ROMJUL

Picture of the week: Polar bear sun dial overlooking Longyearbyen during the polar night.

Svalbard reindeer snoozing.

Romjul is the name for the period between Christmas and New Year’s Day when Norwegians switch into low gear and enjoy time off, family, food, and the outdoors. Our family has done very well adopting this tradition with all of us breaking our sleep-in records for our time here, relaxing, watching a few movies and getting ready for the new year.  I have been doing a few housekeeping activities at UNIS for a few hours a day, went on two hikes, Nicole and I went to see Sherlock Holmes at the Kulturhus, and started basketball again. Last night we kept an eye on the online aurora forecast and when it looked promising, shot out into the valley to get a look.  There was a faint strip of green through Orion’s Belt that I managed to get a hint of with the camera.  It was pretty cold (-23), so we did not stay out too long.  It was amazing to see the stars so bright.  Even though the town is small, it washes out the night’s sky.

Longyearbyen lighting up the surrounding hills.

First attempt at the Northern Lights through Orion's Belt.  Mine 7 glows on the hilltop.

2011 has been quite a year, starting out in Punta Arenas, Chile, traveling to Antarctica, working in Palau, ski trips in California, diving in Australia, a new job interview in Delaware, a rocket launch at Vandenberg AFB, Europe, and our time here in Svalbard that the Fulbright has awarded us.    In this world of growing uncertainty, we are so fortunate!  I hope that everyone reading this has a great 2012!

CHRISTMAS AT THE NORTH POLE



Picture of the week: Christmas in Longyearbyen.

What a great experience for the family to enjoy this Christmas in Svalbard.  The week leading up to Christmas was full of activity and also some time to relax and of course eat too much.  The week started out in Trondheim finishing up our trip.  I had meetings all day Monday.  The first at a company called Aptomar to learn about an infra-red system that we are getting installed on the ship for our cruise in January.  The infra-red will allow us to image the temperature differences around the ship (up to 8 kilometers away) and allow us to identify and count birds (seals and whales) in the polar darkness.  I think I soaked up the information to operate the system.  I was then off to NTNU for some meetings that lasted the rest of the day, followed by a nice dinner at “2 rooms and a kitchen”.  During my “work day”, Nicole enjoyed the city with Hilda (Geir’s wife), while their oldest son on leave from the Coast Guard went to the local water park with Jason and Anders.   The next morning it was up early to fly back home.  All the flights were on time and we said goodbye the Sun once again.  I was excited to get back and decompress after the hectic schedule over the last three weeks.  It was a beautiful calm clear day when we arrived and it was fun to unpack and relax at home.

Wednesday I took the boys Christmas shopping in town.  It was really busy and looked like everyone had waited until the last minute.  I really wanted to get some last minute items off my “to do list” at work, so Thursday after a slow start, went to UNIS and finished some paper edits.  That night we watched Narnia while we strung popcorn and cranberries for the tree.  Thursday, I went to the airport to pick up the cargo that was returned from Trondheim.  I have never been lucky on those trips.  Even during working hours, nobody is there and no one answers the phone number on the door.  I returned to UNIS and by chance, bumped into one of the staff that had generously just picked up the boxes from the airport for me (evidently 20 minutes before I got there).  Somehow things just work out!  Anders helped me bring them to my office and then walked back home.  Friday I worked at UNIS for 3 to 4 hours to finish another paper draft and sent it off to co-authors for comments.  It was great to get this done and made relaxing for Christmas that much easier.

Our Christmas tree from Trolla with an abundance of presents.

Friday night we went to the Rasmussen’s for Ris-grøt (rice porridge), a traditional dish for dinner the night before Christmas Eve.  Almonds are put in the porridge and whoever is lucky enough to scoop one up gets a surprise.  Jason and I both got one and I won a miniature Porche.  Along with the porridge, we had reindeer and a great salami sausage that we found out afterwards was pork, beef and horse… sorry Black Beauty, Mr. Ed, and Silver!  It started snowing that evening and really felt like the holidays.

