Shovel Week 2013

I spent this week in Healy, Alaska shoveling sow at our CiPEHR manipulative warming experiment (Carbon in Permafrost Experimental Heating Research). We use snow fences to build up large snowbanks that insulate the soil from cold winter air temperatures. This warming treatment raises soil temperatures by a few degrees in winter and increases thaw depth by a few centimeters in summer. The CiPEHR experiment was designed to inform our understanding of how high latitude systems will respond to climate change.

Unfortunately, the large snow banks that have built up all winter have gotta go before spring rolls around! If they were left in place they would increase the water inputs to our plots and shorten the growing season (because they take so long to melt out). 

Arriving at the experiment on snow machines

Only the tops of the snow fences were actually visible when we started

Shoveling and hauling snow off plot kept us busy for about 6 hours a day. 

This is the only picture of the process for two reasons (1) I was busy shoveling and (2) my camera kept freezing.

Lunch break! Mmm, frozen PB&J sandwiches 

Finally able to see the entire fence! They are 1.5 meters high

Dismantling the fences so a surprise spring snow storm doesn't undo all our hard work

Snow machine maintenance

Elizabeth digging into the snow to measure soil respiration rates

Victory!

Hey guys, where are you going without me?

The wall tent where I do most of my lab work in the summer is looking a little chilly right now

Elizabeth & sled dog pup!

My plots are out there somewhere under all that white stuff

View down the valley

Home sweet home! This is the spruce forest outside our cabin at sunset (10:30pm)

I am headed back to FL to finish up the semester but will be back in AK starting late May. Hopefully some of the snow will have melted by then!