The first few days of a polar expedition are usually the coldest and with the sledge at maximum weight the first few tugs over the smallest of lumps seem disproportionately hard.
Trying to describe what it’s like to be here in order to help someone who hasn’t is like explaining what wine…. or beer tastes like to someone who has never touched a drop.
Suffice to say it makes no sense to be here, it’s dangerously cold, day and night it’s far away from everything I and everyone I love.
Life here on this surface of ice is only ever uncomfortable .
So why bother..?..
Partly out of a sense of duty to serve the environmental cause and a token gesture to science, and that is always good food for the soul.
This place has the most beauty and charisma of any environment I have ever lived in.
Nothing can explain that it’s just a feeling I have when I’m here.
It is getting harder to be here but the ‘return’ on my physical investment is still the same.
https://i1.wp.com/www.2dgrees.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/image1-2.jpg?fit=600%2C400400600Martin Hartleyhttp://www.2dgrees.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/site-top-logoklein2.pngMartin Hartley2017-04-05 23:34:132017-04-05 23:34:13It's dangerously cold, day and night
Today was a great demonstration of total collaboration between many parties all wanting to achieve the same objective; measuring the arctic sea ice.
When Martin and I got invited to an ESA meeting in January we met Nathan of NASA who told us about the Icebridge campaign and their new flight route over Svalbard in the spring.
Their objective is to get a better understanding of the Eastern Arctic, something they haven’t been able to do.
We compared our routes and we quickly decided that NASA should do a flyover over our route to the North Pole.
Many emails, coordination and planning went into this.
Icebridge is coming from Thule Greenland and flew over the icecap measuring ice, snow, temperature en route to Svalbard.
First it appeared NASA was going to be a lot earlier then our planned drop-off but then we got delayed by 4 days and risked to miss NASA all together.
Luckily, as if this important mission was serendipitous, today at 3:30 pm the Icebridge P3 plane flew right over us the coordinates perfectly communicated.
Even a minute of latitude to the east or west, there is the chance of missing us completely on this immense Arctic Ocean.
Back in Svalbard is Kyle - engineer but much more really: a genius with GPS and a neck for coordination.
Our Iridium Rock Star sends GPS coordinates every 15 minutes to NASA.
Kyle compiles them and put them in a document for John Sonntag who instructs the pilots where to go and Nathan who is the project manager keeps an eye out for us from his big window in the plane.
John Woods had given us buoys to deploy when we got dropped off with the helicopter to mark a starting point and one to leave on the day of the fly over.
Just following our GPS coordinates would not be enough since we move and the ice drifts.
Flooded with data and everybody’s participation, this morning at 7 am we heard to news of the planned flyover for today coming from Henk-Jan our Basecamp manager.
The plane flew first to the North Pole and 30 minutes later we heard the loud engines and saw the contrails aiming right for us.
Martin filmed from below, Jefferson from the plane and the instruments are working hard to process our data.
Why does this matter?
Each day we are doing 50 measurements - 2 km apart to understand the snow depth on the ice.
By flying over us, Icebridge can calibrate our coordinates on the ice with the coordinates they measured and to get a ground check of the snow we measure each day versus the measurements they get from the snow radar on the plane.
In a few weeks we give them our 1250 measurements and plot them against their flight path ( our trek) and examine if the data is consistent.
This was a real highlight and we feel honored to have work with Icebridge,
Thanks Nathan, John, Kyle and Henk-Jan for making this happen today.
OIB completed the high priority Svalbard North mission.
This mission was designed to sample sea ice on the eastern hemisphere side of the Pole, within the Russian FIR boundary which had formerly been off limits to OIB.
A portion of the return leg to Longyearbyen was along an ICESat-2 ground track.
In addition to Level 1 Requirements SI1 and SI2, this mission addresses sea ice level 1 baseline requirement SI3d by sampling sea ice in the eastern Arctic.
We also coordinated an overflight with the 2Dgrees expedition party, they arrived on the sea ice on April 4 at 88N latitude and 150E longitude and are taking snow depth measurements on their way to the North Pole along a portion of our flight track.
We passed directly over the expedition party at 13:16:05Z and saw them in the DMS, CAMBOT, and FLIR images.
