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“THIS VEHICLE expands the HORIZONS OF SCIENCE” Mr. A. Barbosa, Natural Sciences Museum

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Mr. ANDRES BARBOSA* National Museum of Natural Sciences

Wind, wind and more wind, wind continuously, Antarctica is the windiest continent in the planet with peaks of up to    mi (300 km) / h, and an average speed of around     mi (40 km) / h. And that’s what it’s all about, taking advantage of this circumstance and using it for transport that produces zero toxic emissions. This is what the WindSled concept is, a hinged platform that serves simultaneously to navigate and where life and work is based . This transportation means can be an innovation of great significance in polar research. While it will not involve the replacement of other means of transport currently used on the Antarctic continent, it can be an excellent alternative and complement to certain situations.

The WindSled design contains a number of advantages that make it particularly suitable for the realization of small polar expeditions as well as mid distance crossings where uncertainty of wind conditions have less impact . The main advantage, as I mentioned above, is the absence of polluting emissions.

Currently one of the biggest concerns of scientific activity in Antarctica is the reconciliation of work and environmental protection. Minimize the impact of the activity is one of the goals of any research project.

Not surprisingly, each project is subjected to a rigorous environmental impact assessment, and only those whose result is less than minor or transitory impact, as indicated by the Antarctic Treaty, are those that can be performed. From this point of view,  new proposals, as the WindSled, are great news for fulfillment of this objective, reducing to zero the impact of any displacement.

Another advantage is the simplicity of the design itself that impinges on environmental protection by reducing the amount of material and weight to be transported to the Antarctic.

The economy is the third benefit derived from that simplicity and of course the use of free energy resources such as wind power. This same energy in combination with solar energy, where possible, can also be harnessed to power necessary equipment for the development of scientific projects and where resulting impact of all activities would be greatly reduced.

The use of the WindSled as a support platform for polar investigation, may be useful in any kind of research to be developed on the Antarctic Plateau.

While the bulk of research activity in Antarctica is conducted in the maritime-coastal region, a number of projects could be carried out in remote central areas of the continent. Examples of these may be: meteorite search, presence of microorganisms research, contaminants, atmospheric measurements, geological investigations, collecting ice cores for studies into the past, geophysical and astronomical studies, validation and calibration of satellite instrumental measurements, among others.

In the near future I am convinced that the pristine white landscape of Antarctica will be dotted with the bright colors of kites that will be dragging WindSleds, definitely widening the horizons of science, the activity to which this magnificent continent is dedicated to.

*Mr. Andres Barbosa is a researcher, expert in penguin populations, and Deputy Director of Research at the National Museum of Natural Sciences (Higher Council for Scientific Research, CSIC).


EXPEDITION SUCCESSFULLY TRAVELS HALF THE DISTANCE TO BE COVERED

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The WindSled Expedition, driven by aeolian energy, is now a month old on the ice in the interior of Greenland, where they arrived on May 3rd. They are performing the First Circumnavigation of Greenland in history through its interior.

During the last week, and until today, the wind has not favored them and they have advanced only 124 mi (200 km) in five days. In total, they have already traveled more than 1,367 mi (2,200 km) powered only by kites, ranging from 54 sq ft to 861 sq ft, and so, they are capable of moving a ton and a half of weight.

“We were in an area of ​​very changeable winds that made navigation difficult. Northeast Greenland is one of the least known places on Earth and forecasts are not always correct. Dragging this weight is complicated in these conditions, so we’ve made ​​very little progress. We take continuous surveillance turns when the intensity increases a little…”, the polar explorer and expedition leader Ramón Larramendi said. ” We feel trapped in dead calm, as we say, and which we hope has been overcome.”

The idea of ​​embarking on this expedition is the result of the adventurous spirit of Larramendi, which adds to his efforts to prove that the sled is an efficient wind vehicle even in the most difficult areas. “It’s an interior route that no one else has done before us and moving in complete autonomy by the wind. I wanted to test the WindSled under different weather conditions, such as those we are encountering, but also overcome the geographical challenge of covering 3,107   mi 5,000 km) navigating the ice,” commented the promoter of this adventure which is sponsored by Tasermiut South Greenland Expeditions.

Before the team composed by Larramendi, Karin Moe Bojsen, Hugo Svensson, Manuel Olivera and Eusebio Beamonte, began this project, only two other explorers had circumnavigated the Arctic island with clean transportation (the North American, Lonney Dupre and the Australian, John  Hoelscher by dog sled and kayak).  It took them five years to complete the tour of the coast (1997-2001).

This expedition expects completion in no more than sixty days. Nobody has achieved anything similar beforehand.

For now, the expeditionary have enough food to prolong the time that had been initially proposed. Fuel as well (for the stove to heat food and melt snow to drink).

