Wednesday, October 17, 2012

2014 Heard Island

http://www.cordell.org/HD/HD_pages/HD_News.html


15 October 2012 PROJECT DESCRIPTION and TEAM UPDATES

We have posted updates of the Project Description (version 5.2) and the TEAM.

We are pleased to welcome Steve Chamberlian VK6IR and William (Wild Bill) Beyer N2WB to the radio team. We also welcome several other persons to the offsite team, including Yasuo "Zorro" Miyazawa JH1AJT, Tommy Horozakis VK2IR, and Christopher Wells N9LXR. Wells is implementing a real-time interactive video capability for the Clipperton Expedition (see below), ands will do the samer for Heard Island.

We are also pleased to welcome Dr. Robert Pitman, NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center in La Jolla, California. Pitman is a world expert on killer whales. Killer whales are arguably one of the most recognizable, and best-studied, large animals on earth, yet basic questions about how many species there are and how they function within the ecosystem remain unanswered. Pitman has assembled evidence for the existence of a new species of killer whale in Antarctic waters, in the area that the Heard Island expedition will be travelling.Pitman will be on the Heard Island cruise to search confirm the proposed new whale species. Confirming new species in Antarctic waters would highlight the fact that our knowledge of marine biodiversity is perhaps even more rudimentary than currently recognized.

Please note the connection between the 2014 Heard Island Project and the 2013 Clipperton Expedition (www.cordell.org/CI). Some of the same team members will be implementing some of the same science projects on Clipperton that we expect to carry out at Heard Island. While being a major expedition on its own, Clipperton is also a development and test project for Heard Island. Because of this close relationship, we hope that sponsors will support both projects.

15 September 2012 SPONSORSHIP

 

We have posted a document describing opportunities for sponsorship of the Heard Island 2014 expedition. The document (updated to version 1.3) gives an overview of the project, and particularly addresses the question: "Why go to Heard Island?" It describes the central role of networking with people and organizations worldwide, particularly in real-time. In addition, it shows how this project may be the World's First Open-Source Expedition. This term means that the entire project is open for public inspection, interaction, and contributions. The logo for the open-source expeditioni is shown at left.
The document also describes the audience for the project, the target market, and the various opportunities for sponsorship, including product and services exposure, integrated advertising, engagement identification, and marketing via souvenirs. This document will be of interest to anyone in a position to help the expedition by obtaining sponsors, and for individuals who wish to understand the project in more detail.

15 August 2012 PROJECT DESCRIPTION and TEAM UPDATES

We have posted updates of the Project Description (version 5.0) and the TEAM.

You will see in the Project Description that we have developed a wide-ranging scientific program, including radio operations (the DXpedition), real-time communications, mountain science, biological science, atmospheric science, astronomical science, documentatioin, and educational outreach. We are proposing that the AAD collaborate on some of the research.

We have confirmation of the vessel Marion-Dufresne for the expedition, the same vessel we used for VK0IR in 1997. We will now be working with the AAD concerning the permit. We are interested in establishing a collaboration with any person or group that can fit into the research program (or extend it). The next NEWS update will be on Sept. 15. The next round of team members will be announced on October 15, but if you are interested in joining the team (on the island or offsite), we invite you to contact us anytime.

15 July 2012 PROJECT DESCRIPTION

We have posted two documents on this website:

1. The Preliminary Project Description (version 3.6) for the 2014 Heard Island Expedition. This document changes signficantly every few days. Please click on the link above for the latest version.

2. The book VK0IR Heard Island, by KK6EK. This is the complete original book about the 1997 DXpedition.

Currently we are elaborating the scientific program for the expediton and adding to the list of candidates for the team. We are pleased to have Jean-Michel Cousteau as Honorary Expedition Leader and Joe Taylor K1JT (Nobel physics) as Honorary DXpedition Leader. If you have interest in being involved in the project in any capacity, we would welcome your inquiry.

15 June 2012 INITIAL TEAM

We are pleased to announce the initial team for the 2014 expedition to Heard Island. At this time this list is incomplete; it will be augmented in the coming months. The next round of team members will be announced on August 15.15 May 2012 ANNOUNCEMENT

After 5 months of planning, Cordell Expeditions is pleased to announce an expedition to Heard Island, Territory of Australia, in early 2014.We have assembled a core team, arranged for the vessel, and are awaiting the landing permit and radio callsign. Initial team members, collaborating organizations, and other resources will be announced in the near future.

The expedition will be multi-disciplinary, with three major activities: Communications, Environmental Science, and Documentation. We will be active on all amateur radio bands and all modes, implement a variety of innovative real-time communications technologies, and field a variety of scientific projects that are designed to observe and document some of the unique resources on this extraordinary island. We will use the latest version of DXA (www.cordell.org/DXA) for real-time online presentation of log data, images, and video from Heard Island.

This project follows the very successful amateur radio expedition to Heard Island carried out by this group in 1997 using the callsign VKØIR. Details of that operation can be seen at www.cordell.org/HI and in the book VKØIR Heard Island. The website for the 2014 DXpedition is www.cordell.org/HD or www.heardisland.org.

We invite your participation in this project, as a potential team member, supporter, collaborator, field scientist, or as a callsign in our radio log. If you have a particular interest in Heard Island or have a project you would like to propose, we invite you to contact us.

For information, please contact the Expedition Leader, Dr. Robert Schmieder (KK6EK) schmieder (at) cordell.org.

http://www.cordell.org/HD/HD_pages/HD_News.html

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