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The weather forecast for the mission showed mainly clear skies with some clouds on the southern portion of the line near Svalbard and haze near the eastern most end of the line.
Haze was indeed present along the southern portion of the line on both the outbound and return legs, and there was also some near the North Pole.
But the haze was thin enough for all instruments to see through and collect good data for most of the mission, with about 15 minutes of ATM data lost on the southern portion of the line due to clouds.
ATM CAMBOT visible image of 2Dgrees team. (NASA/Robbie Russell)
https://i1.wp.com/www.2dgrees.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/2Dgrees_FLIR.jpg?fit=960%2C720720960Henk-Janhttp://www.2dgrees.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/site-top-logoklein2.pngHenk-Jan2017-04-05 22:02:402017-04-05 22:02:40OIB completed the high priority Svalbard North mission.
https://i1.wp.com/www.2dgrees.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/grab.png?fit=640%2C443443640Henk-Janhttp://www.2dgrees.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/site-top-logoklein2.pngHenk-Jan2017-04-05 21:38:502017-04-05 21:46:32Fly over report from NASA
Exploration is about going somewhere collection new information and then sharing it.
Today as we ski along taking snow depth measurements a NASA plane will fly over the top of our route collecting the same data as we do all the way to 90 Degrees North.
Making this happen on constantly shifting surface is not easy. Thanks to the brain power and enthusiasm of the NASA geeks we have managed to do this.
We stepped onto the P3 plane yesterday to meet the whole team and look at the array of equipment all of which is dedicated to measuring sea ice and land ice thickness snow depth and drift.
To be in a unique position to help these amazing people who’s thirst for knowledge about ice on our planets surface is a huge huge honour.
Our ground truthing will help the radar scientists work out if what they are recording and observing is in line with the data they are hoovering up as they fly over.
https://i2.wp.com/www.2dgrees.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/image2.jpg?fit=600%2C400400600Martin Hartleyhttp://www.2dgrees.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/site-top-logoklein2.pngMartin Hartley2017-04-05 09:23:392017-04-05 09:23:39Today is a special day...
https://i0.wp.com/www.2dgrees.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/image1.jpg?fit=275%2C183183275Martin Hartleyhttp://www.2dgrees.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/site-top-logoklein2.pngMartin Hartley2017-04-04 22:54:232017-04-04 22:56:10Millimeters between us and brutal elements
As soon as I stepped inside the helicopter today at Barneo it all came back. The endless vastness of frozen sea water, 7 million square kilometers, the size of Europe. The incredible hostile and forbidden arctic that pushes you away - we humans are not welcome - but beckons you to come back if you stay away for long.
It has been 3 years since our last expedition to Canada from the North Pole yet the routine and expectations and anticipation has not changed one bit.
The Sleds were loaded into the Anatov 74 at 6 am along with lots of gear for the Barneo camp. Somehow there were 4 seats for people to sit on and the rest of us sat on foam pads strapped along the length of the plane. No seat belts were found. This is not an ordinary plane - it flew from Moscow to Svalbard since it can land on ice on a special runway built with a tractor.
During the flight we slept since there are no windows and the suspense of going and flying kept us awake the night before.
Barneo is still getting set up for the tourists that fly there, a marathon that is being held at the North Pole and the odd scientist who comes to collect data. After a wait of about one hour we flew to 88 N and 150 East were the pack ice is good and the drift in our favor.
From the window it looked spectacular but when the fog appeared we saw new leads of open water below us and lots of them.
It got me worried because the open water stretches were giant and potential expedition stoppers if you had to cross them. After 100 East conditions approved and it appeared we were back in thinker and more stable ice that is less dynamic of the influence of current or wind.
Miraculously the fog lifted too as we headed to our drop off point at N88 and 150 East. Helicopter touched down but did not shut off the engine as we got our sleds out and quickly disappeared back into the fog.
Then it was quiet. Quiet in the head, mind, body, all stress slid off me and the only thing that matters now is getting to North Pole - welcome back to simple life - where being warm, staying safe, fed and hydrated counts more then anything else.
https://i0.wp.com/www.2dgrees.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/DSC_3354.jpg?fit=1310%2C8728721310Bernice Notenboomhttp://www.2dgrees.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/site-top-logoklein2.pngBernice Notenboom2017-04-04 22:26:422017-04-05 09:25:03After three years... Back in business
This morning at 07:00 AM Bernice and her team have hit the Ice!
