Permafrost Outreach 2009

Here is a recent update of our program:

1. We have 157 schools in our network now and nearly finish originally planed boreholes, frost tubes locations. Recent participant schools are: Juneau Floyd Drysen Middle, Allakaket, Watson Lake, Pelly Crossing, Haines, Mosquito Lake, Seward, Denali Elem, and Begich middle (ANC) schools.

2.  The time is approaching to deliver our information to the communities. We start preparing 400 pages full color magazine type (easy reading, but a lot of information in it!) resource book called “PERMAFROST”. This will cover many topics about permafrost.  You too can be a permafrost expert after reading this! More detail, check our web site www.uaf.edu/permafrost <http://www.uaf.edu/permafrost> . Also we need nice village picture for this.

3. Kilimanjaro expedition was successfully complicated! We went up with eight students (4 from South Africa, 3 from Tanzania, and 1 from Kenya) age 15-20 years old. They are great motivated students and great time! We dag five boreholes with dataloggers including summit (19000ft) glacier site. (we have to download next year!)
Check out:  http://xpeditiononline.com/09revisited.html#followup
There are many Q&A and beautiful sketches by Tanzanian student! Also short movie is following links:
http://gallery.me.com/ffky#100035 (heavy)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7Q6LF1e2L0 (youtube)

4. For frost tube schools, it is nice to check your frost depth before holiday season starting! If you have a chance to check frost tube, please e-mail me the depth. I will update at your school data in our web page. I will also update protocol and worksheet at web site this week.

5. University’s e-mail system will change at the end of this year. My new email address is <kyoshikawa@alaska.edu>
Please, use this address from now on!!!!

6. “Tunnel Man return year 2058” Manga(Cartoon) Japanese version is on the web. We are translating in English now. However, it looks not enough time to open before Xmas! Hope you can see it in New Year! The story is that, during next International Polar Year, young native scientist and village elders (was high school students year 2008!) are travelling Alaskan villages and to retrieve our dataloggers for saving permafrost from bad professor.

Thank you for sending me frost depth before Holidays! I did update depth at “frost tube” page. In this long weekend, I try to finish borehole data around the State. Here is some of them…

I will tell you when all of these profiles ready to introduce at web. Again have a great Thanksgiving….

We start editing village report for Project “P”,  Let me know any nice village picture, if you have! We would like to use in the magazine.

Attention!!!!! My new email address is <kyoshikawa@alaska.edu>

Please, use this address from now on!!!!

We try to approach publishing one time only magazine type full color book called “Permafrost”! I would like include everything in here such as village temperature data, frost depth, news, ice cellar, drilling, Mars, solar system, cold region landforms, exploring world permafrost, interviewing elders, singers for Tunnel Man, snowmachine trip, airplane trip, cold region engineering, cartoon and more…

This will look like about 400 pages (three times thicker than Alaska Airline magazine)  handy reference and entertainment book. I would like to ask everybody for any good picture, story, please contact me (ffky@uaf.edu). I love to include your items in this special issue for native communities!!

We should start organizing 2009 data for all villages…  Here are the some data.

You will see Toksook Bay and Platinum have absence of permafrost. Other villages are presence of permafrost, BUT very warm permafrost (close to 0 dC).

The way back from Anchorage schools, we stop by Valdez to set up snow sensors. Japanese scientist “Masa” would like to measure snow temperature during this winter, hopefully at the heaviest snow falling town… We think maybe Valdez, Seward or Whittier??!!  We decide to try at Valdez.

Masa and I drove to Anchorage today. We install frost tube at two schools. We had minor drill problem (stack and broke extension) at Begich Middle but teacher (Scott) help us an hour to retrieved broken auger!

We check frost tube at U-Park elementary school. It was 41cm.

Google earth is getting important part of people’s life, especially geographer, explore. Resolution is better than last year now and so many potencial to use this in the classroom!

I update our permafrost station location in this google earth KMZ file! including Kilimanjaro! Enjoy play around the world!!!!

Our Canadian representative,Panya, made beautiful our program poster for each villages in Yukon Territory. We should do similar things here in AK…

I am back to Fairbanks. It was bad weather all the time. I saw sunshine and blue sky when I back here since when I left! However, it was very successful trip. I deeply appreciate  for Panya (Yukon Geological SUrvey) to organize this trip.

Tunnel Man Manga (Cartoon) Japanese version is completed!  The way we made in Japan (with Japanese illustrator), native language was easier for them to review. So now we try to translate in English and publish. It will takes another few months. (it looks I can not complete until X-mas!)

If anyone cannot wait it, you can see Japanese version from our web site　(http://public.me.com/ffky )