“We have installed a routine which is to strictly follow the two nine-hour shifts, either navigating or as lookouts. The dead hours are spent reading, listening to The Killers music, writing or taking walks in this bleak white world.  The temperature, as we move towards the south and away from the North Pole is warmer. We also continue experimenting with snow, as part of everyday life, ” says the engineer Manuel Olivera, responsible for collecting data for the Pyrenean Institute of Ecology, CSIC.

So far in the month of travel, they have found no footprints in the snow of any other living being. Only a few birds have hovered above or between the sled’s kites.

LARRAMENDI “THIS DESERTIC SNOW HAS ITS SHADES”

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” After thirty days of hard work, and after the approach to 80° north, it’s a good time to make an initial assessment of this first circumnavigation of Greenland on the WindSled. We have already covered more than 1,243 mi (2,000 km) through one of the wildest areas of the planet.

Our strange sled, 30 ft (9 m) long by 12 ft (3.5 m) wide, porting two tents carries on board an international team that has been consolidating itself with the passage of time. Hugo Svensson, Karin Moe Bojsen, Manuel Olivera, Eusebio Beamonte and myself are navigating a stunning sea of ​​white ice, only laced with occasional waves of snow that adorn the monotony of the landscape, giving it a menacing look when shadows are elongated at midnight. Those shadows then glow with a different tone than that of the white polar surface.”

” The desert snow is full of shades playing with only two colors: white and blue. Our yellow sled progresses as a foreign body on the surface, pulled by two distant dots that make it seem impossible to drag a ton and a half of weight. Up there in the sky, the kite moves more than 984   ft (300 m) away. It looks like a rebellious butterfly, whimsically moving up and down its wings.

For someone who does not see the fine cords that bind us, it might seem that there is no connection between the two. As if  the sled was guided by a magical invisible finger…

Undoubtedly the sled is moved by a powerful energy, a force that permits advancing without motors, and with no more noise than the howling of the wind, these powerful air currents that allow you to travel great distances in unknown terrain.”

” Its amazing navigation, the development of this potential becoming more tangible as we go, is in the spirit of this expedition. A journey that combines the geographical challenge of 3,107 mi (5,000 km) around Greenland, with the development of a design involving an innovative concept of travel inside the Arctic island.

And here we are, alone, with complete self-sufficiency, demonstrating this potential with every new mile we travel, and with each snow sample, Manuel, the scientist in charge, collects for this adventure.”

” And as we continue, it’s my strongest assurance that we are highlighting the tremendous possibilities the WindSled has. The simple, clean and efficient vehicle for polar scientific research. A new alternative that may be adopted to develop Antarctic continental programs. It is really a mobile ecological laboratory.

The sun is high at midnight. Still, the temperature is – 25 degrees C. Hard. Shear. Hugo and Karin, the night captains of this ship, although in the company of our star, go warmly clad and with lots of layers. They place special care in the hands and face, the weakest areas when handling the controls.”

” Meanwhile, back inside the tent, others listen to the sled noises emitted by moving 9 mi (15 km) per hour on snow. We can not stop. The “captains” are always attentive on how to better monitor the wind, as on any other boat. From within is a constant rattle that feels similar to when traveling by train. At first, it took some time getting used to, but now it no longer bothers us. Getting up, dressing, having breakfast… still remain the most delicate tasks because real balancing is required.”

” Our pace is leisurely when break time arrives, following the plan we have set. Two piloting for nine hours, others relieve them and have six hours to do maintenance on the sled, process scientific data, cook, write, read, chat with colleagues or simply relax for a while in the vast silence that surrounds us.

This is the routine in which we have traveled 1,243 mi (2,000 km), the same with the next 1,864 mi (3,000 km) to go to complete our challenge. The goal, although still distant, we look to with optimism, confident that we will complete the journey successfully, even if the wind isn’t always benevolent to us. “

“THE WINDSLED IN THE CONQUEST OF ANTARCTICA” Mr. L.G. Sancho, ECOTER

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Mr. Leopoldo García Sancho is an ECOTER Coordinator (Antarctic flora international study group), “Principe de Asturias” Award for Cooperation as member of SCAR (Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research)  and Professor of Botany at the Faculty of Pharmacy, Complutense University of Madrid.

” In the heroic age of Antarctic exploration, the ships reached as much fame as their captains. The “Terror” and “Erebus”, commanded by British sailor James Ross, were the first ships to penetrate the sea ice and discover the great white continent. Robert Scott commanded the “Discovery” and Ernest Shackleton’s “Endurance” on expeditions as tragic as legendary. The Norwegian Roald Amundsen traveled in the “Fram”, the most advanced polar ship of its time, to later continue by sleigh, towards the South Pole conquest.

