We have sea birds back! And it's getting darker in the evenings! We sampled; we packed around the sampling; we had a very nice formal dinner with long white table cloths, candles and a delicious menu; we went back to sampling and/or packing. And the protection of the ice disappeared! The winds have picked up and Monday's ride has been more "active", with wind speeds of 11-12 m/s (=22-24 knots). All our boxes are packed, labelled with address and packing list, soon to be strapped close. Most boxes are staying on Oden and will be picked up between Sept. 22-24 in Landskrona, Sweden to be then shipped to their respective destination. A few of us are carrying boxes with us because of another cruise coming soon (Andy, Carlton and Paty) ( we have 12 boxes, including 2 coolers to bring in the plane), because of unique frozen samples (Monica) or because they live in Norway and they are close to home (Sara de la Rosa and Anders Sirevaag, U. Bergen, Norway)!
Tomorrow morning we are expected to arrive in Longyearben at 0600 local time. We should arrive at the entrance of the fjord today after 2200. About half of the people of the 64 people on board will fly home tomorrow. Several of the scientists and the crew fly home on Wednesday, including us.
ASCOS has been a very successful expedition! It has been an incredible personal and scientific adventure. Next, come many months of data control and analysis, meetings, and discussions until our many papers are published in scientific journals.
Thank you to our family, friends, colleagues and funsding agenciea who have made it possible for us to be here.
Paty, Monica, Carlton, Andy, and Johan AND the rest of the ASCOS team
Monday, September 8, 2008
Saturday 6 September 2008
Our ice breaking has been very successful, SO successful that we are now 30h ahead of schedule! Thus, we have decided to sample the marginal ice zone for 18h and the adjacent open water for another 12h. This will provide a unique sequence to our early August sampling, followed by our pack ice sampling up to freeze up, now followed by a fall sampling of the same waters. This additional sampling opportunity also implies that we won't be packing until Sunday and Monday!
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Wednesday 3 September 2008
At 1005, we are at 85o 59.62N 06o 59.11E. We spent most of yesterday sailing east and some sailing south. The ice is thicker and all leads are frozen over. Many now have "gardens of frost flowers" now, which Paty really wanted to sample prior to departure; unfortunately, they were not within sampling reach at the lead. Frost flowers are crystalline structures that appear on the surface of newly formed sea ice once it achieves a certain thickness and a certain cold temperature. Oden is advancing at speeds that range from -0.1 knots (moving backwards to break ice) to 8 knots, with an average of approx. 4 knots, except when it does not move. How does icebreaker Oden loosen itself from the grip of the ice? Very briefly, the ship has several large tanks on either side of the ship, filled with several hundreds of liters of water which it can move from port to starboard (left to right) and back very quickly, thus creating just enough space to then move forwards or backwards. It also has a 3rd tank in a different location for the same purpose. In addition, it has 2 side thrusters (engines that provide lateral motion) as well as a water system under the bow that lubricates the sea ice in front of it, so Oden can slide over it and crush it with its weight and forward motion. Indeed, for the past 2 years, Oden has been contracted by the US National Science Foundation to open the channel to McMurdo, in Antarctica, at the end of the austral winter, something that the Oden officers and crew are quite proud of. Thus, a month after returning to Sweden from this Arctic Ocean expedition, Oden will sail south to Punta Arenas, Chile and then on to the Antarctic shelf.
Catherine skiing.JPG
sara-monica-andy-monica-chrisantemum.JPG
Catherine skiing.JPG
sara-monica-andy-monica-chrisantemum.JPG
Tuesday 2 September 2008
At 10:31, we are on our way home; we are currently headed east at 4-8knots, depending on the ice encountered. We left at midnight on Sept. 1 from 87o 07.8N 10o 39.84W and we are not at 86o 53.53N 01o 33.90W. We celebrated the end of a successful ASCOS campaign with both a burst of atmospheric nucleation and a glass of champagne. Some celebrated through the night, as some groups have finished their work for this expedition. Packing comes next. Not yet for us since we have many samples (already collected) still left to analyze, whether in the gas chromatograph or with the microscope-camera system.
This evening, every one but officer Thomas Stromsnas (at the helm), will celebrate with a traditional, mid-summer crayfish and schnapz dinner at 1900. A seemingly boundless pile of crayfish and shrimp (as well as a few quiches for the non-seafood eaters) and assorted sauces were available to all, accompanied by many Swedish drinking songs. It is quite an experience for those living through it for the first time. Otherwise, it is quite delicious. As we are running an experiment, Carlton and Monica have been trading sampling every 6h; thus, one will stay till midnight and the other will get up before 0600. This clearly requires different bed times for all.
This evening, every one but officer Thomas Stromsnas (at the helm), will celebrate with a traditional, mid-summer crayfish and schnapz dinner at 1900. A seemingly boundless pile of crayfish and shrimp (as well as a few quiches for the non-seafood eaters) and assorted sauces were available to all, accompanied by many Swedish drinking songs. It is quite an experience for those living through it for the first time. Otherwise, it is quite delicious. As we are running an experiment, Carlton and Monica have been trading sampling every 6h; thus, one will stay till midnight and the other will get up before 0600. This clearly requires different bed times for all.
Monday, September 1, 2008
Sunday 31 August 2008
We woke up to a spectacularly clear day; we can see the sun bright and yellow in the sky. We have shadows. At 0900, it was only -4C. However, the lead is frozen over with new, clear sea ice that does not seem to be there in certain places. Many people tried to go for a ski or a walk but the fog would roll in and out. Fog = no walk! Fog and/or clouds= fog and cloud water (both being very difficult to obtain)! Frozen lead= no samples? Ah! We broke the ice to sample subsurface water and brought a bucket of new sea ice to sample (once it melts inside the fridge). At 1800, the air temperature started to decrease and, by 21:00, it reached -9C to -10C (14-16F) where it has stayed until now, at midnight. At 00:25 of Monday, the sky is still blue, bright and crisp; the ice and snow reflect the sunlight making everything even brighter. We are at 87o 10.33N, 010o 07.59W.
We had a very nice Sunday night dinner, duck breast, scalloped-creamy potatoes, salad and ice cream for desert. We are supposed to dress up for Sunday dinner; some do, some don't. Then it is back to the lab to finish filtering (carlton), run samples in the gas chromatograph (Andy), continue running experiments and photographing with the microscope (Paty and Monica), move equipment and boxes from lead to ship (Johan) while Qiu Ju (= Chrysanthemum) Gao (U Stockholm; C. Leck's graduate student) (our tireless lab mate) filters and filters 100's of liter of seawater.
Till Tuesday, as today- Monday- is our last sampling day!
We had a very nice Sunday night dinner, duck breast, scalloped-creamy potatoes, salad and ice cream for desert. We are supposed to dress up for Sunday dinner; some do, some don't. Then it is back to the lab to finish filtering (carlton), run samples in the gas chromatograph (Andy), continue running experiments and photographing with the microscope (Paty and Monica), move equipment and boxes from lead to ship (Johan) while Qiu Ju (= Chrysanthemum) Gao (U Stockholm; C. Leck's graduate student) (our tireless lab mate) filters and filters 100's of liter of seawater.
Till Tuesday, as today- Monday- is our last sampling day!
Friday, August 29, 2008
Thursday 28 August 2008
We are drifting south steadily; we went 3.5 nmiles today! We started at 87N o 17.3N, 09o 24.57W and woke up this Friday morning at 87o 14.95N 32.1W, a whooping 2.3 nmiles due S... Air temperatures are now consistently negative. We continue to be under high atmospheric pressure, with very low winds. We have just received the News item below, from the wire service... Up here at 87N, the surface seawater is starting to refreeze in a very spotty way and there is still plenty of open water; in our little corner of the ice, it is difficult to have a broader pan-Arctic perspective.
=======================================
Arctic Ice On The Verge Of Another All-Time Low
Envisat ASAR mosaic from mid-August 2008 showing an almost ice-free Northwest Passage. The direct route through the Northwest Passage is highlighted in the picture by an orange line. The orange dotted line shows the indirect route, called the Amundsen Northwest Passage, which has been passable for almost a month. Credits: ESA (= European Space Agency)
by Staff WritersParis, France (SPX) Aug 29, 2008Following last summer's record minimum ice cover in the Arctic, current observations from ESA's Envisat satellite suggest that the extent of polar sea-ice may again shrink to a level very close to that of last year.
