GI Press Releases
An experiment called HEX2 that consisted of four NASA suborbital sounding rockets, launched from Poker Flat Research Range during an aurora display over northern Alaska this morning. Each rocket emitted vapor trails in an experiment to learn more about winds associated with the aurora.
Researchers saw the vapor trails from Poker Flat; about 30 miles north of Fairbanks, and aurora watchers at clear locations throughout northern Alaska should have been able to see them. 
The coastal mountains along the Gulf of Alaska and Alaska’s inside passage are home to the largest glaciers outside of the polar region. The close proximity of the Pacific Ocean to this region’s high mountains makes these glaciers especially dynamic. Tidewater glaciers sometimes exhibit wild instabilities that can lead to dramatic changes much larger than or even opposite to other glacier behavior.
This morning, a NASA suborbital sounding rocket launched from Poker Flat Research Range into an aurora display over northern Alaska at 3:45 a.m. Alaska Standard Time, allowing researchers to gather more data about the power source behind pulsating auroras.
The expertise of Alaska Native beluga hunters and their local knowledge has contributed to scientists’ understanding of Alaska’s white whale. Beluga hunters know where to find belugas and how to get close to them. Samples collected by the hunters from harvested belugas also provide information on the whales’ diet and health. A presentation on Tuesday by Lori Quakenbush, a wildlife biologist with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, will share some of those findings.
This morning, a NASA suborbital sounding rocket launched from Poker Flat Research Range into an aurora display over northern Alaska at 3:45 a.m. Alaska Standard Time, allowing researchers to gather more data about the power source behind pulsating auroras.
Scientists from the University of Alaska Fairbanks and the University of New Hampshire have experiments ready on the launch rails at Poker Flat Research Range north of Fairbanks, and another scientist is waiting in New Hampshire to launch an additional experiment from Poker Flat. The experiments are being flown on NASA sounding rockets. NASA is launching 10 of the suborbital rockets from Poker Flat during January and February. Four successful launches occurred in January.
Alaska played an important role in the first International Polar Year (IPY) in 1882-83, and scientists in state and around the globe are now gearing up for the fourth IPY, which begins this March and extends through March 2009. In a lecture on Feb. 5, Hajo Eicken, Associate Professor of Geophysics at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, will address the prospects that IPY-4 offers Alaska researchers, educators and the public to jointly address the challenges and opportunities of unprecedented change under way in the North.
Alaska played an important role in the first International Polar Year (IPY) in 1882-83, and scientists in state and around the globe are now gearing up for the fourth IPY, which begins this March and extends through March 2009. In a lecture on Jan. 16, Hajo Eicken, Associate Professor of Geophysics at University of Alaska Fairbanks, will address the prospects that IPY-4 offers Alaska researchers, educators and the public to jointly address the challenges and opportunities of unprecedented change under way in the North. Eicken is co-chair of the Research Subcommittee for UAF’s IPY Steering Committee and has been working for the past year to prepare for this historic event.
Global climate change is amplified in the Earth’s polar regions. As a result, Alaska’s land and waterscapes are rapidly transforming, affecting people and industry of the Far North. Much of our state’s transformation is related to alterations in the hydrological cycle. Freshwater in the Arctic is in flux, and this will affect the way people live, both physically and socially.
Volcanoes give us important information about their behavior from their temperature. However, getting close enough to take a volcano’s temperature is often a dangerous undertaking. In the past, measurements required the volcanologist to get uncomfortably close to the activity. Recent advances in digital infrared imaging allow volcanologists to measure temperatures from a safe distance and over large areas with infrared cameras.
