Lindsay in the Arctic

Last night I was up writing, after midnight ship time (mid-day local time). All of a sudden I felt like a flashlight was coming through my window. I looked out the porthole, and it was solid ice. Not only that, the Sun was shining, and I realized we hadn’t seen a clear sunny day since we left Norway. I put on layers of clothes and boots, and went outside, and it was like the heavens opened up and poured light blue sky onto sheets and piles of shimmering white ice. Several other people must have seen the same flashlight in their window because all of a sudden people appeared out on the deck, smiling and staring at the Earth. I think everyone was probably re-invigorated as to the reason why we are all on this ship. Here’s the view.

Let me paint you another picture for this one. It was almost 2am “ship time” (mid-day local time), and everyone is out on the deck because the Sun is out (which has been rare). Everyone’s fingers are about to freeze off, but no one wants to leave the view of jagged piles and smooth panes of solid white ice under a clear blue sky. It’s like a combination of a National Geographic centerfold, the ice planet of Hoth from Star Wars, and some fairy tale land. And of course, everyone is hoping to spot polar bears, the “holy grail” of Arctic animal sightings. As the ship slowly cracks its way through ice, we see footprints headed in the same direction as the ship. We try to keep the tracks in sight, and then someone says “I think I see two dots…” Everyone’s binoculars and cameras point in that direction, and then the dots start to move. As we get closer, there are two polar bears. (Insert here sounds of happiness and excitement from everyone.) The bears are still a ways off, but we can tell they’re curious about the big red noisy thing passing by them. They stare and investigate for a minute, and then meander off to blend into the white.

 Later, mid-afternoon ship time (evening local time), we were all quietly working in the common room, and an announcement came over the intercom system in Russian. One of the Russians in the room says “Polar bear! Stern!” MASS HYSTERIA. Everyone grabbed their cameras (we all seem to carry cameras and laptops on us at all times) and ran. Literally. Coat or not. We got to the stern of the boat, along with some of the crew and scientists who appeared from the labs, and again we found the movement of white bear on white snow, walking around and staring back at us (in a foggy, cloudy sky this time). I think most will continue to sprint outside whenever that announcement is made.

Imagine taking a tube of ocean water from the rosette instrument in the photo, and wanting to find out the dissolved oxygen content in the water (which can tell you about living organisms, or biomass, in the water, or tell you more about where that water initially came from). How do you get it out of the tube, and into a controlled container in the lab, without contaminating it with the oxygen that you’re breathing? And how do you manage that when a team of other scientists also need to do their own experiments with the same samples? The answer is a combination of skill and teamwork, along with an eagle eye for details. Scientists monitor the rosette as it rises through the water, and when it resurfaces with bottles full of water samples taken at different depths, an assembly line begins.

One person is a logkeeper documenting the samples, 2 are runners who bring the samples into the lab, and 3 more prepare the samples according to how each team leader has specified. Then there are 2 more who prepare water samples for oxygen analysis. To get the water from the bottles with minimal contamination with oxygen from the air, they attach a tube to the bottle, and put the other end of the tube all the way down into a flask (see the flask and tube in the picture below). They let the water flow into the flask – and even overflow a bit, so that the water that remains in the flask is as uncontaminated as possible. (The flow also needs to be gentle, to minimize bubbles.) A stopper goes in the flask, and it’s ready for experiments! One of these scientists said to me that she was recently cleaning tubes and containers in the lab (usually not her favorite part of the job), and then she looked out the open door. There was the Arctic, which made it the best time she ever had cleaning glassware.

