Timelapse: watch 129 days in 11 seconds

In early 2005 we installed a timelapse camera system near the weather station, with objectives of visually documenting the variability of weather (esp. clouds), glacier surface texture & roughness, accumulation & ablation, and crater snowcover. Images demonstrate the pronounced and typical diurnal cycle of convection on southwestern slopes, as well as interesting variability within the seasonal cycles.

A movie of 129 days worth of images is available here, spanning 8 Oct. 2009 to 14 Feb. 2010. To provide consistent lighting, these images are all from 6 PM local time, when the upper Breach Wall and the Furtwängler Glacier are illuminated. To fully appreciate the day-to-day variability of weather and snowcover depicted, try watching just one portion of the image (e.g., convection to the South, glacier in foreground).

The two images below are from the same time interval, illustrating dry conditions on a clear day, and fresh 'short rains' snowcover (respectively). Note the white ablation stake in the foreground; 42 cm was exposed in early October of 2009 (shortly prior to date of upper image), increasing a year later (8 Oct. 2010) to 120 cm.