Polar Gateways Arctic Circle Sunrise - Barrow Info
Floating Ice Group/Barrow Sea Ice Observatory
Will Rogers Wiley Post Memorial
Wiley Post-Will Rogers Memorial Airport, Barrow, Alaska (BRW)
Alaska Airlines Arrival Schedules – 10:19 AM and7:36 PM
AlaskaAirlines 143 from Anchorage (ANC) departing 6:00 AM to Fairbanks arriving 6:56AM, continuation of AA 143 departing 7:36 AM to Prudhoe Bay (SCC) arriving 8:46AM, continuation of AA 143 departing 9:31 AM to Barrow (BRW) arriving 10:19AM.
AlaskaAirlines 145 from Anchorage (ANC) departing 4:29 PM to Fairbanks arriving 5:25PM, continuation of AA 145 departing 6:05 PM to Barrow (BRW) arriving 7:36PM.
Alaska Airlines 187 fromAnchorage (ANC) departing 3:16 PM to Fairbanks arriving 4:16 PM, connecting onAA 145 departing 6:05 PM to Barrow (BRW) arriving 7:36 PM.
Alaska Airlines Departure Schedules – 11:04 AMand 8:21 PM
Alaska Airlines 143 fromBarrow (BRW) departing 11:04 AMto Anchorage (ANC) arriving 1:07 PM,connecting to AA 162 departing 3:21 PM to Seattle arriving 7:45 PM. This allowsovernight stops in Seattle for morning departures to the east coast.
Alaska Airlines 146 fromBarrow (BRW) departing 8:21 PMto Fairbanks (FAI) arriving 9:43 PM,continuation of AA 146 departing 10:23 PM to Anchorage (ANC) arriving 11:23 PM.This connects to overnight and next morning flights to the east coast.
Frontier Flying Service Inc. – local flights inAlaska on smaller planes
Schedules and reservation services available at http://www.frontierflying.com/.
Aurora, Weather, Time
Auroral Forecast –University of Alaska Fairbanks
http://www.gedds.alaska.edu/AuroraForecast/
Auroral Oval Map – Quiet Auroral Activity
Aurora oval is overheadwithin the shaded region and visible above the horizon north of the greencurve. The southern boundary of the oval extends further south with increasingactivity.
Comments from Charles Deehr, UA-Fairbanks Geophysical Institute:
Auroral activityduring the conference will be minimum to quiet. There may be low activityaround the 23 and the 28th. However, you will be in one of the few places inthe world where this level of activity will be overhead, mainly between thenormal observing hours of 9pm to 3am local time. There will also be afull moon, which subtracts somewhat from the contrast of the aurora in the sky,but it is nice to see the landscape during the time under the sky.
Watch theshort-term forecast at http://www.gedds.alaska.edu/AuroraForecast/for activity levels. It measures the solar wind one hour upwind at theACE satellite and estimates the extent of the resulting aurora.
Barrow Sea Ice Observatory – Current Conditions
http://seaice.alaska.edu/gi/observatories
NOAA NWS Space Weather Prediction Center
http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/index.html
NOAA Sunrise-Sunset Calculator
http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/grad/solcalc/sunrise.html
Alaska Time Zone
Alaska Standard Time(AKST) is ten hours behind Central European Time (CET), nine hours behind GMTor UT, four hours behind Eastern Standard Time (EST), and one hour behindPacific Standard Time (PST).
Weather History for Barrow
http://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/PABR/2007/1/23/WeeklyHistory.html
Recommended Clothing for Barrow
Significantly subzerotemperatures (0 to –30 deg. F for Jan. 23-29, 2007) and wind chill shouldbe expected. Avoid high costs of rarely-used cold weather gear by visiting yourlocal Army-Navy store. Thick down parka with hood, thermally insulated boots,and thick gloves are highly recommended. Innermost layer is heavy-duty (notlight cotton) thermal underwear, top and bottom, over cotton undershirt withinner light cotton and outer heavy wool socks. Lower body covering shouldinclude thick warm (e.g., wool) pants. Swedish army winter pants from theArmy-Navy store are cheap. Add upper body layers consisting preferably offlannel shirt and wool sweater or down vest plus lighter inner fleece orsweater for indoor wear. Cover head with wool cap and hands with light wool(military-style) inserts fitting inside gloves. Glove inserts keep hands warmwhen heavy outer gloves are temporarily removed for manual operations requiringdexterity, e.g. photography. Bring comfortable shoes and removable layers forindoor wear. Face coverage options are: (1) full head mask if not wearingglasses, or (2) half-mask plus snow goggles over glasses. In windy conditions,and for extended periods outdoors, it is critical to keep all skin surfaceswell covered to avoid frostbite. You will not want to be wearing all of thisgear on flights inbound to or outbound from Barrow, so bring along acollapsible duffel bag or extra suitcase for the heavy outer gear includingboots. Limited supplies of parkas, air-insulated boots, and other cold weathergear are available from BASC for field ice expeditions, as we may do on SundayJan. 27, weather permitting, but you should bring your own gear for normal wearand brief outdoor excursions at other times.