The more I learn about this ship, the more I am in awe of it and anyone who knows how to operate it, and deal with ice conditions. Every morning there is a briefing meeting with the Captain, the expedition’s Chief Scientists, the Director of the NABOS Summer School, and a couple lead scientists. I have been invited to join the meeting, which starts out with sharing the weather forecast – here, weather doesn’t just mean air temperature and wind, it also means ocean temperature and sea ice conditions. Based on anticipated ice conditions in our path for the day, they decide the best route to take to navigate through that ice, and estimate how long it will take us to get to our planned “stations” to deploy instruments, take samples, and make observations (thicker ice = slower ship). Yesterday they discussed an operation for the day that would take some extra tactical planning. Throughout this cruise, we have been deploying moorings. (For any new readers, a mooring is a series of scientific monitoring instruments dropped into the ocean on a cable, that reaches between an anchor on the sea floor and (nearly) the surface). But they were talking now about retrieving a mooring that was put in place a few years ago. The goal was to get a signal from the mooring, then retrieve it by “trailing,” meaning the ship would drop a cable near the mooring’s position, and “trail” it through the water until it was “hooked.” But the ice that many people are here to study is changing the plans. We are not able to get through the ice to that mooring, so the route is being updated to get to the next series of stations. Stay tuned!

What do you see when you look at the sky? Our project team looks at the sky for this purpose: to identify cloud types. It doesn’t seem difficult, as there are only three main types of clouds: cumulus, stratus, and cirrus. But in real life, we have large quantities of mixed types, for example: Cirrocumulus or Cirrostratus. And also we need to state the amount of clear sky, sun visibility, and cloud altitude. It’s really interesting! The only upsetting thing is that we need to observe clouds often, even at night (although technically astronomical noon falls at nighttime, according to ship time). We measure the cloud’s altitude with the onboard meteorological station’s devices, but other measuring we do without any devices. The main cloud specialist said that it helps to compare our measurements with older data.

The main goal of our research is to compare various atmospheric layers’ temperature data from the MTP-5 (a device which measures the temperature of different atmospheric layers every 5 minutes) with data from radiosondes (scientific balloons). Observations about cloudiness can help to account for differences between the two types of data. MTP-5 can make mistakes under rain, and when clouds are low. And we have low stratus for more than a week now already!

Russian Translation:

Задумываетесь ли вы о том, что именно видите, когда смотрите на небо? Наша команда смотрит на небо с вполне определенной целью – мы должны определять различные параметры облаков. На первый взгляд, это совсем не страшно – их не так уж много: перистые, слоистые и кучевые. Но существует огромное количество смешанных типов, таких как Перисто-кучевые, перисто-слоистые и так далее. И это ещё не учитывая, что надо указывать количество открытого неба, высоту облаков и видимость солнца. Но это действительно интересное занятие. Единственный существенный минус – измерения надо проводить очень часто, даже ночью (хотя технически, сейчас в корабельную ночь полдень). Высоту мы считываем с приборов корабельной метеостанции, но все остальное надо делать вручную. Главный специалист по облакам говорит, чтобы сохранялась сравнимость со старыми измерениями, которые были сделаны ещё до спутников. Он же старается научить нас определять высоту облаков без приборов.

 Основное направление исследований – сравнение данных о температуре различных слоев атмосферы, полученных с помощью МТП-5 (прибор, который измеряет температуру различных слоев атмосферы каждые пять минут), с данными с метеозондов. А информация об облачности поможет объяснить неточности в показаниях прибора – при низкой облачности и дожде он может давать сбои. А у нас вторую неделю висят низкие слоистые облака.

 – Irina Larkina

Irina Repina, a scientist onboard, has spent over a year on this ship over several expeditions in the Arctic and Antarctic! (And a personal side note: when I participated in a research expedition to Antarctica 3 years ago, Irina and I were roommates!) Summer School students are working with her to study atmospheric conditions over the Arctic, and her lab could not be much cooler. When I say “lab,” I mean the onboard Meteorological Lab, the Flight Tower (where helicopters would be guided in, as needed), not to mention the entire Arctic itself. Their focus is the atmospheric boundary layer – the lower layer of the atmosphere mostly influenced by “surface effects” like temperature, wind, and humidity. But that’s just the first step. They want to learn how this layer affects conditions of the sea ice underneath it, like the extent of the ice, its thickness, and its movement. So, how do you measure atmosphere and ice from a ship? Luckily, everyone brought the most important tool with them – their senses and their knowledge. Looking out from the Flight Tower, they observe sea ice conditions – how concentrated is it? Is it a solid cover of ice, big ice floes, or little chunks? Is it surrounding us, and if not, which direction is it?