Christmas Eve started with some last minute shopping, present wrapping, cooking, and house cleaning. On most of the TV channels, they showed Christmas movies, one after another, so we got sucked into a few of those.  That evening, we went out for a walk around town.  There was no wind, clear and just around freezing.  Christmas Eve is when everyone here celebrates Christmas and opens presents, so there were no cars or people to be found.  It was quiet and felt like we were the only ones there.  We saw two reindeer digging for grass and tried to get that iconic picture of the family with one of them without luck.  With two active and loud boys, it is hard to plan a stealthy approach and choreograph the frame with a skittish animal, but we gave it two admirable efforts.  We opened two presents when we got home, watched a church service live from Trømso, and put the boys to sleep.

Christmas day started later than we thought (about 9:30 am) as the boys slept in.  Opening presents was fun and we were of course thankful for the abundance of gifts that were under our tree from Trolla. After a few hours of relaxing, we went into prep time for the Christmas dinner.  Cleaning the house (again), setting the table, Nicole preparing the food, getting the candles lit, getting dressed and putting on some music.  We had our neighbor Kjersti and the Rasmussen’s over for Christmas dinner.  Nicole had made a traditional turkey dinner and we all had a great time eating, talking and exchanging gifts.  I read this week that Norwegians ranked number one in the world as the happiest people on earth.  While they have much to be thankful for as a country (energy independence, considerable wealth, beautiful country), I have seen a genuine desire in Norwegians to get the most out of life, relish the outdoors, enjoy friends, and cherish family.  These qualities seem to be amplified during the Christmas season when people here take a real time out from their “normal life” to celebrate these things.  We are fortunate to share this experience with them here in Longyearbyen.

Christmas dinner with our neighbor and the Rasmussen's.

The boys playing their new video games after dinner.

CRUISE OFF THE COAST

The research vessel Gunnerus working off Frøya.

Picture of the week: The noon sun was a welcomed dose of vitamin D.

Usually when I say cruise, most people think of all-you-can-eat buffets, shows, casinos, ports of call and shopping.  Research “cruises” are quite different sans the all-you-can-eat.   Early Monday, we were driven to the Trondheim Biological Station to finalize the cargo and meet the research vessel Gunnerus, named after the 1700’s Norwegian bishop and botanist Johan Ernst Gunnerus. We then sailed west to the opening of the Trondheimsfjord to the island of Frøya, where we were to conduct our work.  The cruise was organized by the Applied Underwater Robotics Laboratory at the Norwegian Science and Technology University (NTNU) with the primary goal of joint underwater operations between the ship, a tethered remotely operated vehicle (ROV) and an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV).  There were 3 professors on board, 2 technicians, a couple visitors, 4 crew, and 6 students from NTNU specializing in control theory, engineering, archeology and biology. My responsibility was to operate the now repaired REMUS, work with students, and for a larger perspective to demonstrate the use of these systems and combinations of systems for eventual use in the Arctic.

Ian Robbins from Cal Poly joined me to help with the REMUS.  Here is is coming back from deploying the acoustic navigation network.

The ROV pilots run a program that automates the piloting process. 

Deploying NTNU's ROV.

It took the afternoon to arrive at Frøya and we started by putting out the acoustic network that we would use for the AUV underwater navigation.  Within 2 hours of arriving the winds had risen to 70 km/hr with seas about 3 meters… not great working conditions.  Given the weather and that there is only light from 9 till 3, we chose not to continue the planned multibeam acoustic survey (an instrument that maps the bottom depth in high resolution) and ran to port.  We spent the rest of the day working on setting up the systems and joint discussions on how to best integrate the data once collected.  We also looked at the forecast for the week and the wind direction and intensity forced us to look at a protected area on the north side of the island.

Arriving at the ship for breakfast.

Example of data collected showing the topography of the sea floor with an acoustic picture of the bottom taken by the REMUS.

The area proved to be an excellent site to conduct our work and for the next three days conducted combined multibeam, ROV and AUV operations.  We stayed in a dorm-room style pension during the nights in Neset and twice went to Sistranda for a beer after the day.  The skies were clear and the temperature mild (about 4-6 degrees) for the rest of the week.  Instead of taking the boat back on Friday, I drove with the two other professors back to Trondheim to meet the family that had flown in the night before. 

