologist for 32 years in Oklahoma, Florida and Alabama. Forecasting weather is Dan's job, but all of Earth Science is his passion. This journal is where Dan writes about things he has too little time for on air. Dan blogs about peer-reviewed Earth science for Junior High level audiences and up.