Sampling Started

I received a phone call from the expedition team at 8:45 in the morning. Yesterday they moved only 8km due to the opposing wind from east and the heavy sleds. Their current position is 83 degrees 05 minutes North and 73 degrees 32 minutes West. The temperature is -38�Ž and the weather is cloudy. They seemed to be ok.

Today for the first time I was able to run a measuring instrument for concentration of air pollutants and measure the hydrogen-ion concentration. This is a collaborating work with Professor Tsunehiko Otoshi of Tohoku University of Community Service and Science.

First I set the measuring instrument in the garage, placed a hose outside the garage through a hole in the wall, and hang a holder containing a filter. 5 to 7 days later this filter will be removed to check the concentration of air pollutants. To do a new measurement, one can just replace the filter with a new one.

As for snow sampling I melted the snow at 83 degrees 05 minutes North (Ward Hunt Island) and the one at 80 degrees North and 85 degrees 50 minutes West (Eureka) and measured the pH. The results are pH6.0 for Ward Hunt Island and ph5.6 for Eureka.

Normally the rain is rated at or above pH5.6, so the both places do not have the problem of acid rain. For reference, acid rain is rated between pH5.5 and ph4.1, and below pH4.0 indicates very high acid level.

After the work, I sorted out the equipment of the expedition team left in the garage. The team started from Ward Hunt Island on the 6th and will walk 1630km south to reach here. They will receive resupplies here and resume the procession south again. There is also a possibility of other teams using this garage. That's why our belongings had to be organized neatly.

An Inuit painting hang in the hotel

Another painting in the hotel