Monthly Archives: September 2017

With three of my Open University colleagues: Dr Phil Sexton, Dr Pallavi Anand, and Dr Mandy Dyson, I have been working in the background on a new landmark TV series called Blue Planet 2.

 

This incredible series has been made by the BBC Natural History Unit with the Open University as co-producers. It has seven stunning episodes and will be broadcast in the UK at the end of October 2017.

Yesterday was the World Royal Premiere at the BFI Imax with Sir David Attenborough, Prince William, Radiohead, Hans Zimmer, and a team of BBC program makers that is too long for this post.

The prequel above was released after the premiere.

Episode one one the big Imax screen was stunning, and just after there was a Q&A led by Liz Bonnin with some of the key people:

Sir David Attenborough, James Honeyborne, Orla Doherty, Mark Brownlow and Hans Zimmer.

Liz Bonnin interviewing Sir David Attenborough After the World Premiere of Blue Planet 2.
Liz Bonnin interviewing Sir David Attenborough After the World Premiere of Blue Planet 2.

It's been a brilliant experience to work with so many incredible film makers - many of whom also have PhDs to go with their artistic and technical talent. You often hear about how the media want to tell their own story - but in my experience the NHU just want it to be the best - and, of course, correct.

I'm proud to have been a small cog in the mighty and incredible machine that made this series, and  I'm looking forward to seeing how it is received.

It has been an amazing experience to be one of four marine scientists at The Open University to have contributed to the series. As well as helping the production team we've been developing interactive learning materials and a poster for the general public and our students that will also be released at the end of October.

I hope the film makers get the awards I think they deserve for making such a powerful work.

 

3 Comments

The polynya over Maud Rise was visible in a beautiful clear MODIS image on 25 September. It is currently ~40,000 km2 of open water in the middle of the Antarctic winter sea ice. This will be some impressive heat loss.

MODIS image of the polyna over Maud rise on 25 Sept 2017. The black is ~40,000km2 of open water.
MODIS image of the polyna over Maud rise on 25 Sept 2017. The black is ~40,000km2 of open water.

This is the polynya in the SMMI Data for the same day.

Location of Maud Rise polynya 25 Sept 2017.
Location of Maud Rise polynya 25 Sept 2017.

A while back I calculated the heat loss through 2,000 km2 of open water in the Arctic as being ~600 GW. This is about 20 times as much open water…

As I said then, the heat loss is making the surface waters denser, so they sink away from the surface

More to come on this I expect.

7 Comments

Quick post on the Maud Polynya in the Weddell Sea that I wrote about last week. This is the sea ice data 17 September 2017, and the polynya is both clear and large.

The location of the polynya over Maud Rise. Sea ice data from DMSP SMMI.
The location of the polynya over Maud Rise. Sea ice data from DMSP SMMI.

An enlargement of the polynya shows that it is practically open water.

...continue reading

3 Comments

The Weddell Sea polynya is an area of open water that sometimes appears in the Weddell Sea over a relatively shallow region called Maud Rise.

The Antarctic sea ice concentration 9 September 2017. The location of the polynya is marked and the original data come from the DMSP SMMI data set at the NSIDC.
The Antarctic sea ice concentration 9 September 2017. The location of the polynya is marked and the original data come from the DMSP SMMI data set at the NSIDC.

In the latest satellite imagery from the DMSP satellite you can see the lower concentration sea ice as the darker blue colour. If you look at the MODIS imagery for the same date you can clear see black which indicates open water in the pack ice.

The MODIS imagery mosaic of Antarctica from 7 September 2017 from the MODIS sensor on the Terra satellite. The pattern in the centre of the image is because high latitudes of Antarctica are still dark at this time in winter.
The MODIS imagery mosaic of Antarctica from 7 September 2017 from the MODIS sensor on the Terra satellite. The pattern in the centre of the image is because high latitudes of Antarctica are still dark at this time in winter.

...continue reading