What will the MOSAiC scientists be studying during the year-long expedition? How exactly do we define the Arctic region? Find out in this week's MOSAiC Monday. Figure credit: AWI
Jakob Belter and Jan Rohde of AWI determine the thickness of the ice floe equipped with drill and gauge. Photo: Katharina Weiss-Tuider / AWI
Today is day 3 of the official MOSAiC drift. Over the past week a location for the Central Observatory was finalized and we spent a couple days transferring cargo and personnel from Federov. During the rendezvous with Federov a mother polar bear and yearling cub spent quite a bit of time investigating the ships.
The MOSAiC (Multidisciplinary Drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate) expedition officially launched on September 20, 2019 when the icebreaker Polarstern set sail from Tromsø, Norway. The Polarstern will be looking for an ice floe that it can freeze into and drift along with across the Arctic for a year.
A 2005 photograph captures the essence of nilas sea ice in Baffin Bay. Photo: Brocken Inaglory/Wikimedia Commons
Once every hour, a pair of volunteer ice observers climbs up to the 8th floor of the ship and goes out on the observation deck to watch the ice. For 10 minutes, they watch sea ice pass by the ship. They note how much ice there is, and if there is any water visible, whether it is only in cracks, in patches, or in wide channels called leads.
Daniel Watkins
