Sunday, March 11, 2007

.Hard at work...

The met team with big grins on our faces when we finally find treasure (or maybe just a box of electronics) a mere 2 and a half metres down. We were a bit worried we were going to hit the sea. We have lots of instruments that have to be raised every year to stop them getting buried which means lots and lots and lots and lots of digging.

Here I am 'fishing' for air! I'm filling a flask for a global monitoring network that collects air samples from all around the world and uses them to work out how concentrations of carbon dioxide and methane (and other gases) in the air are changing over time. They can use this info to find out if, for example, how rising carbon dioxide levels are linked to global warming. Exciting stuff.

When I'm turning the pumps on and off I have to hold my breath so i don't contaminate the sample. We do this every week, come rain or shine, and send back all the flasks at the end of the year.