Arriving at DYE-2 - Days 5 & 6

Approaching DYE-2 by dog sled.

Tuesday, May 17 and Wednesday, May 18

The team is moving along now. Yesterday they had a glorious day with no wind and temperatures at -10 Celsius. They saw a lone bird soaring above enjoying the blue skies. By end of day, at camp the group enjoyed a slice of very special banana bread that Keith Heger’s wife made for the team (she baked a total of 12 pounds for the expedition!).  The team made it past 100km and today they pushed another 20km getting them to DYE-2.

Excited to be at this half-way point, the team set up camp around 4pm not far from the DYE-2 radome. They unloaded the dog sleds and then traveled by sleds the rest of the way to DYE-2. There, they took a walking tour around this magnificent, six-story high dome which is an amazing site to see in the middle of Greenland. After skiing for days with only the expedition teammates to talk to, they welcomed the opportunity to see new faces at the radar station. This evening they were hanging out with the scientists and swapping stories. They also found out there will be air planes arriving tomorrow to pick up and drop off new scientists. Many of the scientists are stationed at the dome at lengths of 40 days to take ice samples and do significant research.

Close up view of DYE-2.

Inside the radome.

Doorway to get in to DYE-2.

Thank you for sending in your messages to the team! They really love hearing from you, so please keep sending in your comments and questions. 

Liev Wittevrongel

Greenland Fact: DYE-2 is situated on 2583 acres of ice cap territory leased from Denmark. This Auxiliary Radar Station is located approximately 100 miles (160.9344 kilometers) inland from the west coast of Greenland about 90 miles (144.84096 kilometers) south of the Arctic Circle at an altitude of 7600 feet above sea level. The ice cap is a relatively featureless, flat, plain-like expanse of ice and snow. The actual terrain is buried under the 10,000 foot thick ice cap. The most significant topographical feature at DYE-2, aside from the vast plain of ice and snow is the black clad Composite Building. This structure, crowned with a huge plastic radome is 6 stories high and is hung 30 feet above the snow on 8 support columns.

Bonus Fact of the Day: A radome (radar dome) is a structural, weatherproof enclosure that protects a microwave or radar antenna. The radome is constructed of material that minimally attenuates the electromagnetic signal transmitted or received by the antenna. In other words, the radome is transparent to radar or radio waves. Radomes protect the antenna surfaces from the environment (e.g., wind, rain, ice, sand, and ultraviolet rays) and/or conceal antenna electronic equipment from public view. They also protect nearby personnel from being accidentally struck by quickly-rotating antennas.

Radomes can be constructed in several shapes (spherical, geodesic, planar, etc.) depending upon the particular application using various construction materials (fibreglass, PTFE-coated fabric, etc.). When used on UAVs or other aircraft, in addition to such protection, the radome also streamlines the antenna system, thus reducing drag.