Thursday, 11th of July

We start early on Thursday morning. There is a detailed plan, which involves three teams. The small boat is going to operate inside the delta, collecting samples in six predefined locations. The large boat is operating outside the sand bar in the coastal area. The ULM team is doing zone Bk12, which covers both the inland and the coastal ground truthing sites.

The takeoff takes place at 8:45am. As we approach the delta it becomes clear that a thin cloud cover will prevent us from collecting any useful remote sensing data. We decide to return before the ground teams leave and wait for the weather conditions to improve. 

The weather becomes worse for a little while, but it does clear after lunch and we take off ones again at 15:15. There is still some cloud cover from the side of the lake, but our are of interest Bk12 is clear and we successfully complete about 2/3 of the planned area.

Mix of filtered and unfiltered runoffs from the marshlands and the channels of the Selenga delta.

The weather continues to change and we observe a thick layer of fog approaching the southern end of the delta. We are forced to cut our flight short in order to be able to land before the fog covers Istomino.

Both ground teams have to return in thick fog, which is particularly tricky for the small boat inside the delta, where navigation is done visually by a local boatman.

In the evening, Ben is taking students for a ride. Eventually, we settle on the pier to watch the sunset, while Ben and Bertrand taking the advantage of the beautiful light to get some awesome material for the next video clip. 

© Галина Шинкарева