The three professors on their way back to Trondheim.

Fjord at sunset.

It was great to see Nicole and the boys on Friday and we had a nice pizza dinner near the Nedelva river.  Yesterday, we went to the science museum and had a really great time with all the hands on displays.  We then stopped at the Nidaros Cathedral built in 1070. Amazing building with ornate carvings, organs, and stained glass windows.  Although there was resistance to go from the boys, once there, they were occupied for at least a few minutes.  We then had a great lunch at the Tyholt tower overlooking the city for the sunset.  We then had some time at the hotel before heading to the Johnsen’s for a spectacular traditional cod dinner called Bacalau.  It was a late night, so we slept in today before going back to the Johnsen’s for some relaxation.  Jason, Geir and I cut a small tree down on the hill behind their house to take to Longyearbyen, had a short meal.  Geir and I worked at the biological station while Nicole and Hilda went out for sushi and a Christmas choir concert at the Nidaros Cathedral.  The boys are enjoying movies and Christmas cookies I’m sure.

Anders blowing a ball through the rings at the science museum in Trondheim.

Infra-red image of the family at the science museum.

Inside the Nidaros Cathedral.

Outside Nidaros Cathedral.

Jason with Trondheim in the background in the Tyholt tower.

Jason cuts down the tree with Geir's help.

Jason's favorite Christmas tree growing on a rock in the hills behind Trondheim.

Nicole and Hilda enjoying the Christmas feeling.

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CHRISTMAS MINE

Picture of the week: View of Longyearbyen from the Christmas Mine (photo by Tobias Johnsen)

The hikers at -30 degrees in the Christmas Mine (photo by Tobias Johnsen)

The feasting continued this week, but we did take a break for hike up to the Christmas mine in the afternoon on Monday.  This mine (mine 2B) operated in the 1960’s and is now lit up during the holiday season to let the kids (and adults) know that Santa is here.  It was a really cold night with wind chill down to -30 degrees.  The boys had some issues with the level of effort they were having to expend, but when we reached the top everything was better.  At the entrance to the mine, our headlamps lit a surge of clear ice “flowing” outward, making it slippery and more surreal.  The way down the mountain was fun for everyone as we took giant strides in the fluffy snow.  After the hike we spent the next three hours at Kroa eating and laughing.

Hikers after the hike in good spirts at Kroa.

Jason found this under all the seal skin mats in Kroa.

While Monday ended well, the start of the day could only be defined as stressful.  Last Friday we had run the vehicle in the fjord, and I had turned it off thinking I could retrieve the data on Monday.  First thing on Monday, I pulled the magnetic switch of the vehicle and nothing…  I had not experienced this problem before and it wasn’t until Tuesday that I was able to organize some engineers from the states to be on the phone with me to troubleshoot the problem.  While usually there wouldn’t be a time issue, this vehicle was going to be the one I needed for next week’s cruise in Trondheim.  I had planned to send it on Tuesday, not to have it apart in my office.  After 5 hours, I isolated the problem as a flash memory card (that has the vehicle operating system on it) went bad as well as the central processor unit (CPU) board.  If ordered the new parts to be shipped overnight to get to California, so Ian Robbins, a research associate in my lab, could hand carry them to Norway.  I then had to get the vehicle to Trondheim, so tried to do that on Wednesday, but the flight left early, so it went out Thursday.  The vehicle arrived Friday.  Just to finish up this suspenseful story… I arrived in Trondheim late Friday, the new parts made it to Ian and Ian made it to Trondheim as well.  Yesterday we put the new boards in and the vehicle now works! We put it in the water today off the biological station and everything checked out and is ready for the cruise leaving Monday at 08:00.

Broken REMUS apart on my desk at UNIS.

Fixed REMUS together in Trondheim.

Getting my drysuit on to test the REMUS and for leaks while diving during the cruise.

Bobbing like an apple and letting some air out of the suit.

