Québec City

Spending the summer in Montreal means that I'm pretty close to some amazing cities. One of which being Québec City. Last weekend some friends and I drove 2 and a half hours north of Montreal to the beautiful capital city of the province of Québec.

The aptly named city is the oldest European settlement in North America. Winding cobblestone roads are the norm here, so much so that it's easy to forget you're in Canada and feel as though you're strolling the streets of Paris. 

This street in particular reminded me of the Parisian Montmartre. A famed tourist spot - I was told I couldn't leave Québec City without taking a photo here. 

Montmorency Falls was by far the highlight of the trip. The stunning waterfall flows on the Montmorency River and is 30 metres higher than Niagara Falls. We walked up a winding staircase beside it as apposed to taking the cable car - a decision I at first was hesitant about but the views were totally worth it :)

We got pretty up close and personal with the waterfall in this shot! It's incredible being so close to such a powerful force of nature such as this.

This area of Québec City is called the Old Port.  What appears to be a castle or a palace in the first photo is in fact a hotel. Le Château Frontenac was built in 1893 and is said to be the most photographed hotel in the world. It certainly is impressive, as are the views from the pier looking out across the Fleuve Saint-Laurent. 

It was a wonderfully warm weekend in Quebec and a great break from the busy SSP schedule. We've had the opportunity to attend some very interesting panels and events so far and I will write a blog post on SSP life so far very soon :)

Nikita

Geosciences Column: Meshing models with the small-scale ocean

Written for the European Geosciences Union (EGU) on June 12th 2014.

The latest Geosciences Column is brought to you by Nikita Marwaha, who explains how a new generation of marine models is letting scientists open up the oceans. The new technique, described in Ocean Science, reveals what’s happening to ocean chemistry and biology at scales that are often hard to model…

Diving into the depths of the ocean without getting your feet wet is possible through biogeochemical modelling – a method used by scientists in order to study the ocean’s living systems. These simulated oceans are a means of understanding the role of underwater habitats and how they evolve over time. Covering nutrients, chlorophyll concentrations, marine plants, acidification, sea-ice coverage and flows, such modelling is an important tool used to explore the diverse field of marine biogeochemistry.

Barents Sea plankton bloom: sub-mesoscale flows may be responsible for the twisted, turquoise contours of this bloom (Credit: Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC)

There is one outstanding problem with this technique though, as the very-small scale or sub-mesoscale marine processes are not well represented in global ocean models. Sub-mesoscale interactions take place on a scale so small, that computational models are unable to resolve them. Short for sub-medium (or ‘sub- meso’) length flows – the smaller flows in question are on the scale of 1-10 km. They are difficult to measure and observe, but their effects are seen in satellite imagery as they twist and turn beautiful blooms of marine algae.

Sub-mesoscale phenomena play a significant role in vertical nutrient supply – the vertical transfer of nutrients from nutrient-rich deep waters to light-rich surface waters where plankton photosynthesise. This is a major area of interest since the growth of marine plants is limited by this ‘two-layered ocean’ dilemma. But the ocean is partially able to overcome this, which is where sub-mesoscale flows come in. Sub-mesoscale flows are important in regions with large temperature differences over short distances – when colder, heavier water flows beneath warmer, lighter water. This movement brings nutrient-rich water up to the light-rich surface. Therefore, accurately modelling these important small-scale processes is vital to studying their effect on ocean life.

Global chlorophyll concentration: red and green areas indicate a high level or growth, whereas blue areas have much less phytoplankton. (Credit: SeaWiFS Project)

A group of scientists, led by Imperial College’s Jon Hill, probes the technique of biogeochemical ocean modelling and the issue of studying sub-mesoscale processes in a paper recently published in the EGU journal Ocean Science.  Rather than simply increasing the resolution of the models, the team suggests a novel method – utilising recent advances in adaptive mesh computational techniques. This simulates ocean biogeochemical behavior on a vertically adaptive computational mesh – a method of numerically analysing complex processes using a computer simulation.

What makes it adaptive? The mesh changes in response to the biogeochemical and physical state of the system throughout the simulation.