Envisat observations from mid-August depict that a new record of low sea-ice coverage could be reached in a matter of weeks. The animation above is a series of mosaics of the Arctic Ocean created from images acquired between early June and mid-August 2008 from the Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar (ASAR) instrument aboard Envisat.
The dark grey colour represents ice-free areas while blue represents areas covered with sea ice. Current ice coverage in the Arctic has already reached the second absolute minimum since observations from space began 30 years ago. Because the extent of ice cover is usually at its lowest about mid-September, this year's minimum could still fall to set another record low.
Each year, the Arctic Ocean experiences the formation and then melting of vast amounts of ice that floats on the sea surface. An area of ice the size of Europe melts away every summer reaching a minimum in September.
Since satellites began surveying the Arctic in 1978, there has been a regular decrease in the area covered by ice in summer - with ice cover shrinking to its lowest level on record and opening up the most direct route through the Northwest Passage in September 2007.
The direct route through the Northwest Passage - highlighted in the image above by an orange line - is currently almost free of ice, while the indirect route, called the Amundsen Northwest Passage, has been passable for almost a month. This is the second year in a row that the most direct route through the Northwest Passage has opened up.
Prof. Heinrich Miller from the Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI) in Bremerhaven, Germany commented that, "Our ice-breaking research vessel 'Polarstern' is currently on a scientific mission in the Arctic Ocean.
Departing from Iceland, the route has taken the ship through the Northwest Passage into the Canadian Basin where geophysical and geological studies will be carried out along profiles into the Makarov Basin to study the tectonic history and submarine geology of the central Arctic Ocean.
In addition, oceanographic as well as biological studies will be carried out. Polarstern will circumnavigate the whole Arctic Ocean and exit through the Northeast Passage."
Regarding the use of satellite data for polar research Miller continues, "The polar regions, especially the Arctic, are very sensitive indicators of climate change. The UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has shown that these regions are highly vulnerable to rising temperatures and predicted that the Arctic would be virtually ice-free in the summer months by 2070.
Other scientists claim it could become ice-free as early as 2040. Latest satellite observations suggest that the Arctic could be mainly ice-free even earlier."
Miller added, "At AWI we place particular emphasis on studying Arctic sea-ice, and along with in-situ studies of sea-ice thickness change satellite data have been used extensively - not only for the regular observation of changes in the Arctic and Antarctic, but also for optimising the operation of Polarstern in regions covered by sea ice."
The Arctic is one of the most inaccessible regions on Earth, so obtaining measurements of sea ice was difficult before the advent of satellites. For more than 20 years, ESA has been providing satellite data for the study of the cryosphere and hence revolutionising our understanding of the polar regions.
Satellite measurements from radar instruments can acquire images through clouds and also at night. This capability is especially important in areas prone to long periods of bad weather and extended darkness - conditions frequently encountered in the polar regions.
By making available a comprehensive dataset from its Earth Observation satellites and other ground and air-based capabilities, ESA is currently also contributing to one of the most ambitious coordinated science programme ever undertaken in the Arctic and Antarctic - the International Polar Year 2007-2008.
Further exploitation of data collected over the Arctic since 1991 is part of an ESA Initiative on Climate Change that will be proposed to the ESA Member States at its Ministerial Conference in November 2008. The proposal aims to ensure delivery of appropriate information on climate variables derived from satellites.
In 2009, ESA will make another significant contribution research into the cryosphere with the launch of CryoSat-2. The observations made over the three-year lifetime of the mission will provide conclusive evidence on the rates at which ice thickness and cover is diminishing.
=======================================
Arctic Ice On The Verge Of Another All-Time Low
Envisat ASAR mosaic from mid-August 2008 showing an almost ice-free Northwest Passage. The direct route through the Northwest Passage is highlighted in the picture by an orange line. The orange dotted line shows the indirect route, called the Amundsen Northwest Passage, which has been passable for almost a month. Credits: ESA (= European Space Agency)
by Staff WritersParis, France (SPX) Aug 29, 2008Following last summer's record minimum ice cover in the Arctic, current observations from ESA's Envisat satellite suggest that the extent of polar sea-ice may again shrink to a level very close to that of last year.
Envisat observations from mid-August depict that a new record of low sea-ice coverage could be reached in a matter of weeks. The animation above is a series of mosaics of the Arctic Ocean created from images acquired between early June and mid-August 2008 from the Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar (ASAR) instrument aboard Envisat.
The dark grey colour represents ice-free areas while blue represents areas covered with sea ice. Current ice coverage in the Arctic has already reached the second absolute minimum since observations from space began 30 years ago. Because the extent of ice cover is usually at its lowest about mid-September, this year's minimum could still fall to set another record low.
Each year, the Arctic Ocean experiences the formation and then melting of vast amounts of ice that floats on the sea surface. An area of ice the size of Europe melts away every summer reaching a minimum in September.
Since satellites began surveying the Arctic in 1978, there has been a regular decrease in the area covered by ice in summer - with ice cover shrinking to its lowest level on record and opening up the most direct route through the Northwest Passage in September 2007.
The direct route through the Northwest Passage - highlighted in the image above by an orange line - is currently almost free of ice, while the indirect route, called the Amundsen Northwest Passage, has been passable for almost a month. This is the second year in a row that the most direct route through the Northwest Passage has opened up.
Prof. Heinrich Miller from the Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI) in Bremerhaven, Germany commented that, "Our ice-breaking research vessel 'Polarstern' is currently on a scientific mission in the Arctic Ocean.
Departing from Iceland, the route has taken the ship through the Northwest Passage into the Canadian Basin where geophysical and geological studies will be carried out along profiles into the Makarov Basin to study the tectonic history and submarine geology of the central Arctic Ocean.
In addition, oceanographic as well as biological studies will be carried out. Polarstern will circumnavigate the whole Arctic Ocean and exit through the Northeast Passage."
Regarding the use of satellite data for polar research Miller continues, "The polar regions, especially the Arctic, are very sensitive indicators of climate change. The UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has shown that these regions are highly vulnerable to rising temperatures and predicted that the Arctic would be virtually ice-free in the summer months by 2070.
Other scientists claim it could become ice-free as early as 2040. Latest satellite observations suggest that the Arctic could be mainly ice-free even earlier."
Miller added, "At AWI we place particular emphasis on studying Arctic sea-ice, and along with in-situ studies of sea-ice thickness change satellite data have been used extensively - not only for the regular observation of changes in the Arctic and Antarctic, but also for optimising the operation of Polarstern in regions covered by sea ice."
The Arctic is one of the most inaccessible regions on Earth, so obtaining measurements of sea ice was difficult before the advent of satellites. For more than 20 years, ESA has been providing satellite data for the study of the cryosphere and hence revolutionising our understanding of the polar regions.
Satellite measurements from radar instruments can acquire images through clouds and also at night. This capability is especially important in areas prone to long periods of bad weather and extended darkness - conditions frequently encountered in the polar regions.
By making available a comprehensive dataset from its Earth Observation satellites and other ground and air-based capabilities, ESA is currently also contributing to one of the most ambitious coordinated science programme ever undertaken in the Arctic and Antarctic - the International Polar Year 2007-2008.
Further exploitation of data collected over the Arctic since 1991 is part of an ESA Initiative on Climate Change that will be proposed to the ESA Member States at its Ministerial Conference in November 2008. The proposal aims to ensure delivery of appropriate information on climate variables derived from satellites.
In 2009, ESA will make another significant contribution research into the cryosphere with the launch of CryoSat-2. The observations made over the three-year lifetime of the mission will provide conclusive evidence on the rates at which ice thickness and cover is diminishing.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Wednesday 27 August 2008
Every morning we get the following report from the aerosol lab prepared by Doug Orsini (U Leipzig), describing their observations for the previous day and the current meteorological conditions
===========================
Current conditions from the bridge:
Heading: 87.21
Wind True: 82 deg. Wind Speed: 3.1 m/s
Temp. : -3.1 C
There is a planned ship engine test today at 14:30. (This means shut down your atmospheric sampling or you'll sample black ship exhaust)
Tuesday Aug 26, between 12:00 and 16:00 we measured a rather fluctuating but semi-continuous period of nucleation (= formation if tiny new particles). This was the day that the ship sat to the Northwest of a band of sunshine. We are now dominated by a high pressure system, and winds should slowly rotate from the North as it moves through.
