Chris Cox
Chris Cox, a CIRES scientist from Westminster, Colorado, will serve as a research scientist aboard MOSAiC on leg 3 on the Akademik Federov icebreaker. Cox, who also works in NOAA’s Physical Sciences Division, will focus on the energetic interactions between the atmosphere and the surface that facilitate melting and freezing of sea ice. As part of the Atmosphere Team for MOSAiC, Cox has developed the meteorological and atmospheric surface flux stations (ASFS) to measure the different variables of the surface energy budget in the Arctic. Cox will deploy and maintain these remote stations at the central meteorological camp and distributed network locations on the ice at MOSAiC.
Q: What instrument(s) will you be working on, and what is your favorite one?
A: "At the risk of sounding cliche, the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. We are deploying an instrument package that is collectively capable of observing the complete budget of energy going in and out of the sea ice. So, the instrument suite is my favorite."
Tasks
I have an end-to-end role in developing, deploying and maintaining the meteorological and surface flux stations at the central camp and distributed network, and I will also analyze the collected data.
What are you most excited about the expedition?
Over the past 10 years, I have had the good fortune working in all seasons for various lengths of time at a number of locations around the North American Arctic, the Greenland Ice Sheet, and the tropical Pacific. This fieldwork has exposed me to a variety of observational platforms, foci and methodologies. MOSAiC is comprehensive and it will tie nearly all of these past experiences together.