First ice station

First ice station: ready, set, go! A mass of red-clothed people flooded the ice and was ready to start their measurements – before a polar bear was spotted sitting on the same floe a couple hundred meters from the ship and sniffing around. Everyone was called back inside and we decided on a stricter polar bear protection mode, with additional people watching the bear at all times. A first test to our nerves. But all went well, we were able to successfully conduct our measurements on the ice: snow and ice properties in the footprint of the radiometers standing on the upper deck of the ship. And on the second day of the ice station, the polar bear had taken off, and the ice work could continue with slightly less jittery nerves.

When the excitement doesn’t come from the outside, you have to generate it yourself: on the last ice station day, we accidentally dropped a phone in one of our ice holes (its drilling can be seen in the picture above). The ice was already drilled down to the sea water, so the phone could have simply taken a 4000 m dive, but it got stuck on the icy walls of the hole, and fortunately the crew provided us with long gripping tongs and we could recover the phone. And we’re proud to announce that the phone is still working!

Meeting Tara Polar Station

At the ice edge, we met Tara Polar Station, a drifting station for the polar regions, which is starting its first test drift through the Arctic sea ice now. It cannot break ice, so it waited for us at the ice edge, where it was anchored to Polarstern for a short meeting of the captains and so that the Taranauts (as we call them) could come over to Polarstern and get a break from the swaying and wobbling of the Tara Station which is a lot stronger than Polarstern’s roll and pitch.
Later, they just followed in our ice-free path for one and a half days until they were far enough from the ice edge that they can drift through the ice for some time. Yesterday we said goodbye to Tara Polar Station and hope they have a good time drifting on!

VAMPIREs again!

Aaaand we’re off to another round: VAMPIRE-2 has started last week on board of the research vessel Polarstern as part of the CONTRASTS campaign. We boarded the ship in Tromsø where our amazing support team (Johanna, Nils, Pavel, and Mario) had already installed and calibrated most of the instruments on the deck of Polarstern the previous days. We set off towards the north and also installed the radiation sensors on a mast at the bow of the ship which now have to be cleaned regularly wearing a life vest and a harness. With all devices up and standing, we finally reached the ice edge yesterday morning and could start measuring sea ice emissivity on top of the ongoing atmospheric measurements. More importantly, we now take every opportunity to go outside and watch the sea ice, its always fluctuating shapes and colors as we pass through it.
Stay tuned to hear of our first ice station coming soon!

Even a good thing has to come to an end

COMPEX-EC in the field is over, and it was a full success. Two weeks in Kiruna with the beautiful Polar 5 research aircraft, equipped with a pretty cool suite of instruments, and all that run by an amazing crowd, was such a good time. Wow! Wow! Wow!

We had seven research flights focusing on under-flying EarthCARE, summing up to more than 30 flight hours. Weather conditions were flyable almost all the time. We could investigate a few cold air outbreaks in the mature state, which was fascinating to see from above and in the instruments. Pretty sure the data collected will serve well for the validation study in the upcoming months. Look out for results on well-known conferences and workshops.

And with that, I’d like to say goodbye and thank you very much for following us.

The well-designed COMPEX-EC logo (credits to Friedhelm Jansen (MPI Hamburg)) and all 7 research flights of COMPEX-EC over a digital terrain model and the mean sea ice conditions during the campaign (University of Bremen).

Snow White and the 7 flights

Today we took off for the 7th and last time with Polar 5. With a newly mixed crew, all PhDs were able to fly again, one of them even made her debut as PI. Mika actively supported her and helped, for example, to write the flight log.
As a PI, of course, you also have other tasks. The day before, the flight route has to be planned and a flight plan has to be written and sent out. During the flight, you have to keep an eye on the flight altitude and the times when the planned points are reached. You also communicate with the pilots from time to time and make sure that all measurements are started and finished at the right time. But of course, everyone thinks along and knows what to do with their instruments, so they make it easier for you to complete the PI tasks.
The view during the flight was great again – we flew over Porsangerfjord on the north coast of Norway, where we could observe the cloud cover thickening towards the north. On the satellite track we launched 5 dropsondes this time and the satellite flew over us in such a way that Polar 5 can be seen again as a signal in the EarthCARE radar data!
Everyone was very happy with this last flight. But Mika was also a little sad because it was the last flight for COMPEX-EC and he had enjoyed flying so much. But the next campaign is sure to come and you can also look forward to a final blog entry in which we look back on the campaign and say goodbye to you!