Testing the REMUS

Wash off after my swim at the Trondheim Biological Station.

Beyond the stressful work week, life in Longyearbyen was great.  The skies have been clear and the moon was approaching full and lighting up the landscape.  Reindeer in town is an everyday sight, Christmas decorations are up, and the town seems to be settling into the holiday season.  We got all our gifts sent out this week, thanks to Nicole.  Jason stayed home from school towards the end of this week with a cough and fighting something.  Anders performed a song with the rest of his class for an opening of a documentary film called “Polar Euphori”.  It was attended by over 150 people at the Radisson and they did a great job.  His music teacher is a local singer/songwriter, Liv Mari Schei, who did the music for the film.  He seems to like her as he already bought one of her CDs.   Amazing to both Nicole and me is that even though this is a small community, there are still many new faces at events like this.

The moon lights up the sky over Longyearbyen on my walk back from UNIS.

Moonlight over the fjord with the mountains in the distance.

Anders performs for the opening of a new movie called "Polar Euphori" with his class and music teacher.

I am in Trondheim now ready to leave for the cruise tomorrow.  We will pack later tonight after getting something to eat.  It was strange seeing the sun, trees, and large buildings.  Nicole called last night and told me that she and our neighbor hiked up Sukkertoppen and watched the total eclipse. I would have loved to see that.  I added the timelaps movie from the camera on top of UNIS (above), which shows the moon disappearing.  Nicole said the entire process took 4 and a half hours.  Although I am looking forward to this adventure, I miss Nicole and the boys, and the simplicity and calmness of Longyearbyen.

Snow, trees and light looking over Trondheimfjord.

Monkholmen, an island in front of Trondheim was a site of executions and a warning to vistors.

Snow on twigs... it's been a while since seeing trees!

JULEBORD



Picture of the week: The family in the Arctic darkness.

We transitioned this week into the holiday season (the liight disappeared as well.. the last of it is captured in the movie above).  Last Sunday was the tree lighting in the center of town after a procession across the valley.  There was a brass band with singing and most of the kids of the community.  At the sports center there is kid’s gymnastics before basketball and this week instead of 40 children there were only 5.  The “tree” of lights by old mine 2 on the side of the mountain was lit up at the same time.  Later that night I went to basketball and had a good workout.

The Christmas Tree in the center of town was lit this week.

The brass band playing Christmas carols.

Some of the core basketball players in the sports hall.

This was a long week at work.  I have been finishing up a review chapter for a book on ‘subsea optics and imaging’ and it took most of the days and evenings.  Friday morning we went out with the REMUS again in probably the worst weather so far, -17 degrees, wind and snow.  This, however, is exactly what these vehicles are for (to operate is ALL conditions).  So we launched it near shore, back to UNIS for about 5 hours until it was ready to get picked up.  This week was a bit different is that UNIS had its annual research conference, where the departments and administration get together with representatives from the major universities in Norway to discuss communication, curriculum issues, etc.  To start off the second day, we showed them the other vehicle (both are here – see last week’s entry) and showed them a live feed of the station in California receiving the calls from the vehicle.  It was a good demonstration and I gave a short talk on the motivation to use these types of vehicles in polar regions, how I have been working with UNIS in their education mission, and how we are crossing across departments in our research collaborations.    

An aurora visible outside of town on Monday.  The reddish color is typical of the daytime aurora.  The star near the center is Polaris with the Big Dipper visible at about 1 o'clock.

Anders sledding down the road.

Jason during an outing with the sled dogs.  The movie below is Jason in action on the sled.