Current trajectories (= where the air is coming from and where it has been for the previous days as it affects its chemical and physical properties) show an air history that has been at least 3 days over the pack ice. Air is drier (90% relative humidity), stable (= it is has been thoroughly mixed top to bottom), and coming around the pole from the east.
Helicopter Flights:
Staffan:
"Yesterday at noon, an event (= particle formation) of diameters 3-10nm was detected, confined from ground to 100 meters height (in the air) below the (atmospheric) inversion. We flew at 18:00 out Southeast to the sunny stripe and there was a similar event. At 23:30, that event had faded and cold air moved in under the cloud layer from the east. "
Gas Results:
A perfect sampling mission at 23:30 showed that in the (atmospheric) inversion, elevated levels of DMS were detected,-a factor of 10 higher than the very low levels at the surface. That was also detected at the cloud edge, out in the sun.
===========================
Current conditions from the bridge:
Heading: 87.21
Wind True: 82 deg. Wind Speed: 3.1 m/s
Temp. : -3.1 C
There is a planned ship engine test today at 14:30. (This means shut down your atmospheric sampling or you'll sample black ship exhaust)
Tuesday Aug 26, between 12:00 and 16:00 we measured a rather fluctuating but semi-continuous period of nucleation (= formation if tiny new particles). This was the day that the ship sat to the Northwest of a band of sunshine. We are now dominated by a high pressure system, and winds should slowly rotate from the North as it moves through.
Current trajectories (= where the air is coming from and where it has been for the previous days as it affects its chemical and physical properties) show an air history that has been at least 3 days over the pack ice. Air is drier (90% relative humidity), stable (= it is has been thoroughly mixed top to bottom), and coming around the pole from the east.
Helicopter Flights:
Staffan:
"Yesterday at noon, an event (= particle formation) of diameters 3-10nm was detected, confined from ground to 100 meters height (in the air) below the (atmospheric) inversion. We flew at 18:00 out Southeast to the sunny stripe and there was a similar event. At 23:30, that event had faded and cold air moved in under the cloud layer from the east. "
Gas Results:
A perfect sampling mission at 23:30 showed that in the (atmospheric) inversion, elevated levels of DMS were detected,-a factor of 10 higher than the very low levels at the surface. That was also detected at the cloud edge, out in the sun.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Tuesday 26 August 2008
At 87o 21.20N 07o 41.98W, -2C, winds <4m/s, good visibility, high stratocumulus clouds above us and northwards but clear skies and sun rays can be seen all day in the southward horizon.
Ice-bear story (by Sara de la Rosa):
Six days have passed since the polar bear gave us a curious visit...I guess I've been waiting for his next appearance to happen before I write this story! But so far he's been keeping well away from us.
It was just 6am as Thorsten and I were heading towards the ship from our oceanography ice-tent located some 100 m away from the ship. I was 10 steps from the gangway when I suddenly saw these big eyes staring at me...
The first milliseconds I was just paralized, trying to figure out whether what I saw was some fake bear set up on the ice by the crew as a joke, or whether it was actually a real one! As he slowly turned his head back to watch the seal hole where he was standing by, I realized that it was a real bear. The Arctic experience that I was hoping for!
I had no radio on me, so I tried best I could to get some words out my mouth to tell Thorsten to radio the bridge and warn them of the polar bear's presence. From the ice, the bear first seemed just 50m away from us, but as we got back onto the ship we saw that he was more like 180m away. He seemed a young male bear, but showed absolutely no interest on the icebreaker nor us (9 people awake at the time), watching him for about 40 minutes. It took him a long while to react to the ship's horn that blew to try to scare him off...all he probably wanted was to relax by the seal hole and us to leave him alone! Eventually as the bear retreated, the helicopter took off and scared him even further away from our ice-flow.
The reason that nobody had seen the bear arrive close to the ship the night before was because a dense fog-band was blocking the view from the bear-watchers on the bridge. The bear cleverly kept well out from the visibility line as he walked passed our ice camps.- Therefore, all precautions on the ice have been increased, such that some of us working on the ice have had to miss many working hours. Due to the presence of fog around us we had to stay onboard until visibility cleared up. Weather and visibility have now stayed considerably clear for some days, making both work on the ice and bear-watchers happy.
Ice-bear story (by Sara de la Rosa):
Six days have passed since the polar bear gave us a curious visit...I guess I've been waiting for his next appearance to happen before I write this story! But so far he's been keeping well away from us.
It was just 6am as Thorsten and I were heading towards the ship from our oceanography ice-tent located some 100 m away from the ship. I was 10 steps from the gangway when I suddenly saw these big eyes staring at me...
The first milliseconds I was just paralized, trying to figure out whether what I saw was some fake bear set up on the ice by the crew as a joke, or whether it was actually a real one! As he slowly turned his head back to watch the seal hole where he was standing by, I realized that it was a real bear. The Arctic experience that I was hoping for!
I had no radio on me, so I tried best I could to get some words out my mouth to tell Thorsten to radio the bridge and warn them of the polar bear's presence. From the ice, the bear first seemed just 50m away from us, but as we got back onto the ship we saw that he was more like 180m away. He seemed a young male bear, but showed absolutely no interest on the icebreaker nor us (9 people awake at the time), watching him for about 40 minutes. It took him a long while to react to the ship's horn that blew to try to scare him off...all he probably wanted was to relax by the seal hole and us to leave him alone! Eventually as the bear retreated, the helicopter took off and scared him even further away from our ice-flow.
The reason that nobody had seen the bear arrive close to the ship the night before was because a dense fog-band was blocking the view from the bear-watchers on the bridge. The bear cleverly kept well out from the visibility line as he walked passed our ice camps.- Therefore, all precautions on the ice have been increased, such that some of us working on the ice have had to miss many working hours. Due to the presence of fog around us we had to stay onboard until visibility cleared up. Weather and visibility have now stayed considerably clear for some days, making both work on the ice and bear-watchers happy.
Monday 25 August 2008
At 87o 21.69N, 07o 28.73W, warmer at -1.7C, low winds. Low winds imply that the winds are not coming from a consistent and constant direction; this is not good for the atmospheric particles (=aerosol) and gases that are being sampled continuously on the 4th and 7th decks of Oden, as the exhaust from the single ship engine can be pulled in to the samples, sometimes destroying them. So Oden was turned to face into the wind this morning. Indeed, many of the variables measured in aerosols are in very low concentrations so they require a long sampling of 24h. If they become dirty towards the end of their sampling period, the sample is unusable, despite the effort. They have had a watch system with a scientist watching the pollution monitor around a clock. Sunday and Monday were very exciting for them as they had major events of new atmospheric particle formation (= nucleation events). These very tiny particles grow (= increase in size) to form cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) that provide the "seeds" that form the tiny cloud droplets that will lead to the formation of clouds and fog. The composition, appearance and number of cloud droplets and associated CCN affect the formation of clouds and how long they last. If the number of CCN increases, more, but smaller, cloud droplets will form. This will result in whiter, longer-lasting clouds that reflect more incoming sunlight back into space and allow less solar energy (= heat and light) to reach the sea and the ice surfaces here in the Arctic Ocean. So there is an effect on the biology in seawater and the melting/freezing of seawater and sea ice.
Despite the effort of our dedicated swimmers, the lead froze yesterday evening and we were not able to sample microlayer. This morning the helicopter pilot flew to the lead and created enough wind to crack the ice in a couple of places. We rushed to sample with the small microlayer boat and collected 300 ml of sample (not very much) before the lead started to freeze over again.
At 1900 GMT, Maine Public Broadcasting Network (Maine's National Public Radio station) called Oden to do an interview. It can be heard at
http://www.mpbn.net/radio/mainenews/080825acrtic.htm <http://mail.polar/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.mpbn.net/radio/mainenews/080825acrtic.htm>
We told the journalist that there are 64 people on board= 21 from Oden + 10 from Swedish Polar Research Secretariat logistics (including 2 heli pilots, 2 bear guards, and the physician) + 31 scientists. We have 12 nationalities on board. We work 24h/ day, 7 days per week but also manage to have a social life with some people participating in one or more or none of these activities: karate class, ping pong tournament, cinema club, lecture series and we all celebrate birthdays.
We communicate with our friends, family and colleagues by Iridium email and phone.
