Research News
Arctic wolf in front of Polar 5 in Alert, Canada. Photo: Stefan Hendricks/AWI
Research Aircraft Polar 5 Reveals: Arctic Sea Ice Thins Down
During their spring expedition to the Arctic and at icy temperatures of up to minus 30°C, the scientists from the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) investigated the sea ice, the distribution of aerosols, the concentration of ozone and the accuracy of satellite measurements.
The researchers were able to determine the thickness of the sea ice by towing a four metre long electromagnetic ice thickness sensor at the end of an 80 metre long rope suspended from the Polar 5 aircraft 15 metres above the ice surface. The provisional evaluation of the measurements reveals that the one-year-old sea ice in the Beaufort Sea is about 20 to 30 centimetres thinner this year than in the two previous years. "I would not expect this thin one-year-old sea ice to survive the summer melting period", says Dr Stefan Hendricks in assessment of the situation.
During flights close to the ground (60m) and at normal flight level (3000m), the distribution of tiny particles, so-called aerosols, and their carbon content were measured. In addition to measurements regarding trace gases such as, for instance, ozone, the researchers will be able to improve their understanding of the process of ozone depletion in the Arctic atmospheric layers up to about 15 kilometres height (troposphere). Already now, the scientists could confirm the 2009 results: A very low ozone concentration on a large scale across wide parts of the sea ice covered Arctic Ocean.
The joint flights with aircraft from the European and American space agencies ESA and NASA below the trajectory of the satellite CryoSat-2 constituted a particularly memorable event for the scientists. The data gathered by simultaneous measurements with a large number of sensors on three aircrafts now can be compared with satellite data. The aim is to verify the accuracy of ice thickness measurements conducted by CryoSat-2 in spring.
