RF07 - 14 October 2017
ATom-3 RF07 14 October 2017 To 80S over Antartica
Our flight south from Punta Arenas was a new addition to our route. This was a special addition as our flights coincided with the peak of the Stratospheric Ozone hole (Southern hemisphere spring).
The DC8 can’t fly high enough to sample the stratosphere itself but we sampled the air just below the stratosphere. This region of the world is difficult to get to and operate in so airborne measurements here are scarse. Our flight there have vastly increased the number of measurements here.
Over Antarctica
We didn’t see any penguins by design. We planned the flight to avoid their colonies (it’s baby penguin season!) so as not to stress them out. I guess I will have to wait for another chance to see some penguins in the wild!
Solid Sea Ice in the Weddell Sea
On our way south to 80oS, we did lots of profiles between 30,000 ft and 500 ft.
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