4-Feb The Ross DependencyWe are now in the top area of the Ross Dependency and the Ross Sea so last night was a calm night finally, and we managed to catch up on some much needed zzzzzz’s. I finished my last watch of the day at midnight and managed shut eye right through until 0700 hours.
The Ross dependency is a pie-shaped segment of Antarctica that New Zealand has laid claim to. It is a strange triangular segment with the pointy bit right on the south pole. The top side of the segment boundary is the parallel of latitude 60 south and the sides of the segment are the longitudes 160° east and 150° west, The dependency comprises mostly sea, including the Ross Sea, most of the Ross Ice Shelf but also a bit of dirt on either sides.
The Ross Dependancy which, according to wikipedia, takes its name from Sir James Clark Ross who discovered the Ross Sea, and was originally called King Edward VII Land. It covers some 450,000 km² and has a wildly fluctuating population at the bases depending on the season. The Dependency includes most of the Ross Ice Shelf, including Rosevelt island, trapped under the huge ice dome in the ice shelf, Ross Island, Balleny Islands and the small Scott Island. It mentions that it is on New Zealand time, and was entusted to New Zealand in 1923 by Brittain but has NO national anthem?
The huge Ross Sea (roughly about the size of Australia) freezes over each winter and ice can be up to three metres thick and the temperature plummet to minus 50 degrees Celsius. Then in summer, with the extra long days and more light, it all breaks up again. And so the cycle continues.
The Captain and Scientists will now get several regular and different kinds of satellite photographs of the Ross Sea area. This will allow them to plan the best route through the pack ice to the clear water where the scientists wish to do most of their work and studies. The pack ice has been slow to break up this year, apparently the worst pack ice conditions in 30 years. The scientists seem a bit worried about getting all the work done that they had hoped to. If necessary, they may need to re-plan the survey schedule accordingly. Some satellites that provide these ice maps can even look through the clouds to show the heaviest pack ice zones. To make an ice map RADARSAT, using Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), sends microwave energy to the ocean surface and records the reflections in order to track icebergs. Another type ENVISAT uses Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar (ASAR). This can detect changes in surface height accurately. Makes me wonder how the early explorers did it without any of this modern technology. They would have had no idea of the ice conditions that lay ahead of them and could only find their way by sending a shivering seaman shimmying up the mast.
The huge Ross Sea (roughly about the size of Australia) freezes over each winter and ice can be up to three metres thick and the temperature plummet to minus 50 degrees Celsius. Then in summer, with the extra long days and more light, it all breaks up again. And so the cycle continues.
The Captain and Scientists will now get several regular and different kinds of satellite photographs of the Ross Sea area. This will allow them to plan the best route through the pack ice to the clear water where the scientists wish to do most of their work and studies. The pack ice has been slow to break up this year, apparently the worst pack ice conditions in 30 years. The scientists seem a bit worried about getting all the work done that they had hoped to. If necessary, they may need to re-plan the survey schedule accordingly. Some satellites that provide these ice maps can even look through the clouds to show the heaviest pack ice zones. To make an ice map RADARSAT, using Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), sends microwave energy to the ocean surface and records the reflections in order to track icebergs. Another type ENVISAT uses Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar (ASAR). This can detect changes in surface height accurately. Makes me wonder how the early explorers did it without any of this modern technology. They would have had no idea of the ice conditions that lay ahead of them and could only find their way by sending a shivering seaman shimmying up the mast.
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