Other tools are in the Meteorology Lab and the Flight Tower (they are close to each other, but you do need to go outside to go from one to the other). You can see your exact latitude and longitude, a radar screen with the live location, direction, and concentration of the surrounding sea ice, and monitors with continually updated data like temperature, humidity, wind speed and direction, and concentration of gases like carbon dioxide and methane in the atmosphere.

And – I love this – I’ve mentioned how science is like a puzzle. Each field, scientist, and instrument provides a piece. Different methods may give you similar data – using more than one method might give you that little extra bit of information. For example, Irina’s team use the ship’s multiple onboard weather stations (see the photo below), which include an anemometer (the red devices, to measure wind speed and direction), a sonic anemometer (the little pole with the 4 little arms sticking off of it, to measure wind speed/direction in 3D), barometer (for atmospheric pressure), thermometer (the device that looks like a pine cone), and more. But they are also working with another scientist onboard, Kensuke Komatsu, and comparing their observations with data from his radiosondes experiments – huge scientific balloons that he releases off the ship to measure atmospheric conditions as they rise. So on one hand, the weather station can take continual measurements… but you can’t continually release balloons. On the other hand, the balloon can rise through the atmosphere as it takes measurements… but the weather station can’t. This is one of the great things I keep seeing over and over again on this expedition – with science, you need the technology, but you also really need what you bring with you: knowledge, experience, people to work with – and all of your senses.

 

 

The Summer School students’ visits to the hydro-chemistry lab have started. Yesterday I went to watch a CTD (conductivity, temperature, depth) cast. As the instruments were lowered down through the upper 1000 meters of the water column, profiles formed on the computer screen. First, cold and low salinity water on the surface. Soon, salinity started to increase, and then temperature, as the CTD was descending through the Atlantic water layer. Atlantic water is warm and saline, and flows here from the Atlantic Ocean through the Fram Strait and Barents Sea. I’ve been studying properties of waters in the Fram Strait, which is located between Greenland and Spitsbergen, and is a deep entrance to/exit from the Arctic Ocean. In the western Fram Strait, cold polar waters are transported southward by the East Greenland Current, and in the eastern parts, the West Spitsbergen Current carries Atlantic water northward. Some of the Atlantic water re-circulates, and turns back southward in the strait. And some of the Atlantic water makes a much longer loop inside the Arctic Ocean, and may eventually return south through the strait. Seeing Atlantic water here is like meeting an old friend. It is still recognizable, but it has undergone some changes, and is colder and less saline than when entering.

 Unlike the Atlantic water, I have gotten a bit warmer as we have progressed further east along the Siberian shelf slopes. It seems I’ve caught a mild cold that someone picked up from Kirkenes and that has since been going around our closed ship.

 -Marika Marnela

A scientific expedition goes full-steam ahead at all times. Scientists are running experiments in the lab and deploying instruments and collecting water samples at all hours. Students attend – and give – daily presentations, and work on projects offered by scientists onboard to get them involved first-hand in Arctic research. And I run around trying to be everywhere at once so I can tell all of you about all the awesomeness on. So on Sunday, we had a couple special treats. We spent a little time in the afternoon with some icebreaker games (get it? icebreaker) provided by Florence, a student onboard. (She has a million of them in her back pocket.) The result of this experiment? Excessive bouts of laughter.

 

“Telephone” mixed with “Charades:” Without talking, Drew has to get Sasha to guess the phrase (in this case, the phrase was “climate model”). Without finding out the real answer, Sasha has to do the same for Vladimir, then continuing on to Masha, Mathieu, and finally Alena, who then has to say what she thinks the answer is. And let the hilarity ensue.