Photography
Any camera should have anoptical viewfinder since LCD screens on digital cameras may not work at lowtemperature. Batteries will tend to freeze, so keep spares warm within innerlayers of clothing. This is one reason to wear light glove inserts, so you canreplace camera batteries while still keeping your hands warm. The conferencetakes place in the first week of polar sunrise at Barrow, so outdoor lightingconditions will be low except around mid-day. Consult experts on auroral photography.Barrow is within the quiet auroral oval zone (see above), so there may be goodviewing opportunities even during the current solar minimum period, but auroralphotography requires long exposures.
Safety
Briefings will beprovided by BASC staff. Off-shore sea ice is forming later than normal and maybe thin in places even where it extends accessibly to the shoreline. DO NOT goout onto the sea or lake ice without local guides. Contrary to the recent movie30 Days of Night, there are no vampires in Barrow even before sunrise, butclose encounters with hungry polar bears can be equally horrific, so theseshould not be approached under any circumstances. Long romantic walks in thepolar night away from inhabited areas are not recommended. BASC staff willadvise of warnings on polar bear sightings in inhabited areas and will providearmed guards for field ice expeditions. The most probable danger for extendedoutings is frostbite, so appropriate clothing should be worn at all times asrecommended above.
Local Transportation
Conference and BASC staffwill provide all needed ground vehicle transportation between the airport,town, conference, and residential sites. BASC will be responsible forarrangement of ground or air transportation to outlying communities foreducational outreach. Private group arrangements can be made with localcommercial organizations for ground or air tours. Information on these touroptions, e.g. for Sunday Jan. 27, will be provided in a later conferenceupdate.
Lodging
On-site conferenceattendees have two main options for lodging: (1) no-cost dormitory residences(mostly shared rooms and bathroom facilities, a few single rooms available atspecial request in the NARL Hotel) as provided by contractual agreement betweenthe conference organizers and BASC, and as requested by Jan. 7 via e-mail (John.F.Cooper@nasa.gov) or phone(+1-301-286-1193) to the conference chairperson, John Cooper, or (2) threecommercial hotels in Barrow and the NARL Hotel at the conference site byprivate arrangement after Jan. 7.
King Eider Inn: ($$ - $$$). Newest hotel in town. It features a variety ofrooms and suites, some kitchenettes, cable TV and phones in each room, Eskimocrafts and gifts, and movie rental. It is located a half block from the Barrowairport. Phone (907) 852-4700, fax (907) 852-2025. Their email and web site arerespectively eider@barrow.com and http://www.kingeider.net/. Local toursavailable through the hotel.
Top of the World Hotel: https://travel.yahoo.com/p-hotel-321870-top_of_the_world_hotel-iLocated near downtown Barrow, and has a restaurant (Pepe’s North of theBorder) and gift shop. It offers smoking and non-smoking rooms, and gives toursof Barrow. It is within walking distance of three other restaurants and thetown bank. Phone 907-852-3900, fax 907-852-6752. Room rates are $$-$$. TundraTours is the hotel tour company.
Airport Inn: Quiet, family-owned place located 1-2 blocks from the Barrow airport,and well within walking distance of a couple of Asian-American restaurants. Therooms are quiet and have phones, cable TV, and private bathrooms. A continentalbreakfast is included. Phone 907-852-2525, fax 907-852-2528. Room rates are$$ single or double.
NARL Hotel:> Dormitory stylehotel, with single or double occupancy rooms and communal bathrooms. There arelaundry facilities, and each room has linens, towels, telephone, andtelevision. The hotel is conveniently located just behind the main UIC-NARLbuilding 360, and is just steps away from the BASC office, labs, and cafeteria.Phone 907-852-7800, fax 907-852-6890. Room rates are $ single or $ double.