Bear alert and first measurements

And then the time had finally come: the gangway descends from the ship onto the ice and we step onto the sea ice for the first time on this expedition. Ruzica and Matthias had already been to the polar regions. For me, it's the first time. It's a special feeling when you can simply step off the ship onto the sea. You're walking on ice that's a good one to two meters thick and you can even ride a snowmobile. Underneath is over 4000 meters of ocean. It is not particularly cold. It's around 0° C and there's a light wind. But with our polar suits it is warm enough.

To get to this point, we had already spent a week on board the German research vessel "Polarstern". First we sailed from Tromsø through the Norwegian fjords and then out to sea. After two days at sea, we reached Longyearbyen in Spitsbergen. We only made a short stop there for formalities before heading north. After another day, we arrived at the ice edge. It is very impressive to see the ice for the first time after a few days, where we will be moving for the next eight weeks. The transition from open sea to ice is sharp. Within a few hundred meters, we are already in thin ice floes that cover almost the entire surface.

After two days of ice-breaking, the time has come. In the morning, the first researchers go out onto the ice and explore the floe. How thick is the ice? Where does it make sense to take which measurements? The 50 or so researchers on board have many different interests and it is important to satisfy as many of them as possible. This is the only way to create a comprehensive data set in the end. For our atmospheric turbulence measurements, it is important that we are at a transition from melt pond to ice and that the wind transports the air from the melt pond over the ice. We try to carry out our surface and snow measurements at as many locations as possible in order to best capture the spatial heterogeneity of the surface scattering layer (SSL), which scatters the incident light and thus determines how light or dark the ice appears, and how much light it reflects (important for melting) or how much light it transmits (important for the marine ecosystem and the CO₂ cycle). In addition, paths must be marked so that each Research Groups can work on untouched ice.

After the advance party has explored the floe and the stations and paths have been marked, there is a short meeting for us to explain the division. And then: a polar bear. From the bridge, an attentive observer has spotted a polar bear lying on the ice, about a kilometer away. For the time being, nobody can get onto the ice. After some consultation, the cruise director decides that only three groups are allowed on the ice for the time being. Each group must have a bear guard with them. This is a person who cannot help, but is only there to keep an eye out for polar bears. In addition, the lying bear is constantly monitored. As we want to set up and take down our turbulence measurements and the measurement time is limited, we are allowed to go out first. We make good progress and by the evening the first two turbulence stations are up and measuring.