Typical KAIRA

Today's photo has a bit of everything. The LOFAR HBA tiles, the LBA array in the background, Saana dominating the horizon, the storage containers and site area, and our trusty observatory vehicle.

The KAIRA site (Photo: D. McKay-Bukowski)

KAIRA site buildings

I took this photograph during a recent trip to KAIRA. The structure on the left if the RF-container. note the large grey panel on the near-side... that is the cowling to protect the airconditioner from snow and ice. The timber structure on the right is the HBA cable mausoleum. This is where additional cable delay line length is placed. Normally on LOFAR systems, this is underground. However at KAIRA both the LBA and HBA arrays have above-ground housing for the extra delay lengths. The other raised building is the site office (known locally as the "barracks").

RF-container and HBA mausoleum, and then the site office. (Photo: D. McKay-Bukowski)

Debris

Once the snow has all gone, there is invariably scraps of winter damage lying around on the site which needs to be cleaned up.

A reflective tab found after the snow melted away.

This work is done every year, along with replacement equipment being installed. Although pleasant, it can still be a harsh environment at times and the attrition on the system is continual.

Snow situation at KAIRA

Hey! We're back on site again. Normally a very joyful occasion (this is, after all, the coolest LOFAR site on the planet), however this time it was marred by the fact that the receding snow is showing up more and more damage from the great blizzard of 2014.

Still, there is a quite a lot of snow to been seen, as these photographs show (taken on the evening of 02-Jun-2014).

Snow banks along the storage containers. These are
over 1,5m tall in places. (Photo: D. McKay-Bukowski)

Looking out over the lower field. Rivulets of water
are everywhere now. (Photo: D. McKay-Bukowski)

The gully behind the barracks. (Photo: D. McKay-Bukowski)

Fortunately, with this quantity of snow, there are no mosquitoes... yet.

KAIRA in the snow

Today we just have a photograph of KAIRA in the snowy conditions typical for the early part of the year. After all the trauma of last couple of weeks, let's hope things remain calm now.

KAIRA in the snow (Photo: D. McKay-Bukowski)

Map of the 2014 KAIRA storm damage

Today, we've plotted where there has been damage to KAIRA. The map is a bit scary, but actually as we have seen from yesterday things are not so bad and we've come out of it fairly well.

As can be seen, we have lost two antennas completely. These are tile #H75 and aerial #L34.

We've had two aerials (#L05 and #L21) seriously damaged. These will need to be replaced.

There are three aerials (#L22, #L35 and #L36) which have been damaged but have been repaired to the point where they are operating normally again. However additional work will be required in the summer when the snow has melted and we can access them properly.

There are many aerials with minor damage. The aerials are still operational, but will require some attention in the summer to ensure they remain robust for the following winter. The problem has been buffeting to the aerial wires causing cracks in the PVC moulding and coatings. These can be patched, but it does require warmer weather.

Air-conditioning fixes

Recently we've had some problems with the KAIRA RF-container air-conditioning again. The problem this time has been that the refrigerant has been too cold and has lost pressure. This has taken a little while to resolve, but we now have fixed the problem. This has been done by heating the airconditioner!

Yes, that's right, we have put in a heating coil which is variably heated according to temperature. Thus, in the bitterly cold winter nights, this coil warms up sufficiently to keep the partial pressure of the refrigerant at sufficiently high pressure to allow the compressor to continue working. It is a tough fix to make, but we hope to have improved reliability again.

Servicing the air-con unit at KAIRA. (Photo: D. McKay-Bukowski)

Toivo explains the changes and the new heating system. (Photo: D. McKay-Bukowski)

KAIRA site conditions

Friday again... times for some more photographs. Today, we have the KAIRA site conditions taken on 05-Feb-2014.

Snow around the LBA cable mausoleum. (Photo: D. McKay-Bukowski)

KAIRA's LBA field in the snow. (Photo: D. McKay-Bukowski)

Snow banks around the site driveway and storage. (Photo: D. McKay-Bukowski)

KAIRA site conditions 2013.11.25

It is Friday again! But today, instead of a nice photograph, we have a short video for you. Earlier this week there was a pretty heavy snow fall at Kilpisjärvi. Our snow corridors are now about half full and with the wind picking up, there was quite a lot of drift snow banks about. Around midday, we took some video footage of various places around the site and have compiled them into a short video for you to see what KAIRA looks like at this time of year.

Direct link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ut48VSVoFCk


Have a nice weekend!

Floating at the top of the world

Today we have a nice photograph of the midday sun over the KAIRA site. There is not much sun left now, with Polar Night about to start. So we're going to make the most of it!

Sun and clouds over the KAIRA site. (Photo: D. McKay-Bukowski)

The clouds make it seem like the entire observatory is floating at 10 000 m above sea level!

A snowy scene

It is photo-Friday and today we're featuring another snowy scene from KAIRA. This one is taken from the RF-container looking back across the HBA array. The site office (the "barracks") is on the left.

KAIRA site office and HBA array. (Photo: D. McKay-Bukowski)

Have a nice weekend, everyone!

Sign convention

Following on from yesterday's post, here is the completed road sign for the KAIRA site. Next to it is the small temporary sign that had been modified from the original site sign. This was taken down shortly after this photograph was taken. In the background is the main sign announcing the arrival at Kilpisjärvi, beyond which is the customs station.

