Midnight at the end of the world
Earth and Environmental Sciences; Honorable Mention; Copyright 2015, Dimitri Acosta. Used with permission. For more information, contact the Graduate College at gradcoll@uic.edu During the austral summer, Antarctica receives 4 months of continuous sunlight, comparable to radiation levels in the trop...
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ftunivillchic:oai:dspace-prod.lib.uic.edu:10027/23590 2023-05-15T13:31:50+02:00 Midnight at the end of the world Acosta, Dimitri 2015 http://hdl.handle.net/10027/23590 en eng The Image of Research 2015; 2015 ftunivillchic 2019-08-02T22:06:33Z Earth and Environmental Sciences; Honorable Mention; Copyright 2015, Dimitri Acosta. Used with permission. For more information, contact the Graduate College at gradcoll@uic.edu During the austral summer, Antarctica receives 4 months of continuous sunlight, comparable to radiation levels in the tropics. In Taylor Valley, Antarctica, microbes in ice covered lakes convert this energy to photosynthesize beneath 3-6 meters (10-20 feet) of ice. Their activity is of great interest for the search of life on other planets. To measure gross primary productivity, holes are drilled through the ice cover, a process that is energetically expensive, time consuming and disruptive to the ecosystem. My research examines the distribution of surface Photosynthetic Active Radiation (s-PAR). High resolution 3D models of the valley created using LiDAR, combined with solar geometry and meteorological point measurements, allow mapping of s-PAR, improving the accuracy of primary production estimates. The panorama shows a 360-degree view of the Lake Fryxell basin around 3 am. The low solar angle casts shadows over most of the valley, except for the highest south facing slopes. The image captures the 3 sources of illumination for any surface: incident, diffuse and reflected. The ATV and the light sensor (foreground, bottom right) provide a sense of scale while the reflected light on the surface of the lake hints at the complexity of mapping s-PAR. This exhibit competition is organized by the University of Illinois at Chicago Graduate College and the University Library. Other/Unknown Material Antarc* Antarctica University of Illinois at Chicago: UIC INDIGO (INtellectual property in DIGital form available online in an Open environment) Acosta ENVELOPE(-62.050,-62.050,-64.700,-64.700) Austral Fryxell ENVELOPE(163.183,163.183,-77.617,-77.617) Lake Fryxell ENVELOPE(163.183,163.183,-77.617,-77.617) Taylor Valley ENVELOPE(163.000,163.000,-77.617,-77.617) |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Illinois at Chicago: UIC INDIGO (INtellectual property in DIGital form available online in an Open environment) |
op_collection_id |
ftunivillchic |
language |
English |
description |
Earth and Environmental Sciences; Honorable Mention; Copyright 2015, Dimitri Acosta. Used with permission. For more information, contact the Graduate College at gradcoll@uic.edu During the austral summer, Antarctica receives 4 months of continuous sunlight, comparable to radiation levels in the tropics. In Taylor Valley, Antarctica, microbes in ice covered lakes convert this energy to photosynthesize beneath 3-6 meters (10-20 feet) of ice. Their activity is of great interest for the search of life on other planets. To measure gross primary productivity, holes are drilled through the ice cover, a process that is energetically expensive, time consuming and disruptive to the ecosystem. My research examines the distribution of surface Photosynthetic Active Radiation (s-PAR). High resolution 3D models of the valley created using LiDAR, combined with solar geometry and meteorological point measurements, allow mapping of s-PAR, improving the accuracy of primary production estimates. The panorama shows a 360-degree view of the Lake Fryxell basin around 3 am. The low solar angle casts shadows over most of the valley, except for the highest south facing slopes. The image captures the 3 sources of illumination for any surface: incident, diffuse and reflected. The ATV and the light sensor (foreground, bottom right) provide a sense of scale while the reflected light on the surface of the lake hints at the complexity of mapping s-PAR. This exhibit competition is organized by the University of Illinois at Chicago Graduate College and the University Library. |
author |
Acosta, Dimitri |
spellingShingle |
Acosta, Dimitri Midnight at the end of the world |
author_facet |
Acosta, Dimitri |
author_sort |
Acosta, Dimitri |
title |
Midnight at the end of the world |
title_short |
Midnight at the end of the world |
title_full |
Midnight at the end of the world |
title_fullStr |
Midnight at the end of the world |
title_full_unstemmed |
Midnight at the end of the world |
title_sort |
midnight at the end of the world |
publishDate |
2015 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10027/23590 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-62.050,-62.050,-64.700,-64.700) ENVELOPE(163.183,163.183,-77.617,-77.617) ENVELOPE(163.183,163.183,-77.617,-77.617) ENVELOPE(163.000,163.000,-77.617,-77.617) |
geographic |
Acosta Austral Fryxell Lake Fryxell Taylor Valley |
geographic_facet |
Acosta Austral Fryxell Lake Fryxell Taylor Valley |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctica |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctica |
op_relation |
The Image of Research 2015; |
_version_ |
1766021191676461056 |