Arctic preparations Apr 29 2023

Have a look at these two images. They have something in common.

Both are related to my participation in the Arctic Ocean cruise in June. After the Nansen legacy cruise last year this will be my second scientific cruise to the Arctic with the Norwegian Polar Institute. And this time I’ve got extra tasks.

1. Drone flying

A scientist asked if I could fly a drone to map the ice stations. I didn’t have any experience in drone flying so I bought a private one to practise some weeks ago. In addition to that I made the Norwegian online course in drones (class A1 and A3) and the exam. Now I’m registered as a drone pilot in Norway, both in private and for the Norwegian Polar Institute. That was the easy part.

The interesting part starts when I shall take photos with latitude and longitude information from a drifting ice floe. But I’m not there yet (and quite happy that I have another month of preparation).

The drone photo above was taken in Norway. In Sweden it is a lot of paperwork to get permission for the publication of photos, especially when they show the sea as well. In Norway this is not the case, as long as you know the legal rules and restrictions.

2. Ice chart and weather info

To help both the cruise leader and the crew with planning it will be my job to provide them with current information. That’s ice charts coming from a SAR satellite and weather forecasts for e.g. wind, temperature and pressure. The data will be presented using the Open Source Geographic Information System QGIS. The screenshot above is just from a small learning session where I loaded in quite unrelated data as a topographical map of Svalbard, an ice chart from two days ago and current wind information.

The interesting thing will begin when we head north, leaving Svalbard behind. Then we do not have internet access anymore except sending and receiving emails through the slow and expensive Iridium network. So I cannot use all the cool QGIS plugins to gather data directly but I’ll have to send data requests per email and then receive the data later. This will be both interesting and challenging. I’m somewhere in the middle of being quite excited and pretty nervous.

Anyhow I wanted to have jobs and tasks and I’m glad I get the opportunity in a more active role than last year, were I was more like an observer. I guess, I’ll learn a lot.

Arctic Ocean, soon I’ll come!

Summer travel plans Feb 10 2023

This article is part of the series “2023-06: Arctic Ocean cruise KPH”.

Today I got the final commitment of my boss, that I will participate the “Arctic Ocean Cruise 1” this year. It will be my second polar expedition with the Norwegian Polar Institute on the research icebreaker Kronprins Haakon. This time not in winter but in June when the sun never sets.

Planning has just begun, so there is not much more to tell. At least there is a first plan about where the expedition will head, if the ice conditions allow.

I’m both happy and very grateful to get such an extraordinary opportunity this year again. What a great job I have!

ℹ︎ This is an updated version of the original post, since I realised that I got more information by email.

Polar expedition AeN JC3 – maps and numbers Mar 30 2022

This article is part of the series “2022-02: Winter cruise KPH”.

Just some short info for the people who like maps and numbers.

This is the route of the icebreaker Kronprins Haakon on the polar expedition Arven etter Nansen JC3:

The northernmost point	82.0474°N
The southernmost point	69.5245°N
The westernmost point	07.6551°E
The easternmost point	34.1262°E

The northernmost point

82.0474°N

The southernmost point

69.5245°N

The westernmost point

07.6551°E

The easternmost point

34.1262°E

And some weather records (when my python script is right):

	minimum	maximum
Temperature	-30.5 °C	+2.0 °C
Wind speed	0.1 m/s	32.7 m/s
Wind speed on ship	0.1 m/s	30.9 m/s
Wind chill	-48.0 °C	+1.0 °C
Wind chill on ship	-49.0 °C	+1.0 °C

minimum

maximum

Temperature

-30.5 °C

+2.0 °C

Wind speed

0.1 m/s

32.7 m/s

Wind speed on ship

0.1 m/s

30.9 m/s

Wind chill

-48.0 °C

+1.0 °C

Wind chill on ship

-49.0 °C

+1.0 °C

And some personal numbers:

Been on the sea ice	7 times
Photos taken	4084
Cakes eaten	countless

Been on the sea ice

7 times

Photos taken

4084

Cakes eaten

countless

Polar expedition AeN JC3 – day 14 – 17: Travelling south Mar 23 2022

This article is part of the series “2022-02: Winter cruise KPH”.

Day 14 – 17 · 4 – 7 March 2022

4 March: after our second polar bear encounter we leave the ice station P7 at the 82th degree of latitude behind and slowly head south.

This journey will take more than two days although its only 250 km to sail. That’s because many scientific activities go on. Not from the ice but from the ship. Just an excerpt from the activity log:

CTD with water sample (19×)
Box core (4×)
Håv-trekk stasjon (2×)
Multinet (2×)

I help the benthos people in the lab and learn a lot, I discuss data matters with scientists, I edit photos. At the same time the character of this polar expedition has started to become a bit more leisure-like. A “no-talent show” is organised as well as a table tennis tournament. A quiz evening takes place and J. shows some of his favourite movies. And from time to time I stand on the helicopter deck and take new photos.