Their model is able to reproduce the general physical and biological behavior seen at three ocean stations (India, Papa and Bermuda), but two case studies really showcase this method’s potential: observing the dynamics of chlorophyll at Bermuda and assessing the sinking detritus at Papa. The team changed the adaptivity metric used to determine the varying mesh sizes and in both instances. The technique suitably determined the mesh sizes required to calculate these sub-mesoscale processes. This suggests that the use of adaptive mesh technology may offer future utility as a technique for simulating seasonal or transient biogeochemical behavior at high vertical resolution – whilst minimising the number of elements in the mesh. Further work will enable this to become a fully 3D simulation.

Comparison of different meshes produced by adaptive simulations: (a) Bermuda, taking the amount of chlorophyll into account (b) the original adaptive simulation at Bermuda, without taking chlorophyll into account (c) adaptive simulation at Papa, taking the amount of detritus into account (d) the original Papa simulation, without taking detritus into account. (Credit: Hill et al., 2014)

The fruits of this adaptive way of studying the small-scale ocean are already emerging as the secrets of the mysterious, sub-mesoscale ocean processes are probed. The ocean holds answers to questions about our planet, its future and the role of this complex, underwater world in the bigger, ecological picture – adapting to life and how we model it may just be the key we’ve been looking for.

By Nikita Marwaha

Reference:

Hill, J., Popova, E. E., Ham, D. A., Piggott, M. D. and Srokosz, M.: Adapting to life: ocean biogeochemical modelling and adaptive remeshing. Ocean Sci., 10, 323- 343, 2014

Space Studies Program 2014: Montreal, Canada

The day I wrote my last blog post was also the day I packed my bags and flew across the Atlantic Ocean to Canada - Montréal to be exact. A 6 and a half hour plane journey and lots of apple juice (my go-to in-flight beverage) later, I landed at Montréal-Trudeau airport. After spending just a few days here I've noticed that the city is a unique blend of Europe and North America. The Montréal skyline resembles both concrete jungle and actually jungle - with shades of grey and green complementing each other perfectly.

                               

I'll be spending the next 9 weeks here working as a Teaching Associate (TA) for the International Space University - the very place I earned my Masters in Space Studies last year and also participated in the 2012 Space Studies Program (SSP) which was held that year in Florida. If you'd like a glimpse of life as a participant first before I tell you all about what it's like to staff the SSP then read my first ever blog post here. Otherwise, I'll give you a brief overview of what exactly I'm up to this summer.

                        

During my time here, I'll be working as staff for the ISU summer program. We are kindly hosted by École de technologie supérieure (ETS) and HEC Montréal - two world- renowned engineering & technology and business institutions that have established a close cooperation for space related activities. 

                                   

SSP teaches it's participants about space through various perspectives, each of which have their own Deparment. Ranging from Space Humanities and Space Management & Business to Space Sciences and Space Engineering - ISU has a truly interdisciplinary, intercultural and international approach to teaching. The Department I am the TA for is Human Performance in Space (HPS).

The human side of space is explored within my Department. Understanding how the human body reacts and adapts to the space environment is a major factor to travelling through our solar system and beyond - and the HPS Department will delve into the depths of space medicine, biology, psychology and physiology this summer.

                          

I'm looking forward to writing future blog posts on the exciting visits we have planned as part of the Department. Two of which are  a trip to the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) as well as a one on one discussion with astronauts about living and working in space and the ins and outs of life in orbit. Other subjects that will be covered are spacesuit design, neurobiology and planetary surface exploration by humans using a rover. Diego Urbina of the long-term isolation experiment Mars 500 will also run two workshops on this subject.

               

This is a photo from the day the rest of the SSP14 staff got our staff shirts before welcoming over 120 participants on registration day last weekend. Being at SSP as staff this time around is a different way of experiencing the summer. The summer of 2012 and my Masters year were amazing and most of the staff this year are graduates of my SSP12 and MSc13 classes - so it's great to be surrounded by friends working together to make this SSP as wonderful as we can for this year's participants. 

I'll be sure to write an updated blog post once lectures are in full-swing and I have more photos to share :)

Au revoir!

-Nikita

Goodbye Germany

I've spent the first half of this year working as a Science Communication intern at the European Southern Observatory (ESO) and it's sadly my last day in the German state of Bavaria. My time in Munich has completely flown by. I watched the seasons change from icy and dark winter and then springtime blossom, to the summer sun. It's hard to believe that I'm leaving soon but I'd say the time has passed by in a flash due to my love of the work, city and people I've met here. 