On Thursday, friends from Trondheim arrived and this started our Julebord (Christmas Table) frenzy.  These are amazing spreads of salads, fish & meats (pickled, smoked, raw, cured, salted etc.), cheeses, breads, sauces, and an equal amount (in terms of mass) of desserts (cakes, creams, cookies, sweets, etc.).  You simply cannot try everything with one plate, so there are usually two plates for me (I am a rookie!) and just an extra bit of what I enjoyed the most.  So Thursday was Julebord at the Radisson Hotel, Friday night was our delayed Thanksgiving dinner at our house (Turkey – strangely only had 1 wing, so was a bit odd to cook), stuffing, pumpkin pie (thanks to Memere!), sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, green beans and cranberry sauce.  We really stuffed ourselves!  Saturday night was the UNIS Julebord.  In addition to the food and some performances, they used this venue to transition in the new director.  Once the announcement and a number of thoughtful speeches were made, everyone moved into festivities.  Nicole and left a bit after midnight, but I heard the party went until 5am…. Ouch!  Tonight is number 4 in a row at Huset restaurant to celebrate Geir Johnsen’s 50^th birthday.  I keep saying I won’t eat much, but it is so good!    

Guest at our house during our 'Julebord'.. number 2 of  this week!

One more story…  I was walking home this week and near the top of the hill I was thinking about polar bears (I often do at this one poorly lit area of the road).  I looked around and thought of what I would do if I saw one.  I was in a hyper-sensitive mode and just at that moment, a dog on the balcony right above me lunged to the railing barking.  I flew about 4 feet straight up.  I thought I knew what was around me, but I didn’t… a good lesson in this isolated community.

THANKSGIVING IN SVALBARD

Longyearbyen on the way back from the airport lighting up the low cloud and surrounding mountains.

Thanksgiving week started out with a reason for being thankful.  Anders arrived safely back from Tromsø from his football tournament.  His team won one of four games, but that didn’t seem to bother him.  He had a great time with friends and enjoyed his first solo experience away from parents and his big brother.  We had given him 500 kroner (about US$100) for a meal and just in case money and Anders ended up spending it on candy!  We will have to work on that for his next trip. 

A Rock Ptarmigan walks by our apartment. Its feathered feet and sharp claws help it walk through the snow.

Picture of the week: Reindeer feeds in the center of Longyearbyen in front of historic coal transport tower.

Tuesday I was able to get the boat in again and conduct another REMUS run.  There was a moment in the mission where the vehicle called back with problems and then missed the next call in, so I was biting my nails a bit.  But it all worked out well and the recovery went well.  The temperature outside was 4C (positive degrees) with no wind, so it was nice being on the water.  The weather, however, is hard for the airport runway as the ice melts and becomes very slippery.  About 2 hours after the REMUS recovery, the plane evidently had a pretty hard landing and then proceeded to slip sideways down the runway.  It luckily stayed on the runway, but the passengers were a bit shook up.  On the REMUS front, I also got my other REMUS in this week.  The arriving one will take the place of the current vehicle as it is fitted with a nighttime bioluminescence sensor.  I wanted to bring this vehicle up in the first place, but it was in the shop for a leak that occurred in Antarctica in January.   The other will be shipped to Trondheim for a cruise and then back to the States to get ready for another mission in Palau in March.  These things get around!

Second REMUS arrives.

Thanksgiving dinner at Kroa.

We decided to postpone the traditional Thanksgiving turkey dinner until next week when friends are coming up from Trondheim.  Instead, we invited our neighbor and my colleague, Jørgen whose plane was delayed, and went out to dinner at Kroa, a local restaurant.  It was a great relaxing night and the boys seem to enjoy it.  Food was good and it was nice to have a Thanksgiving where I did not feel like I had to lie down on the couch after gorging myself.

Jason and Nicole shop in the COOP, the only grocery store in Longyearbyen.

Jason pushing the expensive cargo home.

A view of Longyearbyen from behind Huset (foreground).

The week progressively got colder and we are now hovering around -20C and still no wind, which makes all the difference.  The boys have been sledding for the first time in front of the apartment and really enjoying it.  Yesterday we spent a few hours downtown as it was the Christmas sale in most of the shops and a local ‘market’ where people set out their wares for sale.  Three of my high school basketball players are pretty good amateur photographers, and I ended up buying a print.  After looking at some of the shops, the boys headed to friends and Nicole and I spent some quiet time at the art gallery.  Afterwards, we drove around town and I took some photographs, which is getting harder with no light!

Only a hint of light remaining up the valley at noon.