Today a new kind of sailing vessel (or vehicle) is distinguished under Antarctic skies, although not navigating the sea, but sliding on the ice behind a multicolored kite “sail”. This is the “WindSled”, and who knows whether it will be called upon to emulate its prestigious predecessors.”

“The sled designed and led by Mr. Ramón Larramendi, further develops an idea that comes from the first polar expeditions: harness the power of the strong and almost constant katabatic winds to drive sleds through the large icy plains.” Captain Scott and his companions tried this on the return from the South Pole during their dramatic and fatal race against cold and hunger…

The WindSled has met huge technical advances in recent decades with the extraordinary experience of a polar explorer and inventor to successfully complete this old idea. Ramón Larramendi’s vessel has crossed Antarctica and Greenland, surpassing all speed records in both extremes of the world and traveling thousands of miles with no driving force but frigid polar winds.”

“Scientists should take note of this new platform that allows us (the scientific community) to penetrate the depths of Antarctica and cover great distances with minimal logistical support and 0.0 emissions. The possibilities open to studies of physics, glaciology and Antarctic atmosphere are evident. Also the study of chemical disturbances in the polar atmosphere caused by industrial activity in other parts of the world. The sampling process can benefit from “a clean and able to travel long distances platform”.

“As a biologist, I imagine great possibilities in the search of tiny, vital propagules that extend the life on our planet. In the clear Antarctic atmosphere spores undoubtedly float which allow tropical mosses to colonize Antarctic vents or volcanoes, and lichens to grow on isolated rocks newly discovered from ice. The data we have concerning the latter is scarce. The WindSled would be the best instrument to carry out this vital “fishery” of subtle particles that are spread worldwide.”

A letter from an amateur researcher…

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Manuel Olivera (expedition member):

“A month ago I embarked on a strange journey in which I hooked on to thanks to my friendship with the leader of the fleet, Captain Larramendi. The fleet consists of three discrete artefacts that individually are nothing, but together have no precedent navigating the hard ice of Inlandsis.

The vehicle is driven by the action of moving air; normally in these latitudes the wind is almost ubiquitous and without a pattern, determined by Greenland’s  physiognomy, on the one hand, an anticyclone permanently established therein and, on the other, by the Coriolis acceleration (the effect of Earth’s rotation on moving objects). Another issue is if it’s blowing in the right direction.

But there are days, like on June 5, when I write these lines, in which the wind is calm and the sun’s rays burn our faces. The rest of the body is pretty well covered. The temperature outside is 11.5 degrees C below zero, high for these high latitudes. The total calm threatens us with almost eternal sleep.

Under this circumstance the entire crew, five in total including the captain, must activate the emergency protocol: lift the kite and see what happens.

Sailing aboard a WindSled in Greenland must be like doing it in the ocean on a sailboat: depending only on the air current to move, and on a piece of fabric that rides the water surface. I guess I’d like to try it on the water, after this experience, although I would probably get dizzy. Now, it doesn’t happen.

Surviving in a hostile environment such as is the Inlandsis ice cap, is not easy, but now after a month since I started the adventure it’s even more difficult living five people so long in such a small space. A great deal of patience, tolerance and generosity are required. Since May 5 this is how we are and hope to continue until later on this month.

This journey has provided a mission that fills me with pride:  gathering snow samples and analyzing resulting data. Density, thickness and surface temperatures, according to the guidelines of Mr. J. I. López, researcher at the Pyrenean Institute of Ecology (IPE-CSIC), and an expert in snow and glacier studies. IPE has chosen the WindSled designed by Larramendi to gather manual measurements of Greenland snow, my job, never done before on a journey like ours: the WindSled inner circumnavigation of this huge island.

80%  of Greenland is covered by ice and it represents the second mass in size of the planet’s largest freshwater reservoir. Its impact on Earth’s climate is demonstrated in crystal clear form. Greenland inland ice data may help estimate the evolution of climate and therefore of the Earth in the coming decades. The use of the WindSled is a must for the Earth’s well being. “

SURPASSING 2051 MI (3300 KM), AFTER CROSSING THE ARCTIC CIRCLE

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The WindSled expeditionary, led by polar explorer Ramón Larramendi, are about to enter the final stage in the geographical challenge of circumnavigating the Greenland ice cap aboard a wind driven convoy.

This week, they have hit one of the expedition milestones: crossing the Arctic Circle. They have been led by wind which in recent days has dropped intensity due to unexpected and drastic rising temperatures. The WindSled has already traveled some 2,032 mi  of the 3,106 initially planned. They expect completion in late June, leaving the ice at the same point they began from. The team, Karin Moe Bojsen, Hugo Svensson, Manuel Olivera, Eusebio Beamonte, and Larramendi himself, arrived at the ice cap near the town of Kangerlussuaq.

