Let’s continue
And we continue with the preparations for Ny-Ålesund. After René and I had returned from Longyearbyen we took our first trip to Bremerhaven. In Bremerhaven are the headquarters of the AWI and it was time to introduce ourselves in Bremerhaven and to meet some people: in the logistics department, the purchasing department and scientist who will come to Ny-Ålesund and to the AWIPEV Station this year.
René also took a trip to Bremen to visit the company IMPRES to get introduced to the technical secrets of the AWOPEV-Observatory. I on the other hand stayed in Bremerhaven and participated in a preparatory meeting of some biological projects.
Afterwards it was time for the media training. How do you behave in front of a journalist, how to give an interview, how to deal with social media,…? After all, every now and then there are camera teams in Ny-Ålesund, interviews are requested and we write blog entries. Therefore it is good to know a little bit about these things.
Back in Potsdam we met more scientists, we did a fork-lift course and René did also a laser safety course. But why a fork-lift course? For what do you need a fork-lift in the Arctic? Well, there is a storage hall in Ny-Ålesund and we also receive several containers a year that are shipped from remerhaven or Brest to Ny-Ålesund. They contain all kind of equipment, spare parts, scientific instruments, etc. Then the containers need to be loaded and unloaded. That we do with a fork-lift.
And the laser safety course? In the observatory there is the LIDAR instrument, with which primarily particles in the air are detected and measured. The LIDAR uses a Nd:YAG-Laser (Neodym-doped Yttrium-Aluminium-Granat-Laser). Laser can be dangerous though, especially for the eyes. Therefore René competed a laser safety course for the safe handling of lasers.
Fire safety course. What fire classifications exist and with which fire extinguisher do I extinguish what type of fire? Because not all fires look alike, it depends on what is burning: Paper, metal, liquids, oil, or a gas? Accordingly the appropriate fire extinguisher needs to be used. We had a chance to try out some of them!
Ulrich Knoll, the fire safety engineers of the AWI set up his fire simulator for us. He also showed us what happens, when a deodorant spray can is burning. The result: a loud loud bang, a darting flame and scented air!
And last but not least, all good things are three: finally a picture of the new AWIPEV team including Thomas from France, who visited Bremerhaven last week during the introductory seminar. Good collaborations!