The flags of ESO's 15 member states stood tall in the morning, Munich springtime sun this particular day — a Committee Meeting was taking place and the flags are saved for such occasions. I've been told that the winter this year was exceptionally mild compared to chilly Munich standards and spring definitely sprung early this year as the city has been in full bloom.

I arrived in Munich on New Years Day and had some incredible opportunities such as visiting the Columbus Control Centre and the stunning Austrian city of Vienna,  but most importantly I learnt first-hand how to communicate cutting-edge astronomical science to the masses and how to do it well.

The people I've met and friends I've made have made me feel at home in this new city and I'm looking forward to returning one day, hopefully in the near future. The past 5 months have been an incredible learning curve both personally and professionally — I've gained a range of skills and experiences that I believe will better equip me for whatever lies in store for me next. 

Adorable teddy in lederhosen — the perfect leaving present! 

Speaking of what's next... I'm flying to my summer home of Montreal this weekend as I begin work at the International Space University (ISU) Space Studies Program (SSP) 2014. The summer course is an intense 9-week educational immersion into the space industry. I actually was a student of this summer program back in 2012. You can read my blog post on my Florida space camp story here. 

This time around though, I'll be returning as a Teaching Associate for the Human Performance in Space (HPS) Department. I'll be sure to write a blog post with more details very soon :) For now though, I'm not quite ready to leave Munich, but looking forward to some change.

-Nikita

O Canada

I've been in the beautiful country of Canada this past week and a half and although the time has now come for me to return to Munich — I thought a blog post would make my trip last a bit longer, through the photos of course.

 I visited downtown Toronto on the first weekend we were here. It's been 14 years since I last visited Toronto so it was really great to see the city again, this time from a different perspective. 

My sister, Vinita and I tried the surprisingly delicious combination of fried chicken and waffles with Niagara cherry jam, maple syrup and cream at The Drake Hotel. Their brunch menu was so good, and I loved their cute and quirky restaurant style. I definitely recommend it! :)

The Canadian $5 note is a little bit cool. Depicting an astronaut alongside the Canadaarm 2 — the Bank of Canada began circulating this new note last year — symbolising Canada's contribution to space exploration. I'd heard a lot about the new design so was excited to finally see it (and try not to use it)!

                                      

Niagara Falls was a magnificent sight to see. The three waterfalls dotted along the border between the United States and Canada were an incredible shade of turquoise in the Springtime sun — a rainbow even sat on the water which made for a great photo!

I stayed in Niagara-on-the-Lake which is about an hour and a half away from Toronto by car. Famed for its wine and ice wine production, the area is scattered with wineries — as well as the Georgian McFarland House, Floral Clock and the famous Rainbow Bridge — connecting the United States and Canada.

It's always fun revisiting places you first saw as a child and can now experience as an adult.

I'll be working in Montreal from June this year so I'm looking forward to spending more time in Canada, it really is a lovely country :)

-Nikita

Fairytale in Vienna

 A week or so ago I travelled to Vienna for the weekend with some friends. A 4 or 5 hour train journey away — I'd heard a lot of about the city and couldn't wait to see the capital of Austria for myself. 

Schloss Schönbrunn, a beautiful former imperial palace is a famous cultural attraction in Vienna. As Empress Elisabeth of Austria's former summer residence, it's also referred to as 'Sisi's Palace'. The mixture of palaces and whimsical architecture in Vienna gave the city a fairytale feeling.

My sweet tooth couldn't say no to the famous Sachertorte. Traditionally made in Hotel Sacher, it is one of the most famous Viennese culinary delights. So I had to try some, just for the cultural experience, obviously :)

                                      
                                      
                                      
                                      
                                      
                                      

Vienna was in full bloom, with bustling Easter markets and cherry blossom falling from the trees. As a previously self-proclaimed Autumn person, I think Spring might be my new favourite time of the year. The pastel shades of the season perfectly decorated the city's blend of old and modern architecture.

                                         
                                                   

The street art beside the Danube River was amazing. I found this painting of a female astronaut and had to get a photo with it :) 

Vienna is a beautiful city and I could definitely see myself living there one day. Although, the great thing about living in Munich is that I'm relatively close to quite a few cool European cities.

 Next, I've got my eye on Italy! 

-Nikita