Recently, the expedition has handled days that have exceeded 124 mi (200 km), and others at a lower rate, which is accentuated as they near the southern tip of Greenland.

In just fifteen days, there has been nearly an 86° F (30° C) difference. ” In all my years of traveling around the island, it is the first time I am so hot on the ice; the raise has been virtually overnight and causes decreasing wind intensity during good part of sunshine hours , ” comments Larramendi via satellite phone. This heat has also led to the thawing of the ice amid the many rungs of the sled. That’s when they found out that some of them had been damaged when passing through a tough sastrugi area, ice waves that occur and may exceed 27.3 inches in height. The snow is also softer, difficulting going at high speed without causing damage.

“Fortunately, although it takes us hours to fix the sled, it is relatively simple. One of the advantages of not driving a motor vehicle which requires sophisticated parts. Everything can be solved with the materials that we placed on board without the risk of not finishing the route because of a break, ” affirms the leader of the expedition.

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Despite these difficulties, they continue on the route. Recently, they have perpendicularly crossed the route followed by traditional expeditions running from east to west of the island. “For the first time in a month and a half we found traces of other human beings on this desert of ice. There were walls of snow, those raised to protect tents, ” he explained some hours later.

They have also crossed the Arctic Circle at latitude 65º 57′ N, one of the geographical milestones marked in the expedition schedule.

With enough food to continue, they are just short of bread and cookies. They assure that the diet based on freeze-dried food, like astronauts have, is not causing them any problems. In fact, they say their health is good and their mood too, although it inevitably rises and falls with the intensity of the wind.

“The most important thing is not to despair, have patience and be ever vigilant to seize the moment in which intensity increases and start running,” says M. Olivera, responsible of scientific data processing for the Pyrenean Institute of Ecology (CSIC-Higher Council for Scientific Research).

 

VISIT TO FORMER U.S. MILITARY BASE ‘FROZEN’ IN TIME THE PAST 25 YEARS

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The five WindSled expeditionary, led by polar explorer Ramón Larramendi, arrived last Wednesday to a former US military base ‘frozen’ in time for twenty five long years. “The interior was like the scene of some science fiction movie, with frozen walls, a set up table, unmade beds, and all in absolute darkness,” explains Larramendi, whom for fifty days has circumnavigated the Arctic island in the wind convoy specifically designed for polar research.

The WindSled Greenland Circumnavigation which began on May 6, planned to go through various facilities on the Greenland ice cap, but the wind has not made it easy. Overall they have covered 2,175 mi (3,500 km) reaching 79 ° 50′ (at the north end) and 63 º 50 ‘ (until last Thursday, at the south end).

“On Wednesday, when we thought of turning to the right, westwards, to reach our starting point, Kangerlussuaq, we dropped by the former U.S. military base Dye-3. It was like stepping into a movie set,” they assured.

Dye-3-2006-2

 

Dye-3 was part of the ‘Early Warning Catenation’, a line of radars crossing Southern Greenland that was active until the 60s. Then, and for two decades (until 1989), it was used as a scientific base to perform international studies: it was there, 1.2 miles deep, where ice fossils with DNA traces of what had once been a forest more than half a million years ago, were found.

Now it is a ghostly place. “…buried 66 ft (20 m) deep in snow. The white dome radar cannot be seen until a few feet away. To enter, we had to climb the snow drifts that had accumulated around it and locate a small open door. Inside, everything was in complete darkness, buried. It seemed to have been abandoned recently, with the table set and beds with blankets, half done. Everything is frozen. With icicles falling off roofs and frosted walls. The feeling was a mix between excitement and terror at the same time…,” states Larramendi.

The five explorers, with flashlights, toured the facilities. Phrasing his words, “it seems like a long time nobody has been here”. Nothing strange, because Dye 3 is not located on the usual routes of exploration expeditions.

Manuel adds more details of the visit: “It appears that things had not been picked up to leave. In the rooms there still are books and pictures hanging on the walls, also apples in a fruit bowl and bread on the table, as if someone had just been to breakfast. It’s been a fascinating experience. ”

After two hours inside, the expedition left the military base which will be eventually swallowed up by snow. “Observing the installation that has been buried in these past twenty five years, in another twenty the dome will disappear completely from view,” remarks Larramendi.

The WindSled now continues its route. The expeditionary have already reached the southern most point planned (63 degrees N) and are turning westwards to climb back to the point where the circumnavigation began fifty days ago.

The adventure of doing Science in the Poles, Ms. A. Cabrerizo (EC-IES)

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* Ms. Ana Cabrerizo is currently working in Italy as a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute for Environment and Sustainability of the European Commission, Air and Climate Unit. In her research she has utilized data collected by the WindSled in Antarctica, years 2011-2012, on organic pollutants.