From watching clouds to eating chocolate cake

Yesterday’s flight took us out over the open sea, where we expected to see some beautiful convective clouds towering up to 4 km. That meant we had to climb higher again — this time to about 4.5 km. Just before takeoff, we checked the latest satellite images and saw that we’d be flying right into a cold air outbreak (CAO) combined with a small low-pressure system moving eastward towards the Barents Sea. Such weather conditions are always fascinating to fly in, as you can expect an interesting mix of clouds and clear sky. In a CAO, cold air is advected over the relatively warm ocean, leading to a strong temperature difference between the sea surface and the higher layers of the troposphere. This causes the atmosphere near the ground to become unstable – the air can rise, cool down – and condensation occurs: clouds form that can tower up impressively. These promising prospects were, of course, particularly exciting for Mika. During the flight, he carefully monitored the dropsondes – and even threw one or two of them out of the plane himself (but only once they were ready for measurement, of course!). And when there was nothing to do, he was busy taking photos of the beautiful clouds that we were able to admire during our flight. Thanks to Mika, we were able to drop a total of 9 dropsondes, the highest number ever during our campaign! This flight was truly special, as our PI of this flight, Marcus, had his 40th birthday! After landing back in Kiruna, our ground team surprised him with a chocolate birthday cake. Naturally, we gathered the whole crew for a birthday photo. Not only did we have a successful flight with lots of stunning clouds along our track, but we also had a special birthday celebration for our PI. Happy 40th birthday, Marcus!

From runway to bowling lane

After two days without a flight, today we could finally take off again. The conditions could have been a little better, but that didn’t stop us from flying to continue our research. The forecast was clear – higher clouds than on the first flights, which is why we needed to go up to over 5 km. But before we got on the plane, the group photo of the entire COMPEX-EC crew was on the agenda. A perfect photo on the first try, and we were ready to board the plane.
The EarthCARE track north of Kiruna over the Norwegian Sea was well suited for the day and the planning focused on flying on the track against and with the satellite flight direction. In addition, dropsondes on a regular grid were launched to provide more precise vertical profiles on the way there and back.
Said, done!
The flight went very well with 6 dropsondes and the EarthCARE underflight. We were also able to observe interesting clouds again, including the typical cellular convection pattern of a cold-air outbreak and some showers. As Polar 5 had to stand outside during the nights, frozen water persisted on the windows, but did not stop us from taking pictures of the cloud formations.
After the successful completion of also this research flight, the fifth successful one by the way, the team enjoyed an evening together in the bowling center. The pins were hit just as well as we matched EarthCARE satellite with our flights – Doublestrike! Mika also took part, but clearly had a hard time with the big bowling balls.
Stay tuned, because the campaign is not over yet!

Satellites, fresh snow and three unicorns

Hello everyone,
it snowed all day today and the conditions were not ideal for flying. But we had a good alternative program! In the morning, we were given a guided tour of the Swedish Institute of Space Physics and got to see various observation devices and satellite models. Of course, we also wanted to spend some time outside in the fresh snow and enjoyed the winter wonderland on walks in the afternoon and late evening. Mika loved it outside, finally some really nice snow and not just the icy residue left over after the thaw of the last few days. He even saw a snow hare and these three funny unicorns. They’ve never been spotted here in Kiruna before. Very special!
Tomorrow the conditions will be better again and the next flight will head north. Stay tuned!

From high above the clouds to deep underground

Hello back,
Today we had a flight-free day, but that doesn’t mean we sat lazily on the couch, of course. We used the morning for tasks such as flight segmentation and processing and visualizing the measured data. In the afternoon, part of our crew visited the iron ore mine in Kiruna. We were picked up by bus in the new town and on the way to the mine we saw, which buildings will have to make way for the mine in the future. This included the church, which is to be moved in one piece! It’s hard to imagine, but preparations are in full swing.
The mine is so big that you actually have underground roads and the bus takes you underground to the visitor area about 500 m underground. There we got an impression of how the iron mining processes work and what changes are planned for the future to make them climate neutral. A 3D model of the area was also used to explain how and why parts of Kiruna have to be moved or rebuilt.
We saw lots of different machines and equipment, such as an excavator used to transport the blasted rock (see photo of us in the excavator shovel).
In between, there was a short break with hot drinks and cookies, which were particularly tasty for Mika, who really wanted to be part of the excursion. When he impatiently asked when he would finally be able to fly again, we told him that the conditions on Thursday were unfortunately not so good, but that there was hope for Friday. So if you also want to know whether we can take off on Friday, just check our blog regularly!
See you soon 🙂

The beauty of Sea Ice and Lenticularis Clouds

On Tuesday, we flew towards the Bothnian Sea – an exciting flight, especially because we could see sea ice from the aircraft! This time, we flew relatively high and reached an altitude of 5200 m – the highest altitude we have flown so far during this campaign. The reason for this? The clouds reached 5000 m, and we aimed to fly above them so our instruments could better detect them.
Fortunately, the clouds broke up just enough to give us a breathtaking view of the Bothnian Sea. As you can imagine, Mika was thrilled and immediately climbed into the glass dome of Polar 5 to enjoy the 360° view. But safety first – we had to secure him there, otherwise, he might have jumped around in excitement after discovering the sea ice.
It was really impressive to see the Bothnian Sea from above, with Finland on one side and Sweden on the other. On the way back, we got to see another treat: Lenticularis clouds, which form when moist air flows over mountains and is pushed to higher altitudes in wave-like patterns. As the air rises in these waves and cools down as a result, clouds form on the ridges, which are smooth and lenticular. Overall, we had a very nice flight!
Our next day will be different, as we will visit a special place here in Kiruna, so stay tuned!