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The fellowship goes up
We wanted to have our new experimental plots at 1000 meter above sea level, an easy decision on paper that however resulted in a lot of climbing in real life.
We had to get up, up and up, higher and higher, slowly approaching this magical elevation. Luckily, this extra physical input resulted in in new and unexplored landscapes and views.
The variation in landscapes and environments in the north is truly stunning. Over a distance of only a few kilometers, we passed snowfields, boulder areas, green meadows and large rivers to cross. Over every bump, the view changed completely.
All the hikes were luckily worth the effort, and in the end the seeds were all succesfully planted 1 kilometer above sea level. Now it is a thrilling wait to see their performance under the midnight sun.
All the long hikes could be used to explore the tundra landscape and its breeding birds. Skua’s, golden plovers, meadow pipits and all kinds of gulls use the open area above the treeline to lay their eggs.
The most beautiful view on the lake
The north of Europe is a land filled with mountains and lakes. All these amazing views make the extraordinary ordinary, as the nicest viewpoint is just around every corner.
I realized that by the end of the week, we will have seen the famous lake Törneträsk from all possible viewpoints. And as every viewpoint again wants to be the most amazing one ever, I am still highly in doubt which one of them will in the end be rewarded with the title of ‘most amazing view on the lake’.
It was nice to see the landscape slowly unfold in all its majesty as the chairlift brought us to our plots on 900 meter, but the rewarding view after a long day of climbing even added to the satisfaction of the panorama.
Another candidate came from a short walk after a long day in the field. The little beach at the research station definitely popped straight out of a fairytale.
But the last one might be the ultimate winner of the title: the panorama seen from the level of the plants. We have been working with our nose centimeters from the ground all the time, so we know how it is to be close to the ground.
So this is my winning view: one of these tiny plants I have been working on to identify, proudly growing on a dry and hostile rock, celebrating his victory over the microclimate with an amazing view on the lake.
You just have to love them, my little survivors.
Posted in Sweden
Tagged Amazing views, Europe, Fieldwork, Hiking, Lake, Lake törneträsk, Mountains, Photography, Plants, Scandinavia, Science, Summer, Sweden, Travel, Traveling
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Pretty flowers and angry lemmings
The first day of our field trip to Abisko was already a big win. We had both weather ànd nature on our site, which resulted in some unforgettable views and moments.
We left Belgium in warm summer weather, but skies in the north were even brighter and the sun seemed to burn even harder.
In the mountains, plants showed their most beautiful looks while they were profiting from the first really good days of warm sunshine. In July, the Subarctic spring is in full glory.
Snow was melting everywhere, making our climb to the highest elevation quite the adventure. We had to cross large patches of snow. Creeks and rivers were all flowing with melting water. Even the path was often changed into a roaring river.
The first lemmings were also out, an event proudly illustrated by a very brave example that did not want to believe it was disadvantaged by its size. It showed its fierce teeth, roared like a tiny little lion and jumped centimeters in the air to get us out of his territory. Unfortunately for the fiery animal, he was sitting in the middle of our plot, so finally he had to taste defeat.
Oh, and by the way: the experiment looked nice, everything is working well!
Posted in Sweden
Tagged arctic, Climbing, Ecology, Fieldwork, Mountains, Nature, Nature photography, Photography, Plants, Scandinavia, Science, Snow, Subarctic, Summer, Sweden, Tourism, Travel
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In the Norwegian sky
Live view from the norwegian sky, on my way to the subarctic for ten days of fieldwork!
Posted in Sweden
Tagged flying, Norway, Photography, Scandinavia, Science, Sunset, Travel
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Skyhigh
A lot of my work is about microvariation in landscapes, and how this hidden world is wat really matters to nature. Mapping this microvariation however gives some big challenges, because for an optimal view of variation, you should look down on the world from above. It is unfortunately impossible to get such an overview of a landscape from our approximate 1 meter 70 of human height.
Drone with camera
However, scientist can now make use of a fantastic new tool, allowed by the commercial availability of drones. As they are steadier than every other flying object before, capable to move in all possible directions and can hang mouse-still in the air, camera’s attached to drones are the perfect way to capture landscape variability in a scientifically usable way.
Drone demonstration at the Heteroclim Conference in France
While regular imagery with drones is now almost an affordable buy for individuals, the technique needs some more years to get easily applicable for thermal imagery (its main possible application in my research). Thermal cameras are still very heavy and ask for heavier and bigger drones, at ten times the price of the regular ones.
Thermal image of an agricultural landscape, clearly showing the regular patterns created by humans
For now, I can only admire and promote the work of my colleagues in France and hold on to the fact that similar, even more applicable, scientific results can be obtained with a good set of dataloggers (my own precious iButtons!). The possibilities for microclimate research are however endless, so this drone is definitely high on the wish list!
Impressed scientists under a test flight
More info soon: Faye et al. Strong discrepancies between operative temperature mapping and interpolated climatic units in agricultural landscapes. Submitted to Global Change Biology.
Posted in France, The research
Tagged Aviation, Biology, Drone, drones, filming, flying, France, future, Photography, Science, technology, thermal imagery
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The 3D lab 