” Research is ongoing search. A search that leads to venturing into the unknown. Venturing is risky and it is not until the end where the adventure makes some sense. This seems to have led Ramón Larramendi to design a vehicle capable of navigating through the ice in the most impressive and remote regions of the planet, the Arctic and Antarctica.

A vehicle that uses clean, renewable energy, the wind, which in polar regions is not a limiting factor. A sled driven by kites, larger than those we used to play with when we were kids. Kites able to reach the most remote places on earth without producing emissions of pollutants, almost impossible today. A  tool also for other sciences such as glaciology, physics, etc  where the presence and dynamics of atmospheric pollutants are studied locally and globally. The WindSled is very useful to investigate in those places where there is hardly any data as the Antarctic continent due to its inaccessibility.

The Arctic and Antarctica are paradises for scientists who study the Poles. The most fragile and remote places on the planet whilst the most vulnerable to climate change processes and so called persistent organic pollutants.

Although with natural “barriers” such as ocean and atmospheric circulation, the polar regions have accumulated contaminants in water, sediment, ice, biota, due to atmospheric transport of pollutants produced in industrialized continents and which have been able to reach and be deposited there, in a process called “cold trapping” due to low temperatures. Pollutants that are really persistent, toxic even at low concentrations and have long average lives. An increase in temperature caused by climate change could lead to a release of those kidnapped contaminants of which the magnitude and impact today is unknown.

It is here, in the sampling and determination of these pollutants using passive samplers, coupled to the sled designed by Ramón Larramendi, where we have the helping tool for future expeditions to the most inaccessible areas of the Poles. This would join scientific research efforts in the Poles that would allow further progress in the development of polar science. A sled, up front quite basic and sustainable, which I am convinced will signify a scientific revolution.”

 


WITH A FINAL RECORD: 265 MI (427 KM) IN ONE GO!

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The First Circumnavigation of Greenland aboard a wind vehicle has just concluded by successfully attaining the point where the expedition began from near Kangerlussuaq, southwest of the island, after traveling a total of 2,672 mi (4,300 km) in forty-nine days.

The five expeditionary led by the polar explorer Ramón Larramendi have surpassed the record of distance traveled with the WindSled, by accomplishing 265 mi (427 km) in one single stage.

On the journey, the team has tested a new prototype of the ‘eco-mobile laboratory’  and demonstrated the possibility of travel and research in polar regions with zero-emissions.

On board this convoy vehicle traveling with Larramendi: the dane, Karin Moe Bojsen, the Greenlander, Hugo Svensson and two Spanish engineers, Eusebio Beamonte and Manuel Olivera, who have all made it to the “finish line” without any physical problems, except the fatigue of an expedition as demanding as this one.

 

LAST DAYS

The penultimate stage of this pioneer expedition, was preceded by two days in which the wind was not favorable. Since Friday, at the southernmost point of the route, Latitude 63º 55′ N, and during the entire weekend, there was no way to turn west to catch a northward route towards nearby Kangerlussuaq, where they had been deposited by plane on May 3rd.

” Those last three days were quite desperate because we’re near the end, food is becoming scarce and, nevertheless, we can not move because there is just no favorable wind. Patience is the greatest of virtues for explorers, but after almost two months on the ice, it’s inevitable to desire reaching the destination and these stoppages whilst “at the doors” are pretty harsh, ” states Larramendi.

However, on Sunday afternoon the situation changed (as recounted in the expedition diary) and a strong, stable and good wind direction was inflating the WindSled’s largest kite, 861 sq ft (80 sq m), until it reached 19 mi (30 km) / hour. Although changing to a smaller, 646 sq ft (60 sq m), the WindSled continued its pace, with speeds of up to 28 mi (45 km) / h, and poor visibility. At times they reached the incredible speed of 34 mi (54 km) / hour.

“We had a very strong wind and the terrain was flat, an infinite plain, so the sled was bumping less than other days advancing at 7 mi (12 km) / hour. It was really spectacular. In the end, we even passed some miles from the starting point, and we could have continued, but the snow got very heavy, with water due to melting, and we finally broke a string, so we decided to stop, ” explains Larramendi, the expedition leader.

In total, the last day of the expedition, they navigated twenty-one hours without rest, strictly following the shifts they had established throughout the trip. The last navigator to handle the controls was Manuel Olivera.

At the location they stopped Monday afternoon, 67º N, they have been collected Tuesday by a Greenland.Net company helicopter, which returned them safely to Kangerlussuaq, where the adventure began.

“We are all very happy. It’s been hard, especially since we thought to have better terrain and better wind and we have endured many days of little progress, but in the end we have accomplished the goal and we have demonstrated that the WindSled, although in need of some adaptations, is a great added value to doing science in the poles, ” affirms Larramendi.