They left Longyearbyen in Svalbard in the night at about 03:00 AM
Antonov 74 Flying to Barneo Ice Station
The team has been delayed by about three days. the coming days are hard work as they have to get used to minus 30 degrees Celcius. Get used to the new environment. And, tomorrow they will have a fly over from the Icebridge plane of NASA. This plane will fly over the 2dgrees team and measure from the air the snow Ice thickness. Bernice and her team will do measurements at the ground at the same time at the same coordinate.
The plane will fly over on Wednesday and Friday.
If all goes according to plan (And during an expedition it never does…) the team will arrive at the North Pole on April 24. We’ll see.
Basecamp in Utrecht The Netherlands
During this time I am the base camp manager. Henk-Jan Geel
My duties are to have daily communication with the team. Update them with weather and ice drift/lead information. Contact with press. And emergency contact for family.
https://i0.wp.com/www.2dgrees.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/DSC_3489cropped.jpg?fit=1310%2C6756751310Henk-Janhttp://www.2dgrees.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/site-top-logoklein2.pngHenk-Jan2017-04-04 09:29:252017-04-04 09:29:25The team has hit the ice!
The lessons to be learned on each expedition is that there is suspense and then a rush.
It is like being a surgeon in the operating room — you may have a quiet night but can’t wonder off too far just in case something happens and then when it does happen you are scrambling to get ready.
Our sleds have long been packed and repacked, our clothes on the bed ready to put on but we are getting hourly reports about the flight being postponed.
It looks like we are now flying at 3 am on the 4th on the second technical flight arriving at Barneo at 5 am and to the start of our expedition around 8 am, a long but spectacular helicopter flight.
We then immediately start skiing to get some miles under our belt since we are now delayed by 3 days.
We are excited and at least one step closer to departure.
If there needs to be something on your bucket list that you haven’t thought of it has to be a visit to KSAT satellite station in Svalbard.
First, you will be blown away by the views of Spitsbergen on the drive to the top and once up there you think you landed on another planet.
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It is impossible to get up there alone but since we are in company of NASA we got a special invitation to spend our Sunday morning with them.
Our NASA boys loved the control room - the list of satellites they are so familiar with and getting the antenna’s ready to receive data when the satellites are approaching.
The satellites I like the most are the ones that fly the polar orbit - 14 of them and the most useful one right now is Sentinal 2B that just launched this fall and provides incredible images in the highest resolution.
In the control room everything is communicated in abbreviations and terms like AOS - acquisition of signal to the LOS - loss of signal.
It all matters between these two moments and the other 94 minutes when the antenna’s are directed to get in position.
It is all programmed, in the control room the technicians are watching if nothing is going wrong as the board list each antenna getting ready in position every few minutes when a new satellite is passing by 24 hours a day/ 7 days a week.
The most important data is weather data used by everybody in the world who has a subscription to the Kongsberg KSAT services.
And the subscribers are many: NOAA to NASA , ESA to Universities and the Met offices around the world - everybody is tuned into receiving the latest weather data.
Most antenna’s can only receive data for 15 minutes before it passed by but I think that is still amazing given that the satellites pass over at 1000 km in the air at an amazing speed of 2 km per second. The data is then send via fiber optic to mainland Norway and dispersed to the subscribers all over the world.
No interpretation of data is done at KSAT but when I talked to director Ole Petter Storstad he mentioned that the recent disaster in Svalbard in the fall made him want to take a closer look at what is happening with climate change in his area.
We went inside the room where the Sentinal B satellite is served and saw it in action as it was getting ready to receive data from the arctic that we all so desperate need to understand the vast changing situation up there.
John Woods from NASA was truly impressed with KSAT because here is where it is all happening in his world.
“To connect the dots and working on satellites for NASA is one thing but actually see them distract information with these attena’s to the ground is whole other level”.
https://i2.wp.com/www.2dgrees.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/DSC_3273.jpeg?fit=644%2C429429644Bernice Notenboomhttp://www.2dgrees.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/site-top-logoklein2.pngBernice Notenboom2017-04-03 17:43:332017-04-04 16:37:24A must see on Svalbard: KSAT
