technology gliches

Guest

The equipment shown in some photos seems pretty high tech....an outer space movie. However, you had such trouble earlier getting on-line and posting your journal. How reliable is the equipment you are using? Is there a possibility the data may be corrupted? Is this special "cold weather equipment?"

Joined: 23 Mar 2004 Posts: 64

Hello,
You pose a good question about the equipment. Some of the equipment we use is especially designed for rugged field-work conditions. Other gear has been adapted as well as possible. Still other equipment is not necessarily modified in any special way and one has to be careful with it.

We have several data sources to reference and cross reference. Part of the daily tasks involves checking and correcting the functionality of the equipment. Some apparatus requires frequent calibration, some requires frequent downloading and redeployment. If something does run into a glitch, the student researchers are on top of it pretty fast, since the success of their research depends on the quality and quantity of their data.

We have had one rather major setback. The GTAC computer, which is designed specifically for rugged and damp conditions, died early in the second week, leaving us without a really hardy computer to take to the field. We must take extra precautions to transport and use a regular laptop computer to fill in the gap. At least one of the laptops brought along is in need of retirement! It has serious memory limitations and is rather slow. I feel its pain!

The research equipment that is being used in the field depends largely on the computers for downloading, data processing, and data analysis. That does not require an Internet connection. My posting is a different story. We had to overcome challenges involving a rather expensive installation of a DSL connection from Isfjord and never were able to completely resolve problems with the satellite connection using the satellite phones.

One of the observations I have made is the strong reliance on high tech equipment for this project. I was surprised not to see more traditional technology being utilized to back up and supplement the high tech. This has been the case on other projects with which I have facilitated or been involved with. Luckily, everything seems to be staying up and running, for the most part!

A highpoint of the day is to look at the data, develop a storyline as to what it might be meaning, and to compare it to other data sources to identify and confirm correlations. When the data from a variety of sources is processed, analyzed, and compared one is better able to understand the bigger picture of how each part of the system being studied interacts and contributes to the larger system, which in turn becomes a part of a larger system!