 

EXPEDITION

The expedition left Kangerlussuaq on June 2nd and climbing west,  reached 79° N, the closest to the North Pole the expedition attains. At that point, they turned east and then descended to the Greenland National Park, one of the most unexplored areas of the planet, finally reaching the south.

Throughout this time they have not come across any living being, except some Arctic bird that has hovered near the kite. Only in the southeast, on June 15th, they found traces of other explorer’s camps, and three days later, on the 18th, they visited the spooky Cold War radar station, Dye-3, abandoned twenty-five years ago.

 

SCIENTIFIC DATA PROCESSING AND COLLECTION OF SAMPLES

Throughout the forty-nine days, four more than initially planned, the expedition has periodically conducted snow gathering and data processing  for the Pyrenean Institute of Ecology (IPE/CSIC-Higher Council for Scientific Research). On the 16 June, for the first time they detected 1º C, when they had been to -25º C in the north. ” We had higher than expected temperatures,” they recognize.

Their mission was to obtain data every 62 mi (100 km)  inserting a rod into the ice and every 249 mi (400 km), drilling and digging ditches 10 ft (3 m) deep, until the obtainment of a dozen samples. ” This data will have to be analyzed by the geographer Mr. Juan Ignacio Lopez, IPE, but we can say there are interesting variations between data collected and processed in the north and that from the south,” remarks Mr. Olivera, chief scientific responsible of the expedition.

The conclusions on the data collected in the previous WindSled adventure in Antarctica, were presented at the SETAC 2014 Congress in Basel (Switzerland), illustrating the fact of existing and persistent organic pollutants in Antarctica´s air:

http://greenland.net/windsled/data-collected-by-the-windsled-proves-organic-contamination-in-the-interior-of-antarctica-presented-at-2014setac/

WITH A FINAL RECORD: 265 MI (427 KM) IN ONE GO !

A mobile laboratory

THE WINDSLED 2016

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The “Greenland Ice Summit Expedition 2016” is  a new milestone for polar scientific exploration.

For the first time in history, a vehicle driven by renewable energies will ascend almost  2,000 meters without fossil fuels, while the crew will carry out various scientific experiments relating to the assessment of the climate change.

The new expedition, in which nine people will participate, is planning a journey of 2,000 kilometers starting from the southwest coast, in Kangerlussuaq, to reach the highest point of the interior ice desert (Inlandis) where the scientific USA Summit Camp base is located, and from there they will go down towards the southeast coast, up to Isortoq, where part of the team will leave to be replaced by new incorporations.

From there, they’ll begin the return to Kagerlussuaq crossing the ice, where the adventure will finish, around 32 days after his departure. They will collect samples for different scientific projects.

The WindSled is a project that is growing and  is based on a totally clean vehicle with simple operability. The new prototype of  WindSled has experimented significant improvements with respect to the one used in 2014.

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Greenland 2016 Team

FOLLOW THE EXPEDITION DAILY IN THE DIARY

THE WIND SLED IN GREENLAND ICE SUMMIT

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The Wind Sled , led by explorer Ramón Larramendi , is already in Greenland Ice Summit , at  3,207 meters above sea level and in the heart of the Arctic island .

After 15 days of difficult navigation, with temperatures that have varied up to 43 ° C in one day (less than 28 ° C at night º15ºC day ) , the expeditionary  have reached the outskirts of the Antarctic scientific base Summit Camp, founded in 1989 by the National Science Foundation ( NSF ) from the US for climate change research in the Arctic.

The expedition, with six members  on board, has already traveled about 750 kilometers and has exceed an altitude of  2,000 meters that he had expected, with a vehicle driven by wind energy thanks to large kites.

From there, they have  planned  to go down  near the east coast of the island, where they will meet with the three team members who replace  part of the expeditionary team and who are already on their  way: Manuel Olivera, Miguel Herrero and Greenlandic Malik Milfeldt that will replace Karin Moe Bojsen, Nacho Garcia, Vicente Ignacio Leal and Oficialdegui.

The Wind Sled voyage, with 2,000 kilos of load, started last May 21st  by the interior ice sea. The great  thaw of  this year and the high and unexpected temperatures that the crew met with a very heavy and soft snow, have done a  very difficult navigation the first  days, so they decided to split into two teams of three people ; each one have moved with  two of the modules that make up the vehicle and a tent. “We must adapt to the conditions of the surface, that’s something that the  sled can do  without major complications,” Larramendi said  from the ice, his promoter and expedition leader.

