Mobile KAIRA

Did you know that you can now read about our adventures at KAIRA (LOFAR station FI609) on a mobile device. No, not just via a regular connection, but instead with the new Blogger layout. (our weblog is hosted on Blogger) In fact, this new look will be available by default when reaching the site from any mobile device. However, you can still get the original by scrolling down to where it says "View web version".

Thanks to the developers of Blogger for this great new feature. And thanks to Thomas Ulich for providing the screenshot.

IAS2011 — Day #3

Third day of the 'I'm a Scientist – Get me out of here!' event. Okay, the initial adrenaline (how does adrenaline work?) is starting to fade (do planets fade?) and a day with not one but three online chats (do you enjoy science chats?) is starting to take its toll (what does that mean?). I've just managed to plough through most of the questions (hey, you didn't answer my question!) but the students are sooooooo curious that they just keep on coming in (can we do this all year?). I must say that all the scientists in our zone (Chromium) are having a great time, but it is as exhausting as it is exhilarating. And we're not the only ones. Even this evening, one of the moderators confessed to sneaking some sugar into her coffee (only 'a reaaaallly teeny amount', we were told!).

I must say that it is giving me a new respect for the modern school student... they really are an inquisitive and intelligence group if young people. And I've also got a new found respect for the teachers... how do they keep this up all day every day!

More can be found on the website http://imascientist.org.uk/ and @imascientist on Twitter (search for #ias2011). Hey, we even got a mention on the STFC website (as I'm also an STFC employee!).

My top question for Day #3 was from "roxannebrace" who wrote: 'What motivates you to be persistent with different pieces of research?'

Power kit

On Tuesday the first delivery for the installation of electrical power arrived at the site. Unlike other LOFAR sites, we do not have electrical power readily to hand, and we will need to deploy power poles to get the cable from the nearest transformer all the way up to the site. In the first photo, the cradle is being unloaded from the transporter. The reel (already on the ground) will sit on this and the cable can then be spooled out over the difficult terrain.


The cable is not copper, but is actually aluminium. This has the advantage of being very light.

Because of the permafrost, burying cable is not an option. Thus, for the parts where it is not directly on site, the power will be suspended from timber poles.

In the above photograph some of the poles are being unloaded at the site. More will be posted on the power once the deployment work gets under way.

Filled with gravel

Despite some of these other topics, the major exercise of ground works on the HBA array is continuing. With the main site area roughly levelled, the crew are now bringing in loads of fine gravel. This is a very uniformly graded material, with each piece being about 15–20mm in size. In the first photograph, you can see the lorry dumping out another couple of piles of the material.

The gravel is designed to be porous. One of the issues for the site is that water drains away quickly. What can happen is that in spring some freak warm weather can cause a sudden snow melt, which could bring a log of sudden meltwater. Additionally, the surface of the tiles will channel the water into certain locations, so we need to be able to cope with that. (There's another trick we've got, but that will be for another web log post!)

Once the gravel is down, the 18-tonne digger is used to spread it out uniformly over the field. It is slow work, but the team are doing a very high-quality job.

Photos: D. McKay-Bukowski

IAS2011 — Day #2

Second day of the 'I'm a Scientist – Get me out of here!' .

Another fast-paced chat, and the usual round of questions. Is it just me or are the students getting the hang of this? The questions today were very sharp and made us all think.

The web site is http://imascientist.org.uk/ and @imascientist on Twitter (search for #ias2011).

And my top question for Day #2 (asked by "evilevo") took me by surprise and made me look at the job in a different-to-normal way. The question was: 'Have you ever injured yourself in an experiment?'

Bird's-eye view

This photograph is of the Biological Research Station, which is where the KAIRA team are staying. However, this is a slightly different view.

The photograph was taken looking over the precipice of Saana during the excursion last week. Yes, I was being careful when I took this!

Just beyond the edge, and far below, are the buildings of the station. Then there is the lake itself. There were a few pieces of ice floating about (there's one in this view), but the lake is mostly clear now.

The opposite shore is Sweden. (The Fenno-Swedish border runs down the middle of the lake.)

Burning the midnight oil

One of the things about this project is how excited everyone is and how keen they are to keep things going. A good example was the other night when Juha called past on his way back to SGO from Svalbard. Having stopped off at the site for a chat, he suddenly asked if we had a shovel handy, and then we set off down to the water-logged LBA field to dig about and try to assess the condition of the soil...

... at quarter to one in the morning!

Apart from getting a good idea of what lies ahead for the LBA build, it is another good example of what dedication we have in the KAIRA team.