Kirk's January 1999 Alaska Trip
From January 5 through January 23, 1999 I was in Alaska to
install and run two auroral photometers. The systems measure the
intensity of the aurora to understand the composition of the upper
atmosphere. These instruments are used in conjunction with a rocket
flight that will launch from Poker Flat, Alaska.
Click the pictures for a larger view.
This is the same instrument that I installed in Greenland in March 1997 and
I installed there again in December of 1997.
Jim Hecht and I installed the first system at Poker Flat Research Range.
The system is controlled by a Macintosh IIfx using custom software that I wrote.
The system uses a telescope that is aligned with the magnetic field lines to collect the light from the aurora.
The aurora looks like curtains of light aligned with the magnetic field lines of the earth. They are usually green with
some red fringe at the bottom. The telescope has a sun sensor and temperature sensors attached to it. The sun sensor tells the
computer when the sun is up so it can stop taking data and protect the photometer. The photometer would be damaged
if the sun hit it directly. Once the light enters the telescope, it is focused onto the end of the fiber optic cable.
this cable brings the light to the rest of the system.
The light enters by the fiber optic cable at the left. It is then focused onto the filters in the filter wheel.
We use four different filters in the filter wheel to look at different colors of light. Once the light passes through the
filter, it is detected by the photometer. This photometer is very sensitive. It is cooled to -30.2 degrees C by the cooler.
The photometer translates the light into electrical pulses that are counted by the computer. The more pulses there
are, the more light there is. The photometer is powered by 1500 volts. A special power supply creates this from the 28 volt supply.
The 5 volt supply powers the custom electronics which runs the filter wheel and consolidates all the signals into one cable
that goes to the computer. On the computer, my software runs the whole show and graphs and stores the data.
Here is a nice sunset from the roof at Poker Flat.
We installed the second instrument in Fort Yukon at the Air Force Station. I agree with the sign, It is real cold here.
It got down to -54 degrees F while I was here. Jim went with me to Fort Yukon to install the second instrument, but after
we got it installed, he returned to Poker Flat to monitor the other one and I remained in Fort Yukon.
We installed the instrument in this hut owned by the University of Alaska.
They also have an all sky camera system installed here. It uses the little chimney on the left of the building.
Our instrument at this location is nearly identical to the one installed in Poker Flat.
The dome at Fort Yukon is cylindrical in shape. The whole hut is lined up with the magnetic field
which made it real easy to line up our telescope.
The telescope we used at Fort Yukon is really designed to mount outside, but we used it inside
this time. We added a bonnet dryer to blow hot air on the inside of the dome here to prevent
ice or fog build up.
This is the instrument and computer at Fort Yukon. They are identical to the ones at Poker Flat.
However, we were able to install the computer in the adjoining room in the hut. This allows me to
have the lights on in the room without fear of contaminating the measurement.
Click this to see a QuickTime VR of the room with our instrument.
You will need Apple's QuickTime 3
plugin to view it.
On Friday January 22 early in the morning, they launched the rocket from Poker Flat.
I took the following pictures as it went up:
The white trail is caused by a chemical that the rocket released during it's flight.
The scientists used this to measure the atmospheric winds.
This is the van that I rented while in Fort Yukon. Since
Avis does not have an outlet in Fort Yukon, I rented this from Trader Dan. He owns the gas station in Fort Yukon.
Apparently he is the only non-native business owner in town. What looks like ice on the windshield are actually
cracks. It looks like the windshield was hit by a large rock at one point or maybe a
baseball bat. It is doesn't leak air so that is fine with me. Hey it beats walking in the
-54 F weather here!
We put a four wheel ATV in the back of the van for ballast since it doesn't have snow tires and was very
difficult to drive the first night. What an adventure! I guess I could use the ATV if the van won't
start one of these nights. :-)
This is the Radar at Fort Yukon. They use it for long range tracking. You can also see some of the barracks and an
old jeep that needs to get out of the cold!
These are the old barracks at the Air Force station. They are going to be torn down this summer. They haven't been
used for many years. Right now they are pretty run down, not heated and have some broken windows. It gives it kind
of an eerie quality with all the snow and ice on them.
The Fort Yukon Air Force Station is run by three people and one dog. Russ Sperry, Tom Sawin, Clay Shaw and Duner.
This is Duner. He is a wonderful Alaskan Husky.
The picture on the left was taken with the digital camera. The one on the right was with my 35mm Camera.
Here is Russ making dinner. My lodging includes all meals. It is a good thing since I don't think there is a restaurant in Fort Yukon!
The food here is great. They have good ice cream for dessert too!
Here is Clay playing his drum set with Duner looking on. Clay is the mechanic for the site and keeps everything running in
tip top shape.
On the left is the pool table right outside my room. You can see my door in the background. On the right are the tables and some more of the dining facility.
This is the little church in downtown Fort Yukon. It is accross the street from the place where I rented the van.
The picture on the left was taken with the digital camera. The one on the right was with my 35mm Camera.
This is Trader Dan's. This is the only gas station in town. I rented the van from here.
This is an interesting house a little ways from the church. Many of the older buildings in Fort Yukon are constructed
with logs on the exterior.
The picture on the left was taken with the digital camera. The one on the right was with my 35mm Camera.
This is another interesting home.
This is the Alaska State building in Fort Yukon. It is one of the more modern buildings in town. Many of the modern
buildings are built on pilings like this one. I think it is done to prevent heat loss to the frozen ground.
I saw lots of Aurora during this trip. Here are some of my favorite shots:
Most of the above pictures were taken with an 
Apple, 
QuickTake 150 digital camera.
The images were manipulated with Apple PhotoFlash that comes with the QuickTake and GraphicConverter.
Send comments, suggestions to: Kirk Crawford