Since then, the two teams were separately or together in a single convoy depending on wind conditions, something that  this year are being so variable that do not always meet the weather forecast, which is delaying the deadlines that they were expected from the  beginning. In fact, Larramendi, who lives part of the year in Greenland and has gone in different expeditions by this route, says that “in the same places where there are now vast lakes of water, 30 years ago this happened  at the end of June and now we have found them almost two months earlier. ” “I never had in any of my expeditions such a sudden change in temperatures and winds,” he adds.

Among the objectives of this expedition, in addition to test the possibilities of the wind sled as a tool for the researcher, they are collecting data on climate change in the Arctic . The samples that are collected for the project of Nacho Lopez Moreno, from the Pyrenean Institute of Ecology (CSIC), with perforations of one and a  half meters deep in the snow, will be added to those thy will do for the  American glaciologist Jason Box, these ones up  to 15 meters deep.

They will pick up the  necessary equipment at the scientific base Summit Camp. The Scientific Base Summit Camp is a reference site  in the world for the study  of global warming, the only one inside Greenland that remain open all year.

There have been carried out drilling up to 3,000 meters deep to study the history of the climate on Earth. The three new expeditionary of the Wind Sled are scheduled to go by helicopter from the town of Tasiilaq in eastern Greenland , in a few days to meet the expedition, which still have another 700 kilometers  ahead to reach the point they left near Kangerlussuaq, two weeks ago.

The Wind Sled is the only vehicle in the world powered by wind energy that is  able to move a load of up to 2,000 kilos of weight with no pollution , in an efficiently and sustainable way  from the point of view  economical  and environmental.

The expedition is sponsored by Tierras Polares  and supported by the Spanish Geographic Society. It is expected that they  finish their  2,000 km journey at the end of June. The expeditionary, are available at certain times for telephone interviews or by email during the course of the expedition.


Flying towards our goal : The WindSled Triangle

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If we see the route we’re doing aboard the  Wind Sled on the map , it  is a real  triangle through the heart of Greenland. A triangle that is going to be  about 2,000 kilometers, in which  every day there are new things, Even  it seems that we are always  in a white endless routine.

(read more) 

 

VIDEOS ‘GREENLAND ICE SUMMIT EXPEDITION’

THE WIND SLED FINALIZE THE EXPEDITION SUCCESSFULLY

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-Ramón Larramendi’s   team has made a route of 2,000 kms in five weeks

-His crew have witnessed the accelerate melting of the Arctic while they were collecting data on climate change.

JUNE 27 , 2016. The Wind Sled, led by explorer Ramón Larramendi , has successfully completed its journey of almost 2,000 kilometers , a route that has led the sled  to scend up to 2,000 meters high and that has lasted six weeks. The team of five people who have completed this weekend the Ice Summit Expedition  Greenland 2016 arrived last Saturday afternoon at Kangerlussuaq , on the southwest coast of Greenland, after the last hours in which they found cracks in the ice that  complicated the end, but that did not prevent his arrival at the planned  goal .

During the expedition, which had  scientific and exploration objectives , it has been proven that the wind vehicle, one of a kind  in the world , which has been designed by Larramendi , is able to navigate the Arctic territories carrying two tons and up to six crew .

For the first time, the Wind sled, with dimensions of 12 meters long by three and a half wide, has been able to make an ascent with headwind, reaching the 3,240 meters, the ‘summit’. From there, the team began the descent on the other side of the iced  ‘dome’ close to  the east coast, where an helicopter got close to  the vehicle for the chang of part of the crew and from where they  began the last phase of the journey , which ended this weekend. “We are very satisfied. It has been very hard, because of the weather conditions, but we have achieved the objectives. We hope this expedition  and the wind sled will be used as  a tool for the Spanish and international polar exploration “, Ramón Larramendi.Said  upon his arrival in Kangerlussuaq  The Ice  Summit Expedition Greenland 2016, sponsored by Tierras Polares  and supported by the Spanish Geographic Society, started on May 15th in Spain and started the navigation after being assembled  on the ice near the town of Kangerlussuaq six days later . In the first part of the adventure, Hilo Moreno, Ignacio Oficialdegui, Vicente Leal, the Danish Karin Moe Bojsen and Nacho Garcia accompanied the explorer. The last four were relieved , as planned, after 1,500 kilometers of navigation  by Manuel Olivera, Malik Milfeldt and Miguel Herrero.

From the first days of the journey , Larramendi confirmed  that the melting of Greenland inland  has advanced several weeks this year, with respect to they found  only two years ago in the circumnavigation of Greenland 2014. Not only the temperatures have been higher, but the night polar winds they expected have behaved erratically. They had to divide the convoy of four modules in two parts with two teams to continue the ascent to the summit some times.

During  the route, the members of the expedition Tierras Polares  have collected data about the  ice and snow conditions, on cosmic radiation for the scientists from the CSIC and the University of Alcala de Henares.

