As we have been headed in and out of the sea ice, groups of students have been working with Alice Orlich, an ice researcher and one of the instructors of the NABOS Summer School taking place onboard, to record ice conditions along our track.
The first thing you do in “ice obs” is use your eyes. Ioana, Sveta, and I went up with Alice to the top level of the ship to get the best view. First, we get the full view and feel of the weather and the ice. A panoramic scan of the icescape is captured in pictures around the ship: forward (the bow), left (portside), and right (starboard). Then the next cool task is to enter the “bridge” where the Captain and crew navigate the ship. There is even the wooden “steering wheel” as you might expect to see on a ship – however this one is surrounded by a long panel that stretches the whole width of the ship, with electronic instruments, levers, and radar screens constantly monitoring the sea and ice conditions surrounding the ship. (FYI, it is ship protocol to be very quiet on the bridge so as not to disrupt the serious responsibilities of navigation – no one seems to talk, unless necessary.) We employ the ASSIST (Arctic Shipborne Sea Ice Standardization Tool) software to input the visual observations, which is done hourly while we’re in ice conditions. This is where an incredibly detailed observation system kicks in – to identify the type and percent concentration of the primary, secondary, and tertiary ice present, but also many other physical characteristics and processes that help researchers study the role of sea ice in the ocean, ice and atmospheric system, and aid navigators with a more complete record of the current ice conditions. There are places in the system to input other environmental variables, such as weather conditions, visibility levels, the swell and waves on the ocean, and wildlife sightings. If you want to learn more about the international effort to standardize shipborne sea ice observations in the Arctic via the Ice Watch program – or to see our data from today, and other ASSIST data, visit http://www.iarc.uaf.edu/icewatch.
The view from the bridge provides a perch about 21meters above the ocean surface, making it convenient to spend long hours contemplating the subtleties of the weather, ice, and sea characteristics along the ship track. Observers are mesmerized by features such as ice thickness, stage of melt, and depth of snow cover, which are revealed as the ship breaks through and overturns or displaces the ice.
This screen shot of the ship’s RADAR shows the 4nautical miles (nm) of ocean and ice surface around the ship, at the center. Each ring is spaced at 1nm, and our heading is 335°, or NNE (North/North-East). The hourly ice observation estimates ice conditions within 1nm of the ship, and here we had approximately 80% total concentration, and the two darkest areas are open water “leads” (ice-free openings).
As the ship cracks apart an ice floe, as in the photo above, the thinner area is fractured, including the teal-colored “melt pond.” The different shades of color on the bottom of the pond define varying thicknesses of the ice. The ridge to the right of the melt pond marks where this ice converged with thicker ice (where you can see the more resilient bright blue pond).
At this time of year, areas of open water begin to fill with new ice growth. In the photo above, “grease ice” is forming along the edge of the ice floe in the upper right (notice the matte band between the ice and the water). “Dark nilas” (ice less than 5cm thick) is seen at the lower left, and the wind mixes the falling snow into ribbons of slush in the lower right of the open water lead.
Within a few hours, we reached the ice edge, where winds and ocean swells and waves had broken apart and sorted ice floes and brash (brash is broken-down, loose pieces of ice). Notice in the photo below the relatively continuous pattern of level, first year ice floes (that formed during the 2012-2013 ice growth season), separated by the soup of brash ice. The dark sky above the open water is actually the reflection of the water onto the underside of the cloud layer. This phenomenon is known as “water sky.” Do you think that might have helped mariners find open water in the days before radar?
Hi Lindsay! I think everything you guys are doing over in the Arctic is really cool and interesting. To answer your question, my opinion is that Marines most like did use this before radar was even created to try to navigate because it seems like very accurate and important information. I’ve actually become interested enough to research a little bit more on the topic!
Stephanie, you just made my day when you said that you have been so interested in the blog, and were even inspired to research things a little more on your own! Being out on the ocean, with no landmarks, cloudy skies, and no land for what seems like forever, you start to appreciate even more how people did it in the days before technology like radar and satellites!
Hello Lindsay, it’s me again. To answer your question regarding the situation with mariners not having a radar and having to find open water. Yes, it would have helped them find the open waters since mariners would look towards the sky for guidance when traveling without radars.
Hi Luis, I agree, that would have been a great tool for mariners to use in the days before radar!
Hello Lindsay, I think it might have been an ingenious tactic to use the “water sky” as a form of finding open water in such icy regions and they probably did notice the pattern caused by the phenomenon.
Hi Selvin, I agree, I think they probably did use watersky to their advantage when they needed it!
Hi Lindsay, my name is Jose, and I attend Law enforcement Officers Memorial High School. I was wondering if your your ship has broken through any vital icecaps that the inhabiting organisms may need. As polar bears or air holes that seals may have made in the caps. I’m aware those breathing holes are what polar bears stalk in hopes of capturing a seal. So I was wondering if your ships takes precautions on which trails to follow.
Hi Jose, the ship is extraordinarily small as compared to the fields of ice, so the crack that we make in our path doesn’t affect the wildlife. When we’re in thick ice, you can actually see the ice behind the ship closing in again on the crack the ship made. And when we’re in thinner ice, there are already ice-free pathways through the ice before we get there. So don’t worry about that! 🙂
hi am student from ms.gilbret class have you ever really touch the ice
Hi Kenya, the students onboard participating in the summer school and I have actually been allowed to get off the ship and go out on the ice! Walking on the sea ice in the Arctic was definitely one of the coolest things I’ve ever done. I took a piece of cracked ice and I still have it! (Although it’s in water form now…)
I am one of Ms.Gilbert student . This is my comment I think what you are doing is GREAT. You have taught me new things about the artic that i didnt know before.
Shantrell, thank you SO much for your comment, it made me day! Especially to hear that you have learned new things!