7 March: In the morning we arrive at a place between Svalbard’s second largest island Nordaustlandet and the island Kvitøya, that we already passed a week ago. Here we will have a last 24-hour ice station with the adhoc name SIce Kvitøyrenna.

Polar expedition AeN JC3 – day 13 and 14: Polar bear ahead! Mar 22 2022

This article is part of the series “2022-02: Winter cruise KPH”.

Day 13 and 14 · 3 and 4 March 2022

3. March 2022, the second ice day at P7. I have polar bear watch on the bridge at 9:30 +2h so there is some time to relax after breakfast. While I am writing my diary there is a loudspeaker announcement, the first one on this journey:

Polar bear at the front of the ship.

I grab my camera equipment including the large telephoto lens and slip into my Canada Goose clothes. The best deck at the front of the ship is the helicopter deck and there I go.

I am not alone. Ice station was about to begin so some scientists were already clad in Regatta suits. Now they stand at the rail watching. But where’s the polar bear? I cannot see it. Until I go to the rail as well and look straight down. Whoa!

It is hard to believe, but this is my very first photo of a polar bear taken in the wild. Not some blurry spot far in the distance but a polar bear less than 10 metres away – vertically. It is quite interested in the icebreaker with all these funny colourful beings that has appeared in his world.

We are only guests in the Arctic world of the Polar Bears. We are not allowed to chase them off just to do our work. We are not allowed to chase them off to prevent them from destroying scientific equipments. We humans do not matter. Only the polar bears do. But we are allowed to chase them off for two reasons:

The polar bear should not eat plastic, rubber or other materials that could harm it.
The polar bear should not learn, that it is a nice experience to visit humans and teach this to its cubs. This could result into dangerous encounters in the future.

The polar bear realises that the ship’s bow is boring and continues to Z’s tent, sniffing and licking around ther…

**BANG** – a loud noise alarms me. **BANG** again. K. has used a flare gun to shoo the polar bear away before it starts eating the equipment. The flare gun is not used to hit a target but to make a loud noise. The noise however does not frighten the bear at all and K. gives some more shots. The bear decides that this sucks and slowly continues its way over the sea ice. Even when I have started my polar bear watch on the bridge I can see it in the far distance.

When I am on the sea ice again the afternoon to help K. with the Blueye ROV I see the armed polar bear guards with other eyes. It comforts me even more, that a whole team protects us – three watches on the bridge and several guards on the ice. Polar research works only in a team.

By the way: I am allowed to steer and control the underwater vehicle. It is not easy because the ROV lags a lot and the tension in the cable doesn’t make things easier. But in the end I manage to navigate it back to the ice hole again and we get it out of the water. It has some technical issues, probably because of the cold.

In the evening I stand on the deck and look over the ice. It was become slightly colder, -26 °C and the air is crisp. Snow and ice look as if carved from marble in the sharp spotlights of the ship.

Later this night a female polar bear with a cub is spotted. And another single bear. I miss them, exactly as I missed the walrus encounters and that of the rare bowhead whale. What this ship misses is some kind of messaging system that informs you in these cases. You cannot be everywhere and you have to sleep sometimes.

The next day I help A. and B. in the benthos lab again. When I go to the locker room to get rid of my boots for lunch I meet E., who is putting on the Regatta suit. Why that? E. tells my another polar bear has been spotted, a kilometre away.

Shortly later we stand on the helicopter deck again and watch the other polar bear approaching. This time I see it when it is still pretty far away, but it discovers our ship and comes nearer and nearer and nearer.

This bear however is less interested in us and just passes by. Good for him and less noisy for us, no flare gun involved this time.

Polar expedition AeN JC3 – day 12: ice station on the Arctic Ocean Mar 21 2022

This article is part of the series “2022-02: Winter cruise KPH”.

Day 12 · 2 March 2022

Yesterday we arrived at P7, the northernmost transect station on this cruise. Here, a bit north of the 82th degree of latitude and round about 3400 metres above the seabed of the Arctic Ocean we will start our second ice station today.

The morning I start with two polar bear watches. It snows and the visibility is not the best but still good enough to watch out for polar bears.

This is my workplace for 2×1 hour this morning:

And this is the workspace for some of the scientists:

After lunch I get another opportunity to join researchers on the sea ice.

The snowmobile is used to transport people and equipment

I join Z. again and help her erecting the tent over the already existing ice hole. Then A. uses the hole – now in the tent – to test his ROV (short for remotely operated underwater vehicle). After that Z. continues with MMS measurements. I want to help her but J. who joined our team as well will do that. Z. says that I shall take photos, she never has time for that. Well, when I get a carte blanche to take pictures I use it!