Once on the ice summit, in the American scientific base Summit Camp (or Summit Station), they  also collected scientific instruments for another research  in this case led by the American glaciologist Jason Box, form the Geological Survey of Denmark. With this material, the expeditioners have made drilling of 13.5 meters depth in different geographic coordinates of the Greenland interior for climate change studies.
After getting past the the iIce Summit , To go down near  the southeast coast was faster, at sometimes exceeding 25 km / h  with the convoy and without major incidents. And they hadn’t problems  on the way back to the west neither, on the last 500 kilometers. The most difficult time for the wind sled took place in the last hours, when the sled  had to cross an area of large cracks, covered by snow, that made the last kilometers in a ‘land-mine’, fortunately without consequences. A journey of  1,870 kilometers in total.

As soon as they  landed, Larramendi admitted: “This expedition has not been easy because it has being too hot, several degrees above zero up to 2,200 meters of altitude , and because to drag 2,000 kilos of weight is a challenge that has never been attempted before, but we are really happy and satisfied that we  have overcome it. We have been repairing the damage on the way and overcoming the difficulties. Any other vehicle could have gone ahead in the conditions in which we have done the ice interior .

It has been demonstrated once again that the simplicity and efficiency of the wind sled is one of a kind  to take scientist advantage. ”

If you need more information or pictures, please contact: press@greenland.net

 

LATEST PHOTOS ICE RIVER EXPEDITION 2017!

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Larramendi and Ross Edwards 

Like a shot to Greenland’s highest elevation

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Celebrating the World Environment Day by navigating the polar ice in a zero emission vehicle – the WindSled – and performing environmental science is an unbeatable situation. That is precisely what we did yesterday, June 5, members of the Greenland Ice River Expedition 2017, led by Ramón Larramendi. In nine days we have traveled more than 620 kilometers (385 mi) of Arctic territory and ascended 1000 meters (3280 ft) of unevenness, leaving no trace except the perforations made by the scientist Ross Edwards to analyze the state of snow prior to becoming ice.

 

The positive feelings are so many that we have a certain fear to verbalize them in case they are distorted. The truth is that, since we started, the wind has accompanied us, except for a break of two days, in which we took advantage to develop our scientific work. The temperature is perfect and the vehicle goes like a shot. Nothing to do with last year, when the convoy incremented its load from 1400 kilos ( 3080 lbs) to 2000 (4400 lbs) – generating great tension in materials – and the weather did not accompany us. This expedition year, neither breaks nor defects tarnish the journey to the top in the heart of Greenland.

Ross Edwards, guest lecturer at the University of Wisconsin, although his is Curtis University (Australia), is really excited about the possibilities of the eco-vehicle. He is a veteran chemist in polar ecosystems with many years of campaigning in both the Arctic and Antarctica, who spends hours making sketches and designs that allow us to generate and accumulate more solar energy than we now have. He already plans to incorporate new scientific devices on the convoy in future expeditions. In fact, the only major scare we have had happened a few days ago when, while handling a battery, an electrical overload occurred and a small fire sprung up that was quickly suffocated with snow by Ross. An event, fortunately, more anecdotal than serious.

Otherwise, life on board is quiet. The meteorological station placed in the load modules, GPR and micro-organism collector work perfectly, picking up information that scientists will analyze to draw conclusions. Every 200 kilometers (124 mi) since departure, we have drilled a hole about two meters (6 ft) deep where Ross, dressed up in his sterilized white suit and mask, extracts data and samples of snow that we then place and carry in special containers. All this to study, among other things, how industry pollution and fires, even thousands of miles away, reach these places. Thus, nothing can affect these samples. That distant pollution generates the so-called “black snow”, which causes the surface to absorb much more sunlight, reducing its reflectivity, and increasing thaw rate. This is the goal of the Dark Snow Project directed by Jason Box, whom Ross works with. Not only are the greenhouse gases transforming the poles, but also those particles that we trace in the Ice River Expedition 2017.

We know there is another international scientific expedition, called Green TrACS, United States National Science Foundation, carrying out drillings in parallel in another area of ​​this huge white emptiness. In this case, the group travels with snowmobiles and drags along many fuel drums and spare parts to be able to continue in case of failure. This is not our case. Definitely, when the wind stops, we do also, and from there on we wait. A journey with no hurry but with no great pauses either (for the moment).

Another novelty is that, so far, we have chosen to take one hour piloting turns each, that is, every five hours given the wind allows, so we are more rested. And while Ross is absorbed with his scientific designs, Nacho prepares audio-visual materials, and Hilo and J.J. pilot, Captain Larramendi analyzes positions, controls materials, takes care of communications and keeps the WindSled under constant supervision so that everything runs smoothly, like “no news” as he usually says…but always with caution for what is to come. That’s experience.

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