So today was finally the day that we measured gravity. We went to Volcán Irazú and surrounding cities to take 4 measurements. The gravimeters are a little annoying to use. They involved turning a dial many times until a red line is in the middle of a scale.
From each point, it took about 45-60 minutes to drive. So after the second point we were all hungry. We went to a cool restaurant on the side of the volcano that provided beautiful views of the surrounding cities.
Being almost 2.5 miles high, the temperature was around 9 degrees Celsius. This is very bizarre for me since we are a little bit north of the equator. Getting out of the car, I quickly put on my fleece sweater as well as my rain coat so that I could be warm. That worked a little; I was still very cold. In the photo above, there are not that many clouds. During the day, the clouds would come in and then dissipate. Sometimes rain drops could be felt. On the way down the mountain, we saw many animals such as cows, horses, and donkeys. It was not unusual to see these animals since they are also in New Jersey. However, it is weird to see them in CR since it is "supposed" to be very hot.
Tomorrow we will use the data collected today to get the true value of local gravity. The gravimeters gave out some numbers. Each gravimeter has its own formula which those numbers are plugged in to. So far this trip is great and I cannot wait to see what else it has in store for us.