CEJargon: Scripps Fellows Venture to Mountain Research Station

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

Photo/ Gloria Dickie

Every Tuesday in the winter, Dr. Rory Cowie skis nearly 1,000 feet to the top of Niwot Ridge. He then digs down through 20 feet of snow to find the door to TVAN, the wooden shack that houses one of the longest running records of atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration in the world.

Cowie takes measurements, collects samples, and performs maintenance on key instruments. If he finds his way out of the shack, and isn’t caught snow-blind in minus-40 degree weather and up to 60 mph winds, Cowie zips back down to the Mountain Research Station carrying his precious cargo of data. When asked if there’s anything he can’t do, he replied, “I don’t have a scuba license.”

On Friday, Sept. 26, the Scripps Fellows and company took advantage of the last days of mild weather to visit Dr. Cowie and follow him around for the day. Here are some highlights about what we saw and what we learned.

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

Photo/ Gloria Dickie

1. The research facility of INSTAAR, the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research. Offices, bathrooms, and a gift shop provide comfort to researchers and visitors year-round.
   Image may be NSFW.
   Clik here to view.

   Photo/ Gloria Dickie

2. The Rockies. The trail is so full of rocky glacial debris that it’s tough for vehicles to climb in the summer. In the winter, however, Cowie and his colleagues prefer a 1954 Snowcat – a tank-like vehicle designed to climb snowy mountains for science.
   Image may be NSFW.
   Clik here to view.

   Photo/ Avery McGaha

3. This emergency shack. If you’re lost somewhere on top of the 20 feet of snow, you can search for the top of a familiar tree that might orient you. If the weather turns sour(er), you can use this method to locate one of a few emergency shelters, stocked with food and supplies.
   Image may be NSFW.
   Clik here to view.

   Photo/ Michael Kodas 2009

4. Migratory shrubs. That’s right, these islands of shrubs migrate. The right hand side of the shrubs (in this photo at least) is eroded by wind, while the left grows out slowly. Over centuries, this process moves the shrubs around. Plus, they’re a stunted version of the same species of full-grown trees just down the mountain—just up so high that they’re deprived of water and nutrients.
   Image may be NSFW.
   Clik here to view.

   Photo/ Michael Kodas 2009

5. Tundra heat lamps. Follow a tangle of electrical wires through the bushes, and you’ll find what the folks at the UC Merced Sierra Nevada Research Institute have set up in the tundra. It’s part of a multi-altitude study looking at effects of future global warming, hence the heat lamps. And yes, because I asked, the measurements are difficult to make when there’s 20 feet of snow out there.
   Image may be NSFW.
   Clik here to view.

   Photo/ Avery McGaha

6. TVAN. This is the home of simple gas-measuring devices, which have helped deliver one of the most important observations in history — that carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere have risen dramatically over time. And this is the official entrance to TVAN, probably the most important shack in the world.
   Image may be NSFW.
   Clik here to view.

   Photo/ Michael Kodas

7. The summit research station. At 11,300 feet, Cowie says the ridge around the station is so windy that the ground is swept bare of snow. That’s right, not even snow wants to live up there. (But they do have tea and internet.)
   Image may be NSFW.
   Clik here to view.

   Photo/ Avery McGaha

8. Rocks. Get a dozen environmental journalists together and they will take pictures of anything, even rocks. They will even take pictures of themselves taking pictures of rocks.
   Image may be NSFW.
   Clik here to view.

   Photo/ Gloria Dickie

9. Horse hair. Before the digital age, scientists measured changes in air moisture using the properties of horse hair, which expands with more moisture. This horse hair is rigged in a little box and connected to a needle that scratches a trend line on a roll of paper. Another mechanism, using the tendency of metal to swell under warmer temperatures, mimics the same process.What this means for Cowie is that every Tuesday, he’s got to run outside the research station, pull one hand out of its glove, reveal a tiny bottle of ink from his ski jacket, and drip a few ink droplets on the needles. All without getting frostbite. And no, he does not know where the horse hair comes from, only that if you tried to update this system it would introduce bias into your half-century-long data set.
   Image may be NSFW.
   Clik here to view.

   Photo/ Michael Kodas

10. This sign. Periodically throughout the day, the road down from the ridge is closed to vehicle traffic. That’s because another important shack is taking measurements of the air, and the exhaust from your journalist-packed suburban might contaminate the data. However, it is acceptable to roll down the mountain in neutral with the engine off. Just know this might affect your ability to steer the vehicle, so try not to be distracted by beautiful fall colors or large mammals eyeing you from the forest.
    Image may be NSFW.
    Clik here to view.

    Photo/ Michael Kodas