 

And here is a yummy Sunday treat. Ice cream! For “tea” (meaning our afternoon snack), we got an enormous helping of ice cream, and of course, what I’m sure you all would assume naturally goes with ice cream – a huge piece of sausage wrapped with bread. It was like a jumbo version of the “mini-cocktail franks wrapped in crescent rolls” appetizer that my brothers would always help my mom make for family events. But I don’t think we ever thought of combining it with ice cream.

Last night I, and most likely everyone else as well, was kept awake by almost continuous scratching of ice against the ship. In our yoga session this morning, the relaxation was interrupted by bursts of laughter when the voice on the dvd told us to listen to the sound of the ocean. I think the instructor was talking about a different ocean: our ocean sounded more like construction work area. Sounds of the ship shaking and creaking were blended with the noise from ice and metal being scratched against each other.

 I thought we had finally reached the solid ice cover, but when I went outside, there were still smaller and larger openings in the ice cover, with ice floes floating around. I was confused: Are we still in the marginal ice zone, or is the solid ice cover this broken and speckled with open water? The marginal ice zone is defined as the area where waves and swells break the ice cover into smaller (near the edge) and larger (further inside the ice cover) floes. This marginal zone is typically 100-150 km wide, but as the ice cover is getting thinner with the warming climate, the waves and swells are expected to penetrate further into the ice, expanding the width of the marginal ice zone. Changes in the characteristics and physical processes in the marginal ice zone are important, because most of the ecosystem in the Arctic Ocean depends on the productivity of this area. A wider marginal ice zone is likely to increase biological production in the Arctic Ocean, as it provides perfect conditions, light, and nutrients for phytoplankton, which further maintains the whole food chain, all the way up to the seals and polar bears.

 So are we still in the marginal ice zone or did we already reach the solid ice cover? Even when you know the definition, here it provides no answers as you look around yourself. The definition becomes useless without satellite images; without them we cannot tell whether or not this, or the next, ice floe is attached to the solid Arctic ice cover. 

Finnish Translation

Viime yona en mina, eika todennakoisesti kukaan muukaan, pystynyt nukkumaan laivan kylkia lahes jatkuvasti raapivien jaalauttojen vuoksi. Aamun joogaharjoituksen rentoutus paattyi naurunpurskahduksiin, kun nauhoitteen aani yritti loihtia mieliimme meren aania. Ohjaaja puhui luultavasti eri meresta: meidan meremme kuulosti pikemmin rakennustyomaalta. Laivan tarina ja narina sekoittuivat meteliin, joka syntyy jaan ja metallin hangatessa toisiaan vasten.

 Ajattelin, etta olimme vihdoin saavuttaneet kiintean jaapeitteen, mutta mennessani ulos, nain, etta jaapeite oli edelleen erikokoisten rakojen ja railojen taplittama. Ihmettelin olemmeko edelleen jaan reunavyohykkeella vai onko kiintea jaapeitekin nain rikkonainen? Jaan reunavyohykkeella tarkoitetaan aluetta, jossa aallot ja maininki rikkovat jaapeitteen pienemmiksi (lahella reunaa) ja suuremmiksi (sisemmalla jaapeitteessa) lautoiksi. Tama vyohyke on tyypillisesti 100-150 km levea, mutta kun jaapeite ohenee ilmaston lammetessa, aallot ja maininki voivat edeta pidemmalle jaapeitteeseen leventaen reuna-aluetta. Jaan reunavyohykkeen fysikaalisten ominaisuuksien ja prosessien muutosten tutkiminen on tarkaa, koska suuri osa Pohjoisen jaameren ekosysteemista on keskittynyt talle alueelle. Leveampi jaan reunavyohyke todennakoisesti lisaa biologista tuotantoa Pohjoisella jaamerella, silla se tarjoaa hyvat olosuhteet, valoa ja ravinteita, phytoplanktonille, joka puolestaan yllapitaa koko ravintoketjua aina hylkeisiin ja jaakarhuihin asti.