We've had a high security level due to the polar bear "highway" we seem to be in but every one (crew, polar and scientists) are pitching in to provide bear guarding so those of us on the ice can do our work. Thank you!
In our lead group, an informal survey indicates that we miss Mexican food, fresh fruit, family and dogs, not necessarily in that order J
A small, unofficial survey indicates that we have been surprised by the small amount of life we can see which makes the surroundings a bit intimidating but the 3 polar bears and 4 seals are more than we expected and keep things exciting. Seeing a lot of ice algae is not as moving for most while Monica and Paty get very excited by their mucus. Those of us who have been here before are surprised by the earlier than expected freeze up and by the swimming activities of the captain and staff captain.
To the scout patrol in Santiago, Chile who sent the following questions, here you go. Send more questions! Thank you!
-¿que tienen que ver las microalgas en todos esto?
Las microalgas, ya sea que esten flotando en el fitoplancton o inmoviles en el hielo, fotosintetizan todo el tiempo mientras haya luz, igual que las plantas terrestres, creando material organica. Como estan en el agua, lo que sueltan queda disuelto en el agua que las rodea (asi como las plantas "sueltan" su perfume al aire que las rodea). Este material organico disuelto (incluyendo gases, particulas y sales) se junta en la superficie del agua, en la interface entre agua y aire (= capa superficial o "surface microlayer") donde esta ahora disponible para ser introducido a la atmosfera por el viento o burbujas.
-¿que tienen las microalgas que de origen al nucleo de las nubes?
Las microalgas producen un gas llamado dimetil sulfuro (DMS) que cuando es introducido en el aire es foto-oxidado por la luz solar a otros compuestos derivados, los cuales forman nucleos de condensacion. Ademas, las microalgas forman material organica disuelta la cual tambien forma microgeles (= "moco" microscopico, si, parecido al moco de la nariz J). Estas microgeles han sido observadas en el agua y en los aerosoles. Esta expedicion esta basada en la hipotesis que estas microgeles tambien actuan como nucleos de condensacion en el aire y, ademas, a veces proveen una superficie para la condensacion de los productos de la oxidacion del DMS.
-¿que les faltan a las algas para producir el nucleo ?
No esta claro. Se piensa que las microalgas producen DMS y el compuesto precursor DMSP (dimetil sulfuro propionato) en agues constantemente frias porque 1) hace frio, como un protector criogenico del material celular; 2) como un agente antibacteriano y an-predador; 3) cuando estan felices y creciendo activamente, como una via metabolica para eliminar energia en exceso (a traves de la formacion y eliminacion de aminoacidos y proteinas que contienen azufre); 4) como respuesta metabolica a un stress externo ambiental (demasiada radiacion ultravioleta, falta de nutrients, mucha luz y falta de luz)
-¿como podriamos ayudar desde aca?
Uds. pueden ayudar reduciendo la cantidad de particulas introducidas en el aire, ya sea quemando menos basura, calentado las casas con metodos que reducen las particulas en el aire, quemando eficientemente, ensenando a otros ninos y en el colegio lo importante que es reciclar, promoviendo la reduccion del smog. Reducir la cantidad de particulas en el aire es muy bueno para la salud y es muy importante para el ambiente.
Despite the effort of our dedicated swimmers, the lead froze yesterday evening and we were not able to sample microlayer. This morning the helicopter pilot flew to the lead and created enough wind to crack the ice in a couple of places. We rushed to sample with the small microlayer boat and collected 300 ml of sample (not very much) before the lead started to freeze over again.
At 1900 GMT, Maine Public Broadcasting Network (Maine's National Public Radio station) called Oden to do an interview. It can be heard at
http://www.mpbn.net/radio/mainenews/080825acrtic.htm <http://mail.polar/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.mpbn.net/radio/mainenews/080825acrtic.htm>
We told the journalist that there are 64 people on board= 21 from Oden + 10 from Swedish Polar Research Secretariat logistics (including 2 heli pilots, 2 bear guards, and the physician) + 31 scientists. We have 12 nationalities on board. We work 24h/ day, 7 days per week but also manage to have a social life with some people participating in one or more or none of these activities: karate class, ping pong tournament, cinema club, lecture series and we all celebrate birthdays.
We communicate with our friends, family and colleagues by Iridium email and phone.
We've had a high security level due to the polar bear "highway" we seem to be in but every one (crew, polar and scientists) are pitching in to provide bear guarding so those of us on the ice can do our work. Thank you!
In our lead group, an informal survey indicates that we miss Mexican food, fresh fruit, family and dogs, not necessarily in that order J
A small, unofficial survey indicates that we have been surprised by the small amount of life we can see which makes the surroundings a bit intimidating but the 3 polar bears and 4 seals are more than we expected and keep things exciting. Seeing a lot of ice algae is not as moving for most while Monica and Paty get very excited by their mucus. Those of us who have been here before are surprised by the earlier than expected freeze up and by the swimming activities of the captain and staff captain.
To the scout patrol in Santiago, Chile who sent the following questions, here you go. Send more questions! Thank you!
-¿que tienen que ver las microalgas en todos esto?
Las microalgas, ya sea que esten flotando en el fitoplancton o inmoviles en el hielo, fotosintetizan todo el tiempo mientras haya luz, igual que las plantas terrestres, creando material organica. Como estan en el agua, lo que sueltan queda disuelto en el agua que las rodea (asi como las plantas "sueltan" su perfume al aire que las rodea). Este material organico disuelto (incluyendo gases, particulas y sales) se junta en la superficie del agua, en la interface entre agua y aire (= capa superficial o "surface microlayer") donde esta ahora disponible para ser introducido a la atmosfera por el viento o burbujas.
-¿que tienen las microalgas que de origen al nucleo de las nubes?
Las microalgas producen un gas llamado dimetil sulfuro (DMS) que cuando es introducido en el aire es foto-oxidado por la luz solar a otros compuestos derivados, los cuales forman nucleos de condensacion. Ademas, las microalgas forman material organica disuelta la cual tambien forma microgeles (= "moco" microscopico, si, parecido al moco de la nariz J). Estas microgeles han sido observadas en el agua y en los aerosoles. Esta expedicion esta basada en la hipotesis que estas microgeles tambien actuan como nucleos de condensacion en el aire y, ademas, a veces proveen una superficie para la condensacion de los productos de la oxidacion del DMS.
-¿que les faltan a las algas para producir el nucleo ?
No esta claro. Se piensa que las microalgas producen DMS y el compuesto precursor DMSP (dimetil sulfuro propionato) en agues constantemente frias porque 1) hace frio, como un protector criogenico del material celular; 2) como un agente antibacteriano y an-predador; 3) cuando estan felices y creciendo activamente, como una via metabolica para eliminar energia en exceso (a traves de la formacion y eliminacion de aminoacidos y proteinas que contienen azufre); 4) como respuesta metabolica a un stress externo ambiental (demasiada radiacion ultravioleta, falta de nutrients, mucha luz y falta de luz)
-¿como podriamos ayudar desde aca?
Uds. pueden ayudar reduciendo la cantidad de particulas introducidas en el aire, ya sea quemando menos basura, calentado las casas con metodos que reducen las particulas en el aire, quemando eficientemente, ensenando a otros ninos y en el colegio lo importante que es reciclar, promoviendo la reduccion del smog. Reducir la cantidad de particulas en el aire es muy bueno para la salud y es muy importante para el ambiente.
Monday, August 25, 2008
August 23 & 24, 2008
At 22:10 GMT on Sunday, we are at 87o 25.02N, 07o 22.43W. Saturday's weather was warmer, almost -0.5C and very calm which translated into fog, fog, fog. The physical oceanography camp consisted of a large canvas tent that held inside an ice hole with instruments deployed down to the water, a winch and multiple computers; yesterday, the tent was replaced by a cubic, hard-shell hut (similar to the one we have at the lead) for bear security reasons. At one point, there were 13 people assembling the hut in order to do it as fast as possible. There still is too much ice to sample seawater at the lead. Now we need stronger winds and of a different direction to dislodge and/or break the ice! Mmm, some days there is too much wind, others not enough...