Signing up

You know you've "made it" when you get a Finnish Highway Authority Approved road sign. So, it was with delight that we received ours. You may have noticed it in the photograph as we prepared to head up to the site for the riometry campaign. Well, it's here at KAIRA now and today we feature some of the installation work (which was carried out before the snow set in!).

Unloading the sign posts.

Digging the foundation hole.

Installing the sign.

Hmm... perhaps that foundation hole was a bit deep!

To be continued...

Last snow-free day of 2013?

Just a photo today. This shot was taken on what will probably be the last snow-free day of the year. There are snow falls predicted for every day for the remainder of the week.

Last snow-free day of 2013? (Photo: D. McKay-Bukowski)

To the left is the RF-container and HBA cable mausoleum The building behind the Land Cruiser is the site office (or "barracks" as they are sometimes known).

Site-eye commemorate the official opening of KAIRA

Site-Eye (the company which has been making documentaries and 3D-films about KAIRA have posted a link with the film they made of the official opening of KAIRA. They write:

Never without a camera, or an excuse to use it, Site-Eye Director Brian McClave shot this time-lapse footage during the official opening ceremony of the KAIRA project.The event which took place at the facility in Northern Finland lit by the 24 hour sunshine of summer in the Arctic Circle formally opened the site of the hybrid radio telescope, radar receiver and atmospheric research station.

With the ribbon cut by Lauri Lajunen, Rector of Oulu University, one of KAIRA’s main sponsors, the party of specially invited journalists and scientists then proceeded to the local school hall for a special premier screening of Site-Eye’s ‘KAIRA’ documentary.

The documentary which features interviews with the figures prominent in the building and running of the KAIRA project was shot by Brian and oft-collaborator Gavin Peacock on location in the arctic tundra last year. Including spectacular footage of radar dishes, arctic wilderness and the Aurora Borealis by night, "KAIRA" the Site-Eye made documentary was screened in both 2D and 3D and was rapturously received by the assembled audience. It is next due for an even bigger screening in September. "93 Million Miles" a short film produced from the same material has already gone on to win international awards.
After the screening, in true Finnish tradition many of the party indulged with a swim in the lake followed by a hot sauna, although Brian, put off by the icy lake temperatures and swarms of mosquitos refutes that he took part in any of these festivities.

Have a nice weekend everyone!

Link: http://vimeo.com/71085432

KAIRA... the 3D-movie

One of the things that we did during the construction of KAIRA was take timelapse photography of the building of the HBA. This was a non-trival task, trying to find a good cantage point, showing the site, but still able to cope with rain, sun and the host of lighting levels to go with it.

Furthermore, the film was shot completely in 3D.

Just one frame...  (Image: B. McClave)

The work was coordinated by time-lapse professional, Brian McClave with his own team and Thomas Ulich from SGO. Brian works for Site-Eye, a company that specialises in such productions. The filming was made with the support not just of SGO and University of Oulu, but also ASTRON / LOFAR and EISCAT.

Thomas Ulich (left) and Brian McClave. (Photo: C-F Enell)

The product was a 2-minute time-lapse, which was enhanced with additional stills and footage from other scenes, as well as interviews, to give a 10-minute mini-documentary about KAIRA. As mentioned earlier, we showed the première of this film at the KAIRA opening, and the 2-minute version featured during the KAIRA presentation at the Nordic Physics Days 2013 conference in Lund, Sweden.

Watching the first public showing. (Photo: J. Keskitalo)

We will continue to feature it at conferences and exhibitions, but the plan is to make some further enhancements and publish the result to various web sites.

Watch this web log for announcements!

A bright day over KAIRA

Just a photograph of the site today, as the snow continues to slowly melt away from the aerials. Although it looks quite soft, the surface of the snow here is very hard as the snow partially melts and re-freezes.

The KAIRA site in spring. (Photo: D. McKay-Bukowski)

Current status at KAIRA

An expedition has gone from the institute up to the EISCAT facility at Tromsø, Norway, to carry out radar observations of this weeks near-miss fly-by of asteroid 2012 DA14. On the way, the team passed the KAIRA site... still happily and reliably observing! Here is the photograph showing the site conditions.

KAIRA site, as of 10-Feb-2013. (Photo: Lassi Roininen)

Like the asteroid and earth, the photo was taken during a "near-miss" drive-by. The vehicle passed within a couple of hundred metres of the site, but there was no risk of collision! ;-)

E3D visit to the KAIRA site

Last week we hosted a small visit to the KAIRA site by some of the EISCAT_3D project team. The main objective was to show the site the new EISCAT director and explain the significance of our project and demonstrate its capabilities.

Staff and visitors at the KAIRA site. (Photo: Esa Turunen)

We didn't move, but the photographer certainly did! (Photo: Esa Turunen)

KAIRA viewed from Pikku-Malla

Today we have another great photograph of the site from Arttu Jutila. This was taken a couple of weeks back from the summit of Pikku-Malla. The LBA array had just been completed at that stage.

The KAIRA site, as seen from the summit of Pikku Malla. (Photo: A. Jutila)