The Mauna Kea astronomical observatories as seen from the air in winter. Mauna Loa is visible in the background.

The Mauna Kea astronomical observatories as seen from the air in winter.

The Mauna Kea astronomical observatories as seen from the air in winter. Mauna Loa is visible in the background.

A pahoehoe lava flow on the slope of Mauna Loa.

A lava formation at the entrance to a lava tube.

Vegetation making inroads into basalt field.

Cave-in section of roof of a lava tube. This is why walking on open lava fields can be quite dangerous.

Inside a lava tube.

Inside a lava tube.

Inside a lava tube.

Mauna Loa at sunset

Hawaiian sunset

Entrance to dome at Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station

The geodesic dome and skylab as seen from the old Clean Air Facility at South Pole Station.

The new Atmospheric Research Observatory (ARO) replaced the old Clean Air Facility. This was built for NOAA's Climate Monitoring and Diagnostics Laboratory in Boulder, Colorado.

Lieutenant Mark Boland taking air samples for Dr. Charles Keeling of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

Lieutenant Mark Boland making Ozone measurements with a Dobson spectrophotometer . Hair is a little out of regulation but no barbers at the South Pole.

Launching an ozonesonde. This balloon transported instrument measures a vertical profile of the ozone layer.

Launching an ozonesonde. This balloon transported instrument measures a vertical profile of the ozone layer.

Ozonesonde launch during the ozone hole episode of 1997.

Sunset over the station in the austral fall of 1997.

Aurora australis over South Pole Station in the 1997 austral winter.

LIDAR measurement emanating from Atmospheric Research Observatory (ARO) Building . This instrument is used to measure stratospheric clouds.

Lee Eason of the Seattle office observing angles with Eskimo helper

A weasel making its way across a lagoon at Point Lay

View of a weasel from the top of a pressure ridge out on the Beaufort Sea

Looking down from the top of a pressure ridge. Man in picture provides sense of height of ridge.

Cat train enroute from Pitt Point to Point Lay. Train is hauled by caterpillar tractors - thus term "cat train"

Cat train enroute from Pitt Point to Point Lay. Train is hauled by caterpillar tractors - thus term "cat train"

Leo Attungowruk and wife standing, Warren Neokok and wife sitting. The men helped with the survey work. At Point Lay Village.

The camp at Pitt Point.

Smoothing a landing strip on sea ice at Pitt Point. Long shadows and frozen sea indicate early in the spring.

Commander Glenn Moore on the left, radioman Simonson, and Billy Neokok.

A Norseman airplane delivering the mail. All mail was airmail in the Arctic field camps.

Helping dig the ice cellar. Because of the permafrost, this served as a year- round refrigerator.

Helping dig the ice cellar. Because of the permafrost, this served as a year- round refrigerator.

Helping dig the ice cellar. Because of the permafrost, this served as a year- round refrigerator.

Chow hall at Point Pitt. Lynn Morgan, in apron, was a great cook.

Celebrating a successful whaling season on the beach at Point Barrow. The whales were cut up and divided among the villagers.

Celebrating a successful whaling season on the beach at Point Barrow. The whales were cut up and divided among the villagers.

Celebrating a successful whaling season on the beach at Point Barrow. The whales were cut up and divided among the villagers. The blanket toss or "nelikatuk?" was a favorite game.

Celebrating a successful whaling season on the beach at Point Barrow. The whales were cut up and divided among the villagers. The blanket toss or "nelikatuk?" was a favorite game.

Celebrating a successful whaling season on the beach at Point Barrow. The whales were cut up and divided among the villagers. The blanket toss or "nelikatuk?" was a favorite game.

Ice floe passing by loaded with trash and waste from Point Barrow, 80 miles to the west.

Neir Negovanna and his wife Roseanna share a reflective moment.

A skinned caribou getting ready for the frying pan. Mosquito headnet man to left. The other man is Samuel Penangoona.

Two LCM's (landing craft medium) used to ferry much of the surveyors' camp to Pitt Point in the late summer.

Navy reservists shuttling survey crew's annual supplies ashore with "Water Buffalo" from an LST of the Barrow Expedition (BAREX). Shallow water necessitated anchoring offshore.

Navy reservists shuttling survey crew's annual supplies ashore with "Water Buffalo" from an LST of the Barrow Expedition (BAREX). Shallow water necessitated anchoring offshore.

An airplane view of the camp at Pitt Point in midsummer.