A plan was conceived Saturday night by one of Oden's oilers, Per Blad, to go swimming and thus break the ice at the lead. And it was implemented on Sunday morning! Oden's Captain and Staff Captain wore orange immersion suits and went into the water, while tied at the waist. Thank you!! The orange suits keep the wearer mostly dry and warm; most oceanographers have to try them on at least once in each cruise but few get to actually wear them in the water, even as training. Hopefully, no one needs to wear it! The ice beaking will facilitate sampling the surface microlayer with our remote controlled boats; Carlton and Johan are at the lead right now sampling. Keep your fingers crossed!
While the ice breaking was going on, Andy and Carlton drilled an ice core, about 3m long. They sliced into 10 cm sections which were brought to the lab where we are slowly melting them in the refrigerator. We will sample them in a few days when they have melted.
A plan was conceived Saturday night by one of Oden's oilers, Per Blad, to go swimming and thus break the ice at the lead. And it was implemented on Sunday morning! Oden's Captain and Staff Captain wore orange immersion suits and went into the water, while tied at the waist. Thank you!! The orange suits keep the wearer mostly dry and warm; most oceanographers have to try them on at least once in each cruise but few get to actually wear them in the water, even as training. Hopefully, no one needs to wear it! The ice beaking will facilitate sampling the surface microlayer with our remote controlled boats; Carlton and Johan are at the lead right now sampling. Keep your fingers crossed!
While the ice breaking was going on, Andy and Carlton drilled an ice core, about 3m long. They sliced into 10 cm sections which were brought to the lab where we are slowly melting them in the refrigerator. We will sample them in a few days when they have melted.
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Friday 8/22/2008
87o 22.25N 07o 21.48.0W; air temperature -7.5C; winds 4-5 m/s; drifting south at 0.1 knots
Still cold at -7.6C and the lead is frozen over. The Canadian OOTI instrument continues sampling over the lead and the report of some frost flowers seen on the newly formed ice should make its owner Dr. Jan Bottenheim (Environment Canada) very happy. All other sensors are covered with ice. All the ship railings and ropes are also covered with hoar frost crystals.
We have used the morning to catch up with sample analyses, data entry, writing these blogs, finishing experiments, and designing and setting up new experiments. The fog comes and goes, controlling the length of time the researchers working at the meteorological and oceanography camps can safely spend outdoors. Pea soup thick fog rolls in and out, such that the observers on the bridge do not have good visibility and the researchers are called in and have to wait, sometimes for many hours, until it is safe for them to go out again.
Still cold at -7.6C and the lead is frozen over. The Canadian OOTI instrument continues sampling over the lead and the report of some frost flowers seen on the newly formed ice should make its owner Dr. Jan Bottenheim (Environment Canada) very happy. All other sensors are covered with ice. All the ship railings and ropes are also covered with hoar frost crystals.
We have used the morning to catch up with sample analyses, data entry, writing these blogs, finishing experiments, and designing and setting up new experiments. The fog comes and goes, controlling the length of time the researchers working at the meteorological and oceanography camps can safely spend outdoors. Pea soup thick fog rolls in and out, such that the observers on the bridge do not have good visibility and the researchers are called in and have to wait, sometimes for many hours, until it is safe for them to go out again.
Thursday 8/21/2008
By 16:00, we are at 87o 22.18N 07o 05.25.0W; air temperature -7.6C (=18.3F); winds <3 m/s; drifting south at 0.1 knots. The sun is still out!! And it is cold, very cold. These conditions of sunny, cold, little fog and high cirrus clouds has shown in the past to be ideal for nucleation events, that is, the formation of the smallest particles that the aerosol instruments can detect (<20 nm, that 10^-9m). And they've seen lots all through the night. These small particles were also seen by the instruments flown by the helicopter. On the other hand, instruments located in the very cold outside are slowing down, computer hard drives are refusing to work properly, and all 3 bubble-related devices are frozen in; the lead has now a 1cm layer of ice over the water.
Monica and Paty want to understand what happens to this organic material in the surface microlayer when it is exposed to light, especially ultraviolet radiation, for 24h per day, as it happens in spring and summer. So we prepared a wooden raft from which we hung our samples in small special bags; we covered one half of the raft with a clear film that blocks all UV radiation and the other side was exposed to natural light. We placed in open water next to the ship and tied it to the ice, just 2m away from the ship. This sounds simple; however, at -7.6C, we both had outer clothing, a life jacket, a radio and a bear guard. I radio the ship's bridge ("command center") for permission to go onto the ice and deploy; depending on what else it is going on, it is granted or we wait until it is OK; down we go. I tie a special belt around my waist which is tied to a rope held by the bear guard (either Lars-Åke Hansson, the ship's bosun or Fredrik Flink, our bear guard); I lay over the edge of the ice so I can get my hands inside the float and either hang or retrieve my baggies; I wear diving gloves; the water is very cold (-1.75C). We are done in 5 minutes. We pick up our samples, return on board Oden, radio the bridge to let them know we're back, return the radio, undress and run to the lab to process our samples.
By late evening, with temperatures staying at -7.6C, the lead is frozen with a 3cm-thick layer of ice and any liquid sampling is difficult as both seawater and chemicals freeze as soon as they are exposed to air.
Monica and Paty want to understand what happens to this organic material in the surface microlayer when it is exposed to light, especially ultraviolet radiation, for 24h per day, as it happens in spring and summer. So we prepared a wooden raft from which we hung our samples in small special bags; we covered one half of the raft with a clear film that blocks all UV radiation and the other side was exposed to natural light. We placed in open water next to the ship and tied it to the ice, just 2m away from the ship. This sounds simple; however, at -7.6C, we both had outer clothing, a life jacket, a radio and a bear guard. I radio the ship's bridge ("command center") for permission to go onto the ice and deploy; depending on what else it is going on, it is granted or we wait until it is OK; down we go. I tie a special belt around my waist which is tied to a rope held by the bear guard (either Lars-Åke Hansson, the ship's bosun or Fredrik Flink, our bear guard); I lay over the edge of the ice so I can get my hands inside the float and either hang or retrieve my baggies; I wear diving gloves; the water is very cold (-1.75C). We are done in 5 minutes. We pick up our samples, return on board Oden, radio the bridge to let them know we're back, return the radio, undress and run to the lab to process our samples.
By late evening, with temperatures staying at -7.6C, the lead is frozen with a 3cm-thick layer of ice and any liquid sampling is difficult as both seawater and chemicals freeze as soon as they are exposed to air.
Wednesday 8/20/2008
This morning at 0615, we were visited by a polar bear seen sleeping about 50m behind the ship. Sara de la Rosa Hohn, who spotted, it will tell us the story. This delayed ALL activities on ice for the morning.
By 12:00, we are at 87o 25.15N 08o 09.04.0W; air temperature -0.6C; winds 4.5-7 m/s; drifting south at 0.1 knots. BUT, the sun came out!! We can see blue sky and shadows for the first time in days! The snow has acquired shades of blue and the open water of the lead glows like a jewel. The lead is open to its widest extension today, almost 1 km wide. Monica went to the lead today; it was her first chance to see the field operations there.
One of the big science questions we have is how does the organic material present in the surface microlayer and subsurface water make it into the air? In open sea water, the wind stirs up the surface, waves form and break, spray and bubbles are generated. Here in the pack ice, if it gets windier then the open leads simply close for the most part, with very little spray visible. Are there bubbles in the water? If so, what size, how many, how frequent? ASCOS has deployed a bubble camera at the lead (G de Leeuw- Finnish Meteorological Institute, operated by Sarah Norris- U Leeds and Andy Hind- Bigelow) to capture images of bubbles rising to the surface. There are bubbles!! The next step is to capture organic material that is available to be "sprayed" into the air. To this effect we have 2 floating systems, the "Bubble Buoy" and the "Bubble Cat", that are simulating the spray by using an air pump that "bubbles" the water and the spray is then collected onto different types of filters for chemical and microscope analyses. Monica spent her time at the lead conducting such experiments, as well as driving the remote controlled surface microlayer boat samplers.
Two seals have visited the lead; today both followed the small remote controlled microlayer sampling boat and the operators had fun following the seals with the boat while slowly sampling. One of the seals would stick out the neck and even more of its body out of the water to see what was going on.
Then, we had a helicopter rescue! The battery on the small microlayer sampler ran out and/or the boat was too far away for an effective control by the operator such that the engine no longer responded; the wind pushed it and it got tangled in the ice. Johan sailed the large sampling boat to the rescue but it got tangled on loose ice on the other side of the lead and now we had 2 lost boats! The helicopter picked up Johan and flew him to the other side of the lead. The small boat was picked up by hand and placed inside the heli. The large boat was tied to a rope and carefully lifted by the heli over the lead and into the ice while Johan waited. Then all people and boats were re-united on the camp side.
