Sab Kim Jet Propulsion Laboratory Updates on the vegetation conditions are provided here, monitored by the crop structure team. There were localized thunderstorms on July 15th, which gave 8 mm rainfall according to the local weather data. I happened to be in the field(!) and believe the campaign fields received much more. Some fields outside […]
Siberia 2012: Laundry Day
Embenchime River 66.57 N 99.28 E 79°F High 45°F Low 10:15 p.m. Siberia 10:15 a.m. EDT Dr. Ranson reports: Tonight, I’m calling in from my tent. I’m not going to bed – I’ve turned it into an office, because it makes it easier to work on the computer and the data terminal if I’m shaded […]
Siberia 2012: Reading the Signs
Embenchime River 9:35 p.m. Siberia 9:35 a.m. EST 74°F High 46°F Low Sunny Dr. Ranson reports: Today we chugged down the river. We’re heading towards the junction of the Embenchime and the Kochechum Rivers. Just before we get there, we have a series of plots we really want to measure. That confluence is still a […]
Answer to July Puzzler: Dudinka, USSR
Congratulations to Yiannis Raftopoulos for being the first to correctly identify that our second satellite puzzler was a view of Dudinka, a port city along the Yenisei River in northern Siberia. Raftopoulos submitted his answer just 15 hours and 51 minutes after we posted the image—not quite as fast as Alexandre Manthieu was at solving our […]
Siberia 2012: We are all Connected
Embenchime River 9:30 p.m. Siberia, 9:30 a.m. EDT 65°F High 54°F low Rain Dr. Ranson reports: We’re at the end of another long journey on the Embenchime. We’ve covered 38 kilometers in a straight line – with the twists and turns, of the river, multiply that by about 1 ½ – so it’s more like […]
Siberia 2012: Old Fires, New Rain
Embenchime River 10:45 p.m. Siberia 10:45 a.m. EDT 71°F High 42°F Low Steady rain. Dr. Ranson reports Tonight I’m calling from my tent. I’m in my sleeping bag already too. I like it here, because it’s dry. Outside, it is raining, and everything is wet. I hear rain dripping on the tent, and all around. […]
Siberia 2012: Progress along the Embenchime
Embenchime River 66° 2 min N 97° 49 min E 11:30 p.m. Siberia 11:30 a.m. EDT 71°F High 44°F low Sunny Dr. Ranson reports: We fought the river again today, but in the end, we have been successful. We’re now tucked away in camps – the one we wanted to reach yesterday. Again, our trip […]
Siberia 2012: Fighting the Embenchime
Embenchime River 66.15 N 97.57 E 73°F High 40°F Low Periods of rain and strong wind 11:50 p.m. Siberia 11:50 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time From Dr. Ranson: It is near midnight, and we just got off the river. I helped get us situated and safe, but then left the others so I could check in. […]
Field Work in Croplands and Forests
Steven Chan Jet Propulsion Laboratory As an avid photographer, I totally agree with what Diane Arbus said, “I really believe there are things that nobody would see if I didn’t photograph them.” So here in this blog I’m taking a more photojournalistic approach. Enjoy! My work in SMAPVEX12 primarily consisted of two tasks: Vegetation sampling […]