Всем привет!
I’m a student of the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (State University). I am really interested in doing some research that could be useful for the study of ice and climate change. Here on the ship I’m working on the project in the meteorological group. We do cloud observations every hour during the day and every two hours at night. Also, we compare the data from two instruments, the MTP-5 and radiosondes. The MTP-5 (meteorological temperature profiler) measures the temperature profile of the atmosphere every 5 minutes by tilting back and forth between 0° (horizontal) – 90° (vertical). Radiosondes are weather balloons that also measure temperature. The goal is to measure the temperature inversion in the atmosphere, which is when heat from the Sun is not enough to warm the surface, which makes it cooler near the surface and warmer above.
It is really interesting. I’ve learned a lot of new and useful information about clouds. Unfortunately the most common type of them here is stratus, and there is a lot foggy weather. But also there was a sunny day, so we could observe many different types of clouds, all of them very beautiful.
Today I walked on the Arctic sea ice for the first time. Alice showed us how to bore holes in the ice and measure the thickness of it and the snow. It was exciting. Every second I was scared that I would break her drill, but everything was alright.
So, I’m having a really good time here. There is a lot of interaction with experienced and respectful scientists, also with really interesting and smart students, which is very important and useful for me. All the people here are very friendly and kind. I really like this place! To go on a journey like this was my school dream. I can’t believe that my dream came true.
– Svetlana Lisova
is it possible that if the ice is thick can it still break
Hi Jonathan, yes I can tell you that it is definitely possible because we have been doing it! 🙂 We have been able to break through ice that is almost 6 feet thick (imagine ice as thick as a 6 foot tall person!). But we have also had to turn around when we encountered ice thicker than that. It depends on the type of ship you have, because there are ships that are designed to handle even thicker ice than this one can!