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Re: [Phys-l] polar grid navigation

Well... you might try finding something about it from people who have
actually been in Antarctica and have used grid-north maps.

Below are some things I found.

* * * From
http://passporttoknowledge.com/lfa/QA/computers/Directions,Time,ZIP * * *

QUESTION: How do you give directions at the South Pole? Wouldn't
everything point north?

ANSWER from Craig Mundell
You are correct. Theoretically, every direction from the South Pole is
north. To get around this problem, people in the U.S. look at the
continent as a grid map with McMurdo Sound to the bottom of the
page and the Antarctic Peninsula to the upper left of the page. They
then use directions like it was any other map, i.e., the top of the page is
north, bottom south, etc. In fact, with the grid map system the navy
pilots use here, they actually fly north from McMurdo to get to the
South Pole.

ANSWER from Bob Loewenstein on February 8, 1995
Geographically speaking, every direction at the south pole is North
(except up and down). But we do have to tell people things, like the
wind direction is so and so. To do this, we adopt what is called a 'grid
north' system, where north is in the direction of zero longitude (toward
Greenwich, England). East is 90 degrees, South 180, and West 270.

* * * Who are Craig Mundell and Bob Loewenstein ? * * *

By doing some Googling it appears that Craig Mundell wrote this while he was
living at McMurdo Station and working in aviation support for getting people
from McMurdo to the South Pole Station and other research locations in
Antarctica.

Also by Googling we find that Bob Loewenstein is a Senior Research Associate
at Yerkes Observatory

From New York Times, January 10, 1995 we read... Dr. Robert Loewenstein, an
astronomer from the Yerkes Observatory of the University of Chicago, who is
developing a system that will be used to operate, from a long distance, a
whole family of advanced telescopes blooming this year at the South Pole.


* * * Go to this page
http://www.andrill.org/iceberg/blogs/luann/all.php#id2258259 * * *

Scroll down until you get to the grid north map. Read the paragraphs that
go with the map. Also notice that the map indeed puts north at the top,
south at the bottom, east on the right, and west on the left.

The map was made by Jessica Walker. It appears she has a PhD in GIS, and at
the time she made the map she was working for Raytheon Polar Support Company
in McMurdo Sound.

The webpage showing the map is done by LuAnn Dahlman. Here is a blurb on
her...

LuAnn Dahlman
NOAA Climate Program Office
LuAnn Dahlman is a writer and editor for the Communications and Education
group at NOAA's Climate Program Office. She earned a Bachelor's Degree in
Geology at Arizona State University, and served as a practicing educator,
K-12 curriculum developer, and workshop leader for inservice educators for
more than 20 years. She has served as co-PI and Project Director on several
NSF projects that encourage the use of technology and Earth science data for
teaching and learning. During the 2006-2007 field season, Ms. Dahlman worked
as a member of the ANDRILL project-ANtarctic geology DRILLing-recovering
sedimentary rock records from beneath McMurdo Ice Shelf in Antarctica.

* * *

So there you have four people who have spent some time in Antarctica telling
you that people "down there" use a grid-north map, and when looking at the
map they consider the top as north, the bottom as south, the right as east,
and the left as west. The person who drew the map is a GIS specialist, one
of the persons who described the situation worked with Navy pilots in
Antarctica, another is a PhD astronomer, and the fourth is a geologist
working as a writer for NOAA.

What more do you want?





-----Original Message-----
From: phys-l-bounces@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu
[mailto:phys-l-bounces@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu] On Behalf Of brian
whatcott
Sent: Thursday, February 16, 2012 12:28 AM
To: phys-l@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu
Subject: Re: [Phys-l] polar grid navigation

On 2/15/2012 4:27 PM, Bernard Cleyet wrote:
On 2012, Feb 15, , at 07:11, chuck britton wrote:

At 9:58 AM -0500 2/15/12, Edmiston, Mike wrote:
So... after all the messages posted on this list-serv ridiculing the
news reports... it turns out the news reports were correct. If you
use the pseudo grid for Antarctica that navigators and scientists in
Antarctica are known to use (where grid north aligns with the prime
meridian), then Lake Vostok is indeed southeast of the south pole.
Actually I would call it "east southeast".
http://geology.com/world/antarctica-map.jpg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boxing_the_compass

Yes, number 11.
Oh my - given a whiff of polar grid navigation, which allows a direction
indicator once set to hold a chosen course, I see we are leaping to (totally
unwarranted) conclusions about the Vostok Lake lying to the south west of
the pole.
Grid navigation specifies courses 0 to 359 degrees grid..... not often
thought of as sou,sou-east, by east and all that good stuff....
And a polar projection does not constitute a polar grid for navigation in
itself.....

But why am I burning electrons so fruitlessly? :-)

Brian W


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