 Joten olemmeko edelleen jaan reunavyohykkeella vai saavutimmeko jo kiintean jaapeitteen? Vaikka maaritelma on tuttu, siita ei ole apua, kun taalla katselee ymparilleen. Ilman satelliittikuvia maaritelmasta tulee hyodyton: ilman niita emme pysty sanomaan on tama, tai seuraava, jaalautta osa Pohjoisen jaameren kiinteaa jaapeitetta.

 – Meri Korhonen

 

 

My first steps on the sea ice was four years ago in Barrow, Alaska. Back then I was helping to measure the ice thickness of shorefast sea ice (ice very close and attached to the shore). This was one of the moments in my life that led to the decision to study Arctic climate. I wanted to understand more. Why does the sea ice in the Arctic melt? Why do we have years with very low sea-ice extent, and other years with a large sea-ice extent? For sure there is no easy answer! It’s like doing a puzzle – however, to solve the puzzle, many scientists have to work together. For my PhD, I try to understand some of the puzzle pieces that explain the atmospheric processes that control the sea-ice extent, and yesterday I had the opportunity to see some scientists in action try to solve some oceanic parts of the puzzle. Five scientists deployed an oceanic buoy (also called ice-tethered profiler) on the ice, which is designed to measure properties of the ocean (down to around 800m depth). For example, in this region we can even measure a warmer ocean current that originates from the Atlantic Ocean (far far away from here). To understand the impact this current has on Arctic climate (including ocean, sea ice and atmosphere), we need as many measurements as possible to help solve a couple more puzzle pieces. 

To deploy the buoy, scientists were let down onto the ice in a sort of fishing net that was attached to a crane. Even for some of the well-experienced scientists this was the first time they had to use this kind of amusing “elevator.” The work on the ice started with the deployment of the meteorological buoy (in the photo, the white thing on the sled). While this deployment went quite fast, the deployment of the oceanic buoy (the yellow object in the photo) required almost 4 hours of work. Fortunately the weather was quite good, with almost no wind and temperatures around 0°C (32°F), which is a blessing if you have to work with your bare hands (it’s hard to work with small screws with thick gloves on). It also made the watching for us much more enjoyable. 🙂 Unfortunately we summer school students were not allowed to go on the ice yet. But many of us, including me, cannot wait to finally have the opportunity to get off the ship and out on the ice, to have the full Arctic experience! 

How Does the Buoy Work? You Can Track it Yourself!

The buoy is basically structured in two parts. One part is under the ice (this is a long cable that goes about 800 deep into the ocean with several instruments attached to it), and another part is above the ice (that is the yellow device that looks similar to a bottle cork, and can float if needed). To install the lower part, scientists drill a hole into the ice wide enough to fit the instruments. One of the main instruments is a profiler, which goes up and down along the cable and measures the salinity and temperature of the upper ocean layers (this gives us information about where the water is coming from). Another instrument attached to the cable measures oxygen and other parameters that give more information on the water masses. The yellow cork is connected to the cable with the instruments, and is put on top of the ice to hold the whole structure in place. Even if the ice starts to melt and the hole that scientists made in the ice gets bigger due to melting, the cork will not sink (so it really is kind of a cork). And if all the surrounding ice melts (like in the summer), the cork would float on the water, so the instruments hopefully do not get lost. The yellow cork also includes a satellite sensor that sends out the data directly and connects the buoy to the internet. So you can actually watch the buoy (luckily from your warm home or school)! The data are transferred to the internet in real time, and should be already online now! Check it out here: http://www.whoi.edu/itp – the number of this buoy is 72, and it was deployed at latitude 80°48N and longitude 132°37E.

 – Marie Kapsch