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Alan Nelson's Daily Commentary for 12 September 1999 Kwajalein Island, Republic of Marshall Islands I got a good night's sleep and my solo went well. I don't particularly like singing solos. I volunteered to sing in the church's small choir, but they weren't going to sing while I was still at Kwajalein. The chapel is open to the outside, is right across from the airfield, and is full of ceiling fans--therefore noisy! Everything is done with a microphone and loudspeaker. I'm not accustomed to that but it made me learn something new about my singing psychology today. I always prefer to sing in groups because I like to "play" off of other singers. During warmups, the accompanist said that she couldn't hear me over the sound of the piano and so the sound guys put up a speaker for the accompanist. But I could also here the "monitor" speaker and I felt like I was singing next to myself. I got to "play" off of myself. Worked great. I could sing better just because I had an external source of my sound. Don't know why, but it sure helped. I probably must admit that I was the only TRMM scientist who was singing solos today. If you are reading these accounts to find out what scientists do when they do research, singing solos isn't typical. I'm not unique in that respect, but it is not common! And after singing...back to data processing. All the files that I needed and that could be found were copied over to my space. All the Kwajalein, Roi and Meck radiosonde data have now been looked at and recalculated if necessary. That led to a sense of accomplishment. It also led to the discovery of a few human shortcomings. It is a fundamental principle of data management that a data file should be identified in more than one way. For instance, in the Meck and Roi files, the data files were named according to date and hour of balloon ascent. The date of the launch was coded into the data. The date and time (to the minute) of balloon ascent were also recorded in the data file. In theory, three different means of identifying exactly which sounding any data file pertained to. But I discovered that some of the files had three different dates in those three different spots! So tomorrow, we will need to go back to the original paper-and-pencil log sheets and try to figure out the puzzle of which files goes with each sounding. The data files also have the serial number of the radiosonde that was released on each flight. That serial number should also be recorded in the log. So we should be able to piece the puzzle together, but it will be time-consuming and an unnecessary nuisance. Two lessons to be passed on here: 1) be conscientious in recording all the not-so-petty details like date and time that measurements are made. 2) whenever possible, allow for some redundancy in the data. That way if one method is lost or not followed, there will be a way to reconstruct what has been done. That is really the guiding principle: make sure that your documentation of your work will allow someone else to reconstruct the steps that you have taken in your work.
I spent an hour tonight just riding my bike around the periphery of the island in the dark. I have found it enchanting to ride on the virtually deserted streets, with the surf pounding and the stars shining. Tonight was my last night and so I availed myself of one last ride. It was a good one! I found the Little Dipper and the North Star at the end of the Dipper's handle. But I found it just 9 degrees above the horizon. For a normal person holding their arm at full length and putting the base of their thumb on the horizon, that would put the North Star just above the tip of the thumb. Not what we have grown accustomed to in North America. The Big Dipper was below the horizon and therefore not visible. I don't have access to a globe and star charts, so I will just have to guess. I don't think there is anywhere in the continental US where the Big Dipper would ever be below the horizon. Another special aspect of visiting the tropics! Alan Nelson |