By 12:00, we are at 87o 25.15N 08o 09.04.0W; air temperature -0.6C; winds 4.5-7 m/s; drifting south at 0.1 knots. BUT, the sun came out!! We can see blue sky and shadows for the first time in days! The snow has acquired shades of blue and the open water of the lead glows like a jewel. The lead is open to its widest extension today, almost 1 km wide. Monica went to the lead today; it was her first chance to see the field operations there.
One of the big science questions we have is how does the organic material present in the surface microlayer and subsurface water make it into the air? In open sea water, the wind stirs up the surface, waves form and break, spray and bubbles are generated. Here in the pack ice, if it gets windier then the open leads simply close for the most part, with very little spray visible. Are there bubbles in the water? If so, what size, how many, how frequent? ASCOS has deployed a bubble camera at the lead (G de Leeuw- Finnish Meteorological Institute, operated by Sarah Norris- U Leeds and Andy Hind- Bigelow) to capture images of bubbles rising to the surface. There are bubbles!! The next step is to capture organic material that is available to be "sprayed" into the air. To this effect we have 2 floating systems, the "Bubble Buoy" and the "Bubble Cat", that are simulating the spray by using an air pump that "bubbles" the water and the spray is then collected onto different types of filters for chemical and microscope analyses. Monica spent her time at the lead conducting such experiments, as well as driving the remote controlled surface microlayer boat samplers.
Two seals have visited the lead; today both followed the small remote controlled microlayer sampling boat and the operators had fun following the seals with the boat while slowly sampling. One of the seals would stick out the neck and even more of its body out of the water to see what was going on.
Then, we had a helicopter rescue! The battery on the small microlayer sampler ran out and/or the boat was too far away for an effective control by the operator such that the engine no longer responded; the wind pushed it and it got tangled in the ice. Johan sailed the large sampling boat to the rescue but it got tangled on loose ice on the other side of the lead and now we had 2 lost boats! The helicopter picked up Johan and flew him to the other side of the lead. The small boat was picked up by hand and placed inside the heli. The large boat was tied to a rope and carefully lifted by the heli over the lead and into the ice while Johan waited. Then all people and boats were re-united on the camp side.
Tuesday 8/19/2008
87o 28.58N 09o 21.0W; air temperature -0.7C; low winds <2m/s; drifting south at 0.1 knots, cloudy, foggy (what's new about this! Welcome to Arctic Ocean summer weather!)
The seawater and the under side of the sea ice is today filled with clumps and strings of the ice diatom Melosira arctica which look a healthy greenish brown and beautiful under the microscope. Diatoms are pill-box shaped, with the cell located inside the silica (= glass)-made box, with the boxes attached to each other forming long chains. In this case, the chains of cells also have a covering of mucus. This mucus may be what is clogging our filters today.
While Monica and Paty have been doing experiments in the lab on board Oden, Carlton, Gao, Andreas, and Fred have gone to sample the lead. The lead group usually stays out for 4h, with another hour used in transportation to and from the lead and Oden. Andy and Carlton are now driving the snow mobiles. While this is not new for Mainer Carlton, it is a first for Andy; it is the first time in the Arctic Ocean, this close to the North Pole. This is to the great envy of other cruise participants who feel "stuck" inside the ship. One of the main activities at the lead is the exchange of 12V car batteries that provide power for the 2 systems that run continuously (the Canadian OOTI for atmospheric ozone and bromine oxide and a flux system as well as the 3 systems dedicated to bubble images and bubbling flux experiments. We move approximately 13 batteries by snowmobile every day; they are charged on board the ship around the clock.
The seawater and the under side of the sea ice is today filled with clumps and strings of the ice diatom Melosira arctica which look a healthy greenish brown and beautiful under the microscope. Diatoms are pill-box shaped, with the cell located inside the silica (= glass)-made box, with the boxes attached to each other forming long chains. In this case, the chains of cells also have a covering of mucus. This mucus may be what is clogging our filters today.
While Monica and Paty have been doing experiments in the lab on board Oden, Carlton, Gao, Andreas, and Fred have gone to sample the lead. The lead group usually stays out for 4h, with another hour used in transportation to and from the lead and Oden. Andy and Carlton are now driving the snow mobiles. While this is not new for Mainer Carlton, it is a first for Andy; it is the first time in the Arctic Ocean, this close to the North Pole. This is to the great envy of other cruise participants who feel "stuck" inside the ship. One of the main activities at the lead is the exchange of 12V car batteries that provide power for the 2 systems that run continuously (the Canadian OOTI for atmospheric ozone and bromine oxide and a flux system as well as the 3 systems dedicated to bubble images and bubbling flux experiments. We move approximately 13 batteries by snowmobile every day; they are charged on board the ship around the clock.
Saturday 16 to Monday 18 August 2008 2400 GMT
It's been busy, busy. Our position each of these mornings has been 87o 29.6N, 06o 31.83W; then 87o 29.73N, 08o 19.11W; this morning 87o 29.74N, 09o 15.57W; and right now 87o 34.6N, 09o 23.17W... we have drifting westward for the last 3 days!
Winds have calmed down to no wind; this is good for us as the boats operate best under light winds and for the meteorologists who are flying a giant red balloon to sample cloud air. No wind is not good for the atmospheric chemists who depend on some wind of a fixed direction to always be sampling upwind, thus avoiding getting any pollution from the ship in their samples. This lack of wind forced turning the ship around so as to have the bow facing into the wind. This is the 2nd time the ship is loosened from the ice, the engines turned on, the ship turned around and re-tied to the ice: on one side we can use the gangway but on the other we get on and off the ship using a ladder on the side of Oden. Back to the red balloon: it is attached to a very strong line that is spooled into a small winch that allows raising and lowering the balloon. Meteorological and aerosol sensors are hanging from the ballon that can then be taken up to 1 km up in the air and sample clouds. Tonight we hung a very clean piece of rope from the balloon to collect some cloud water; it should freeze as the balloon is released up and up; then the rope will go into a clean bag. Now we have to figure out how to actually sample this water; maybe we'll centrifuge the rope!
The rope did not work as it was too thick, with too many places for the water to hide in. A flat string would be better. So Monica has donated the shoe laces from her running shoes for this; we have washed them with 10% HCl and then with distilled water. They are now the cleanest shoe laces you've ever seen.
Winds have calmed down to no wind; this is good for us as the boats operate best under light winds and for the meteorologists who are flying a giant red balloon to sample cloud air. No wind is not good for the atmospheric chemists who depend on some wind of a fixed direction to always be sampling upwind, thus avoiding getting any pollution from the ship in their samples. This lack of wind forced turning the ship around so as to have the bow facing into the wind. This is the 2nd time the ship is loosened from the ice, the engines turned on, the ship turned around and re-tied to the ice: on one side we can use the gangway but on the other we get on and off the ship using a ladder on the side of Oden. Back to the red balloon: it is attached to a very strong line that is spooled into a small winch that allows raising and lowering the balloon. Meteorological and aerosol sensors are hanging from the ballon that can then be taken up to 1 km up in the air and sample clouds. Tonight we hung a very clean piece of rope from the balloon to collect some cloud water; it should freeze as the balloon is released up and up; then the rope will go into a clean bag. Now we have to figure out how to actually sample this water; maybe we'll centrifuge the rope!
The rope did not work as it was too thick, with too many places for the water to hide in. A flat string would be better. So Monica has donated the shoe laces from her running shoes for this; we have washed them with 10% HCl and then with distilled water. They are now the cleanest shoe laces you've ever seen.
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Friday 15 August 2008, 2300 GMT
We are at 87o 28.62N 06o 05.97W. It is very foggy, enough that all evening sampling on ice was cancelled. We were on our way to the lead to set up OOTI, a sled with sensors designed to measure atmospheric concentrations of ozone and bromine oxide sent by Dr. Jan Bottenheim (Environment Canada) and operated on board by Rachel Chang (U Toronto), when the group was told to return to Oden. OOTI's first day shall be tomorrow. Safety and polar bears (see the picture of the bear at the lead taken by Sven Lidstrom) are very prominent in every body's mind.
