Polarstern Cruise TransArc II

[seaice.de]

The two months cruise TransArc II to the Arctic has just started. They have a nice blog:
http://blogs.helmholtz.de/polarstern/2015/08/transarc-ii-per-eisbrecher-auf-den-spuren-des-klimawandels/

Polarstern has just reached 82 N. The position on the map is shown here
http://www.meereisportal.de/en/seaiceexpedition/where-is-polarstern.html

The synoptic observations are available online here:
https://www.awi.de/fileadmin/user_upload/MET/PolarsternCoursePlot/psobsedat.html

The latest ice report deciphered:

• Close pack ice 6/8 to < 7/8 concentration
• All thin first-year ice (30-70 cm thick)
• Ship in easily penetrable ice; conditions not changing

[seaice.de]

Polarstern is now (15-08-24 06:00) at  82.7N, 30.8E, see http://sailwx.info/shiptrack/shipposition.phtml?call=DBLK

Air termperature is at  -3.7°C, water temperature  -1.3°C which indicates surface freezing and bottom melting.

Sea ice conditions:

• Very close pack ice 7/8 to < 8/8 concentration
• All thin first-year ice (30-70 cm thick)
• Ship in easily penetrable ice; conditions not changing

[Neven]

Thanks for this. This confirms that the first-year ice on the Atlantic side of the Arctic has had it easy this year. Given events in the past few years open water all the way to the Pole was a possibility this year.

Will there be regular blog posts on the Helmholtz blog?

[seaice.de]

Thanks for this. This confirms that the first-year ice on the Atlantic side of the Arctic has had it easy this year. Given events in the past few years open water all the way to the Pole was a possibility this year.

Will there be regular blog posts on the Helmholtz blog?

There is a new blog post from today with nice pictures 

http://blogs.helmholtz.de/polarstern/2015/08/das-leben-eines-ozeanographen-waehrend-transarc-ii/

[seaice.de]

english translation followed:
http://blogs.helmholtz.de/polarstern/en/2015/08/life-of-an-oceanographer-during-transarc-ii/

[seaice.de]

2015-Aug-25 09:00   N 83°42' E 030°24'

Air termperature at  -2.1°C, water temperature  -1.6°C

Sea ice conditions deciphered: (no change in sea ice but some icebergs detected)

• Very close pack ice 7/8 to < 8/8 concentration
• 1-5 icebergs, no growlers or bergy bits 
• All thin first-year ice (30-70 cm thick)
• Ship in easily penetrable ice; conditions not changing

[Neven]

Where are those icebergs from? Glacier on Svalbard?

[greatdying2]

2015-Aug-25 09:00   N 83°42' E 030°24'

Air termperature at  -2.1°C, water temperature  -1.6°C

Sea ice conditions deciphered: (no change in sea ice but some icebergs detected)

• Very close pack ice 7/8 to < 8/8 concentration
• 1-5 icebergs, no growlers or bergy bits 
• All thin first-year ice (30-70 cm thick)
• Ship in easily penetrable ice; conditions not changing

Thanks for these updates.

Personally, I will be particularly interested to see how well various thickness/volume models will agree (or disagree) with these in situ observations.

[seaice.de]

Personally, I will be particularly interested to see how well various thickness/volume models will agree (or disagree) with these in situ observations.

Polarstern at 84.3N   31.0E 15-08-26 06:00:

Air temperature dropped to -5.1°C, water decreased to -1.7°C.

Observed ice thickness category increased

• Predominantly medium first-year ice (70-120 cm thick) and thick first-year ice (>120 cm thick) and some thinner (younger) first-year ice

This seems to be in general agreement with Copernicus Marine Service formerly known as MyOcean TOPAZ model, see below

[seaice.de]

Polarstern 15-08-28 05:00 at 85.1N, 42.7E

Yesterday the ice obs code changed from "Ship in easily penetrable ice; conditions not changing to"

• Ship in ice difficult to penetrate; conditions not changing

[seaice.de]

Polarstern at 85.5N, 60.4E 15-08-30 12:00: air temperature at -5.3°C, water at -1.8°C.

Ice category changed to thinner ice:

• Very close pack ice 7/8 to < 8/8 concentration
• All thin first-year ice (30-70 cm thick)

[seaice.de]

Polarstern on its way to the North Pole on the 60E transect. Now on Sept. 6, 2015 at 89N. Air temperature at -4.9°C. Water at -1.5°C:

• Very close pack ice 7/8 to < 8/8 concentration
• Predominantly medium and thick first-year ice with some old ice (usually more than 2 meters thick)
• Ship in ice difficult to penetrate; conditions not changing

Position indicated on Copernicus Marine Service TOPAZ4 ice thickness map below. I will not be able to post further regular updates. Please follow http://blogs.helmholtz.de/polarstern/en/

[seaice.de]

Polarstern is at the North Pole (again)

[Tor Bejnar]

repost from Healy thread in 'Background'

USCGC Healy and RV Polarstern at the North Pole, 7 Sept. 2015.



Location:   Arctic Ocean 
Latitude: 89° 57' 36" N
Longitude: 89° 24' 0" W

Weather Summary:
Cloudy, snow showers, moderate breeze.
Wind Speed:  16 MPH
Temperature:   25° F 
Wind Chill:  12° F