March Calendar (February/April)
This is an ongoing post of research updates during the month. Updates are provided every few days, and you can easily reach the update by clicking the link in the calendar.
3/24/20 – A month long update
I’ve fallen behind on my blog updates the last few weeks. Let’s recap why. The main reason was that I was working on labs and my proposal. It was taking more of my time, and I was becoming aware of the looming (desired) deadline. As such, I found it harder to come in and start with the blog. As with most things, this a pattern of behavior. It is easy to lose the habit. I actually haven’t blogged much research or otherwise. Most of my free time has been on my YouTube channel instead. As we transition to spring, I will try to get back in the swing of things. Of course, there are a lot of factors at play with that.
I’ll start with the research side of things. I finished my proposal, and I have sent it off to my committee for review. We also set a date for my defense! Was it April 24th or 21st? I don’t remember. I’m busy that day anyway because of the social distancing and all. Our labs have been canceled because they aren’t the easiest to do remotely. The group project is still being done by Nigel. I mean, he hasn’t been very communicative, so I am not concerning myself with it. I am still running models at school, but they are running slowly. I need to figure out how (and if) it is possible to get these higher concentration runs to work at higher time steps. Then I am also continuing to study for the comps exam whenever that may be.
On that note, I think we all know we are working from home. It is good and bad (mostly bad). I need to get a routine down, and I do think updating this blog is a good way to start that. I am trying to shower and dress for a virtual meeting each day so I don’t get stuck in laziness. I’ve also been doing a bunch of stuff around the house, yet it is still a wreck. I’ve also tried to start making videos more frequently (every other day perhaps) given all my free time. Obviously, that isn’t a priority over work, but one doesn’t rule out the other.
I am trying to focus, but for my own mental health, I am not letting myself get too overworked if I have a unproductive day. At some point, I say the rest of the day is mine regardless of my progress. Obviously, I need to start thinking of methods to get my routine going. Naturally, this is a tough time for everyone. I fear (and know) I have overreacted. Things aren’t as bad as they could get, but we can only take it one step at a time. We all have our own coping mechanisms. Mine are mostly eating too much. To overcome that, I try to make a smoothing to help pace myself (these are huge and can last hours). I also am trying to make myself to bike every couple days (I haven’t gotten to doing it daily yet). Other than that, I am video chatting with people more. I played Ultimate Werewolf on Zoom and that was a lot of fun.
3/27/2020 – My Week of Stress and Isolation
This has been a tough week. Things really haven’t gotten as bad as the could. I’ve moved past the initial phase of constantly worrying that every little discomfort may be a symptom. Sadly, I’ve only become increasingly worried for my family. I’m sure it goes without saying this hasn’t been the most productive week. Nevertheless, I’m here to talk about what I’ve done to hold myself accountable and to encourage myself to strive for more to say next time!
I’ve been playing around with my models, and I’ve managed to begin to get results for 10%+ concentration at higher (50m+) depths. It seems using a larger dz makes it more stable? Although, I am worried that might mess with the result accuracy or precision.
3/31/2020 – Inching Forward
I spoke to Jacob, and he thinks 10 cm should be just small enough to get reliable results. The trick is needing a dz that is smaller than the actual “mushy layer”. This is the layer where we have a mix of phases occurring which has convection driven by changes in concentration (buoyancy) and temperatures. I am still trying to understand the problem with higher concentrations. For whatever reasons, the Raleigh number it produces is just very small, but higher concentrations should create a bigger density difference between it and the ice. There is no reason why that should hinder the convection. I am running a couple at 5 cm dz as well. Once I get some results I am going to compare these with my 1 cm dz to get a better senses of what effect this has on it.
I need to study more. Jahanvi and I are going to start doing meetings to keep reading Lorenz’s book. I think I might start writing a background chapter for my Thesis. It is the best way for me to review and study for my comps which are only NaN weeks away.
For the Love of Science 
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