There also is an aircraft component to this project: the NASA DC-8 flew over us twice this morning. It is flying all the way from northern Sweden; it is a 10h flight here and back. Research on the aircraft focuses on radiation and clouds (Dr. Ola Persson, U Colorado) and aerosols (Dr. Barbara Brooks, U Leeds). Plus, we have our own helicopter on Oden for both atmospheric science missions and logistical efforts (transport of people and equipment, bear scaring, ice reconnaissance).
Our focus is to understand how clouds are formed in the high Arctic Ocean in the summer. Aerosols (that is particles in the air) contain organic material which we believe result from biological activity in the surface seawater. We will be measuring this biological activity in several ways both in the skin (=surface microlayer) between the air and the water as well as in the water just below this skin (= subsurface water). Phytoplankton and ice algae are the primary producers of this organic material and we've collected them in our filters and observed them under the microscope here.
There also is an aircraft component to this project: the NASA DC-8 flew over us twice this morning. It is flying all the way from northern Sweden; it is a 10h flight here and back. Research on the aircraft focuses on radiation and clouds (Dr. Ola Persson, U Colorado) and aerosols (Dr. Barbara Brooks, U Leeds). Plus, we have our own helicopter on Oden for both atmospheric science missions and logistical efforts (transport of people and equipment, bear scaring, ice reconnaissance).
Our focus is to understand how clouds are formed in the high Arctic Ocean in the summer. Aerosols (that is particles in the air) contain organic material which we believe result from biological activity in the surface seawater. We will be measuring this biological activity in several ways both in the skin (=surface microlayer) between the air and the water as well as in the water just below this skin (= subsurface water). Phytoplankton and ice algae are the primary producers of this organic material and we've collected them in our filters and observed them under the microscope here.
Thursday 14 August 2008
We are at 87o 19.4N 003o 51.04W, The air temperature is -2.0C, foggy, and winds of 9-10 m/s. As the ice floe drifts southwards, on average, it spins and sometimes actually heads towards the north for a large part of the day. The combination of wind, spin and drift filled our sampling site at the lead with ice and we could not deploy our remote controlled boats that sample the very surface layer of seawater. We assembled and tested them in the hut by the lead's "open" water. We spent 4h out, with lunch brought from the ship (sandwiches, dry soup and hot chocolate envelopes, several thermos with hot water, and cookies). Andy is still trying to fix and re-soder the data cable for the underwater light meter and a diagram received today from the manufacturer will be very helpful. A picture taken from the helicopter shows our lead!
Wednesday 13 August 2008
We are at 87o 16.99N 002o 51.97W, The air temperature is -0.9C, foggy, and the wind was up to 13 m/s, sometimes with heavy snow in the afternoon but sunny after 20:00. Today we set up our lead ice camp: a hut and a platform. The hut will provide protection from the cold and any wandering polar bear. We store, prepare and repair equipment as well as enjoy our food there! We will deploy and launch our surface microlayer sampling boats from the platform; it has a small winch to lift and move equipment and a safety line along the back, as we are right at the edge of the ice.
The seal came back. We collected 80 liters of subsurface seawater to bring back to the ship to sample for various things. The cold wind makes working outside slow.
All groups are either setting up camp or sampling from Oden. The meteorologists are assembling 2 masts (15m and 30m tall), each with different meteorological or aerosol instruments. The physical oceanographers have drilled a hole inside their tent and are deploying a string of instruments down to 10 m under the ice. The aerosol and gas chemistry labs continue sampling from the ship round the clock with their automated systems. The helicopter has done a few science flights. Only the people who work on the ice are allowed off the ship; in our group that has been Paty, Andy, Carlton and Johan for now. Some of the scientists with automated systems on the ship would really like to get off the ice but no "touring" is allowed for the time being. You can see the ship next to the ice floe and the layout in the attached pictures.
The days run fast into each other....
The seal came back. We collected 80 liters of subsurface seawater to bring back to the ship to sample for various things. The cold wind makes working outside slow.
All groups are either setting up camp or sampling from Oden. The meteorologists are assembling 2 masts (15m and 30m tall), each with different meteorological or aerosol instruments. The physical oceanographers have drilled a hole inside their tent and are deploying a string of instruments down to 10 m under the ice. The aerosol and gas chemistry labs continue sampling from the ship round the clock with their automated systems. The helicopter has done a few science flights. Only the people who work on the ice are allowed off the ship; in our group that has been Paty, Andy, Carlton and Johan for now. Some of the scientists with automated systems on the ship would really like to get off the ice but no "touring" is allowed for the time being. You can see the ship next to the ice floe and the layout in the attached pictures.
The days run fast into each other....
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
August 13 2008
See the pictures I've put online at the following website:
http://picasaweb.google.com/pmatrai1/Arctic2008
http://picasaweb.google.com/pmatrai1/Arctic2008
August 12, 2008 9:36 GMT
We are at 87o 21.34N 001o 27.22W, The air temperature is -2.6C, foggy, and the wind is at 6.9m/s. Yesterday was a disappointing day. At this time yesterday, at 87N, we had found an ice floe with the ship's radar, circled it and were testing its suitability; we were delighted. However, despite its size (8x10km) and its ice thickness (2-3m), the ice edge kept crumbling every time the ship went next to it; time was spent making a small harbor for Oden. However, when the helicopter was finally able to fly (no fog!), the ice floe had so many melt ponds, so close together and probably too deep (judging by the color), that the ice floe was deemed unsuitable for the deployment and, by the end of the day, we sailed north again. We "sailed" or better "broke ice" through the night.
We have now found and circled a 2nd ice floe. By noon Oden was tied to the ice floe and 2 groups went exploring for possible sites for the meteorology/physical oceanography camp and the lead ice camp. A lead was selected about 2km from Oden; soon, a very curious seal appeared and stayed in the lead while Paty checked salinity and ice thickness. By 1500, the heli was slinging boxes to both camps. By 1600, a polar bear was sighted at the lead camp by the Polar staff who were there receiving the boxes from the helicopter. All ice activities were suspended, all people called in to the ship, the gangway raised, and the heli chased the bear away. And it started to snow heavily. The combination of bad weather and a polar bear significantly slowed all ice activities and many of us have spent the afternoon and evening waiting for clearance to be given. In the case of the lead, we wil start again tomorrow
We have now found and circled a 2nd ice floe. By noon Oden was tied to the ice floe and 2 groups went exploring for possible sites for the meteorology/physical oceanography camp and the lead ice camp. A lead was selected about 2km from Oden; soon, a very curious seal appeared and stayed in the lead while Paty checked salinity and ice thickness. By 1500, the heli was slinging boxes to both camps. By 1600, a polar bear was sighted at the lead camp by the Polar staff who were there receiving the boxes from the helicopter. All ice activities were suspended, all people called in to the ship, the gangway raised, and the heli chased the bear away. And it started to snow heavily. The combination of bad weather and a polar bear significantly slowed all ice activities and many of us have spent the afternoon and evening waiting for clearance to be given. In the case of the lead, we wil start again tomorrow
August 8, 2008
At 14:26, we were at 83o 15.53N, 002o 52.5W; now at 20:00, we are at 83o 32.00N 003o 25.7W. We keep going back and forth across the 0o meridian looking for leads of open water so we break less ice and actually move faster than if we were to go in a straight line. It is snowing, air temp -0.4C, not too windy 6m/s, foggy. However, the sun came out yesterday evening for 1 hour: the many colors of the white/blue ice, the dark blue water, and the blue/white sky.
I finally turned the seawater pump off that provides continuously flowing seawater to the lab, as it is extremely loud right now; the pumping rate was increased to compensate for all the ice that gets flushed into the pipe every time they back the ship before they ram the ice forward for a 2nd time. Lots of vibrations and shaking; very noisy. Most instruments are turned off during this pack ice transit as they don't do well with the vibrations. So people are analyzing data, getting ready, watching movies, reading, exercising or spending time on the bridge watching the impressive panorama unfold.
This morning we had our first ice safety class, all morning, for polar bear deterrence once we work on the ice. Flares and rifles: Load, unload and shoot. During the ice work, the bridge will maintain one person on bear watch for 24h/day. There are professionals on board to scare the bears; they will also use the helicopter to scare the bears. However, we will need to have a scientist as a bear guard every time we go on the ice and always work and travel in pairs. Andy was quite good at firing the flares!
