A First-Person Interview with Lt. Jg. Nick Morgan, a NOAA Climate Researcher at the South Pole

Lt. j.g. Nick Morgan atop Observation Hill, near NSF's McMurdo Station, en route to the South Pole.

3/29/2010

Late March is a pivotal time around the globe. It marks the start of spring in the Northern Hemisphere, and the coming of autumn in the Southern Hemisphere. In Antarctica, it’s when the sun drops below the horizon, not to rise again until the following September.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) researchers at the South Pole Baseline Observatory continue their work through the long Antarctic night. NOAA Corps Lieutenant (junior grade) Nick Morgan, who works for the NOAA Earth System Research Lab, is spending a year there collecting data to help scientists better understand global climate trends.

The following interview with Lt. j.g. Morgan gives us a little insight into his work and what his life is like at the geographic South Pole.

Why is your research important?

Climate is a huge topic of discussion lately. For more than 50 years, researchers have been collecting data at the South Pole, such as carbon dioxide measurements and solar radiation — which makes them the longest running measurements of their kind.

Long term continuous data is important for climate studies to be able to pick out trends. On a short time scale, climate varies a lot and it's hard to see what's happening. The data that we collect is also used to improve climate models so that we can try to see changes in the future effectively.

What do you enjoy the most about your work?

I enjoy the fact that each air sample I take is more or less a part of history. These samples get added to a dataset that is used by scientists and governments around the world. There is a lot of satisfaction in knowing that there are some big environmental decisions that may be made in the future based on some of the data that I collected. It's also quite an experience being able to spend a whole year at the South Pole!

Where do you do most of your work? In a lab? In field studies?

Most of it is done in a lab environment. All though it could be said that just being in a place like Antarctica would be a field environment. We have very good facilities here though and the new Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station is very comfortable. We do spend some time outside though, launching ozonesondes and collecting air samples in flasks once a week. We also do a little bit of maintenance of our instruments located on the roof and meteorological tower.

Read the rest of the interview here.