Food is pretty good, even the vegetarian fare that I'm doing; lots of potatoes! We've had chicken and fish once each...
I finally turned the seawater pump off that provides continuously flowing seawater to the lab, as it is extremely loud right now; the pumping rate was increased to compensate for all the ice that gets flushed into the pipe every time they back the ship before they ram the ice forward for a 2nd time. Lots of vibrations and shaking; very noisy. Most instruments are turned off during this pack ice transit as they don't do well with the vibrations. So people are analyzing data, getting ready, watching movies, reading, exercising or spending time on the bridge watching the impressive panorama unfold.
This morning we had our first ice safety class, all morning, for polar bear deterrence once we work on the ice. Flares and rifles: Load, unload and shoot. During the ice work, the bridge will maintain one person on bear watch for 24h/day. There are professionals on board to scare the bears; they will also use the helicopter to scare the bears. However, we will need to have a scientist as a bear guard every time we go on the ice and always work and travel in pairs. Andy was quite good at firing the flares!
Food is pretty good, even the vegetarian fare that I'm doing; lots of potatoes! We've had chicken and fish once each...
Thursday, August 7, 2008
August 6
We went into the pack ice last night. We are following an open water channel (= lead) most of the time but are breaking ice more frequently as the day progresses. We've had lectures about safety for cold, polar bears, and what we will do once we are in the ice. Two polar bears were seen yesterday in the distance. The ice, as it breaks, is sometimes brown "dirty" on top and almost blue underneath; the brown sediment or brown ice algae on or under the ice seen here in the pack ice, was also present in marginal ice zone.
We were all given blue fleece (= polar) warm jackets. We all wear them! However, we will have to wash them all because little blue fibers appeared in our filtered samples yesterday, which is not good. So, we have vacuumed and washed both labs, we all wear lab coats, we have restricted access to a single door. Gao (graduate student from Stockholm University) and Monica are even wearing hair nets!
At 1pm today, we are located at 81o 52.1N 04o 13.2E; it is cold with -1.3C air and -0.6C water temperatures and very windy. We are traveling at 2knots so it will take us 5 days to arrive at 89N where we will establish our ice camp.
Next will come some pictures!
We were all given blue fleece (= polar) warm jackets. We all wear them! However, we will have to wash them all because little blue fibers appeared in our filtered samples yesterday, which is not good. So, we have vacuumed and washed both labs, we all wear lab coats, we have restricted access to a single door. Gao (graduate student from Stockholm University) and Monica are even wearing hair nets!
At 1pm today, we are located at 81o 52.1N 04o 13.2E; it is cold with -1.3C air and -0.6C water temperatures and very windy. We are traveling at 2knots so it will take us 5 days to arrive at 89N where we will establish our ice camp.
Next will come some pictures!
August 4-5
We just arrived at the marginal ice zone (MIZ) this morning, prime polar bear territory but have yet to see them. People have seen whales, birds and seals. It is here we saw many bears in 2001.
No aurora borealis as it has been overcast and foggy more than clear skies. I'd love to see such a display in the sky while here. We've only seen the rolling sun (over the horizon at midnight) and then up again so we have the same light level at 2am as at 2pm. We will be stationary here at the MIZ for 24h. Every one is sampling again and tired. Warm? not too bad. Today's air temp is -1.4C and water temp is 0.8C. Much lower than yesterday. Winds are expected to increase up to 15 m/s so it will soon be colder.
Several other groups are also posting blogs and pictures. Please check them at the following addresses:
http://www.sailwx.info/shiptrack/shipposition.phtml?call=SMLQ - Oden's position and weather
http://ascos.wordpress.com - Stockholm University polar expedition's blog.
http://www.polar.se/expeditioner/swedarctic2008/ascos - Swedish Polar Research Secretariat, information and reports.
http://www.ascos.se - Meteorological Department (MISU) at Stockholm University.
No aurora borealis as it has been overcast and foggy more than clear skies. I'd love to see such a display in the sky while here. We've only seen the rolling sun (over the horizon at midnight) and then up again so we have the same light level at 2am as at 2pm. We will be stationary here at the MIZ for 24h. Every one is sampling again and tired. Warm? not too bad. Today's air temp is -1.4C and water temp is 0.8C. Much lower than yesterday. Winds are expected to increase up to 15 m/s so it will soon be colder.
Several other groups are also posting blogs and pictures. Please check them at the following addresses:
http://www.sailwx.info/
http://ascos.wordpress.com - Stockholm University polar expedition's blog.
http://www.polar.se/
http://www.ascos.se - Meteorological Department (MISU) at Stockholm University.
August 3-4
Our first research station, Open Water, started today when Oden moved slowly into the wind for 24h. All instruments, pumps, and methods are being tested. Some worked, some did not. Some labs lost power, others did not. We have so many sophisticated instruments on board that the power (electricity) demands are VERY high. We had many fuses burned and breakers tripped. The ship's engineers and the staff from the Swedish Polar Research Secretariat (also known as Polar, who provide enormous and strategic support to all scientists- thank you!) were extremely busy. Not much sleep for anyone. Our labs also had problems with power, with lack of flowing seawater in the lab, with misplaced - but finally found- supplies. There is lots of sharing of parts, cables, tools, etc among all the scientists as we help each other solve problems.
August 1-2
We were very busy setting everything up while still in Svalbard. All equipment had to be installed on the lab benches, tied down to the benches, and turned on. All boxes are tied down in the labs and in our storage space. We spent these 2 days checking all instruments are working properly, checking for gas leaks to the instruments (many hours) as we have a limited supply of compressed He, N2, air and H2 for the cruise. We also spent much time transferring liquid N2 (for freezing samples) from the 500L container we ordered to smaller ones
July 31
We arrived in Svalbard in the early hours (1am), having left the US on the 29th or the UK on the 30th. A full flight with many tourists coming to hike and observe the almost (93%) complete solar eclipse.
Sailing plans changed fast. We were told to come on board to stay, on the evening of the 31st as Oden had to leave the dock by 10pm. Why? Because the UK research vessel JC Ross was waiting its turn to unload/load scientists. Pity, we were not able to visit neither with the departing scientists nor the vessel itself
Sailing plans changed fast. We were told to come on board to stay, on the evening of the 31st as Oden had to leave the dock by 10pm. Why? Because the UK research vessel JC Ross was waiting its turn to unload/load scientists. Pity, we were not able to visit neither with the departing scientists nor the vessel itself
Monday, July 28, 2008
On our way to Icebreaker Oden!
All participants are beginning to fly from their various cities of origin to Longyearbyen to join the icebreaker. In the case of our team, Johan Knulst (Sweden) has already left while the remaining four leave tomorrow July 29, 2008: Paty Matrai, Carlton Rauschenberg and Monica Orellana from the US and Andy Hind from the UK. We will board Oden and sail on August 1. We will be sampling open waters and the marginal ice zone already on August 1 and 2 so the first 2 days will be very busy.
We should enter the pack ice on August 3 and go north for the next 5 days.
We will be looking for an ice floe that is ideally large enough (approx. 10km) and thick enough (2-3m). The ship will tie to this ice floe and 2 sampling camps will be established: one for meteorology and physical oceanography and a 2nd one, on the lead (i.e., the edge of the ice) for water and aerosol sampling. This will take 1-3 days.
We should enter the pack ice on August 3 and go north for the next 5 days.
We will be looking for an ice floe that is ideally large enough (approx. 10km) and thick enough (2-3m). The ship will tie to this ice floe and 2 sampling camps will be established: one for meteorology and physical oceanography and a 2nd one, on the lead (i.e., the edge of the ice) for water and aerosol sampling. This will take 1-3 days.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Radio Bío-Bío, Chile, has posted an interview of Mónica on youtube:
Penquistas viajan al Ártico contra el calentamiento global
http://es.youtube.com/watch?v=YVMmdPqMZ3Q
Penquistas viajan al Ártico contra el calentamiento global
http://es.youtube.com/watch?v=YVMmdPqMZ3Q
Friday, July 11, 2008
Preparing for the North Pole
In the Spring of 2008 a busy time starts, when all the equipment needed during the expedition needs to be gathered, repaired, completed, and send to the icebreaker in Sweden. At the same time a number of logistical issues have to be solved. During the first two weeks of June the equipement is loaded on board, and installed when possible. After which a reasonably quiet period follows, during which the participants can prepare physically and mentally for the big trip.
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