Taking photos in the tent however is not easy. It is quite dark and there is a lot of moisture that my Nikon does not like at all. But here it’s not the technical quality but the motives that matter. (Says Olaf, the perfectionist who is still angry with himself that he did not made bigger efforts to get better photos.)

The tent is erected, the equipment lies still outside.

The ROV is in the water recording videos.

K., our polar bear guide looks quite impressive standing upright on the nearby ice ridge in front of a purple sky. And the sky is purple. In the Arctic winter it is the sun that colorises the landscape and blends purple and orange of clouds and sky with blue and turquoise of the ice to always new colour palettes.

K. gives my clearance to walk around a bit. To the ice ridge and 30 metres on the snowmobile track to the ship. I enjoy my gained freedom and take some photos of the ship, the sun, the ice, of K. driving snowmobile. And it is such a beautiful day!

More than two hours I am on the ice before we return to the ship. But before that I have to bore you with another selfie ;-)

This selfie is for you, my friend Chris. It was Chris that surprised Annika and me with a generous gift a few years ago: A balaclava for each of us knitted by her. One of these balaclavas now has been in the high Arctic. It is one of the garments I definitely will pick again when I should have another opportunity to travel way up north! Thank you, Chris!

Will I be on the sea ice the next day again? Yes, but first there’s another story to tell. Bear that in mind ;-)

Polar expedition AeN JC3 – day 11 · transit to P7 Mar 20 2022

This article is part of the series “2022-02: Winter cruise KPH”.

Day 11 · 1 March 2022

Today is travel day. Our destination is station P7 (82° N, 30 °E), further north than Svalbard and even Franz Josef Land.

From the documentation of Nansen Legacy (Arven etter Nansen):

P7 – Located in the deeper Arctic Ocean. P7 is suitable for comparing the shallow Barents Sea with the deeper Arctic Ocean. P7 will have extensive sea ice coverage during winter, and varying sea ice cover during summer. P7 might be suitable for geological coring.

When we arrive there the sea ice is a bit thin. Therefore we continue a bit further north where we find a suitable ice floe. So, tomorrow: the second ice station of this cruise.

Some ice photos from this day:

(Photo 5 and 6 are switched for layout reasons)

Arctic research expedition with the Norwegian Polar Institute Feb 19 2022

This article is part of the series “2022-02: Winter cruise KPH”.

Kronprins Haakon is a Norwegian icebreaking polar research vessel. It was build 2018, can cut through one metre of solid ice, has 15 different laboratories on board and place for 35 scientists or other staff in addition to the crew.

Four days ago Kronprins Haakon had arrived in Tromsø. It was travelling 26 days since it left Cape Town, the only stopover on its return trip from Antarctica.

This morning I went on board of Kronsprins Haakon. Not as a visitor to look around but with a suitcase, an enormous bag full of warm clothes, a heavy camera backpack and my Canada Goose down parka. I will stay on board for three weeks to participate the winter cruise “Arven etter Nansen JC3” that will lead us to the Barents Sea east of Svalbard and a bit beyond.

What happened?

Some of you may know that I’ve been working as a data engineer at the Norwegian Polar Institute in Tromsø since autumn 2020. In this position I’m not only a software developer but a data manager of polar research data.

Three and a half weeks ago my colleague M. told me she would join the winter cruise and mentioned that there might still be an available place.

Of course I was very eager to participate. Beside of my private passion for the Arctic I wanted to get a deeper and hands-on understanding of the research data. Where does it come from? How is it measured? And how is it transferred to the digital world? And nothing would teach me better than joining this very winter cruise, where conditions could be quite rough.

I mentioned it to M., another colleague and he introduced me to the expedition leader. There I was told that there was indeed a vacancy on board and that I was welcome to join if my boss would agree.

Since then it had been crazy times with some organisation, a lot of worries and little sleep.

1 Feb: My boss had to check the budget for my participation.
4 Feb: A seafarer’s doctor examined me and gave me my helseerklæring – a medical certificate that proves me “seaworthy”.
16 Feb: I had to take a PCR test and wait for the result for two days. Then I had to take another PCR test, but that’s a whole story in itself.
18 Feb: I had to do a survival suit training in the Tromsøsundet.

Survival suit training I (Photo: unknown)

Survival suit training II (Photo: unknown)

Survival suit training III (Photo: unknown)

18 Feb: I had to pack clothes and equipment I will need on the cruise. Everything beside of two pairs of boots, a helmet, a floating suit and a survival suit. These are provided by the Norwegian Polar Institute.

19 Feb (today): I took a taxi to the port of Tromsø. I was driven directly to Kai 25, took some photos and then went on board.
Still today: passport control through the police, a security briefing, lunch and dinner, carrying boxes to the labs, entering the rescue boat and some more …

The next weeks

When Kronprins Haakon will leave Tromsø tomorrow morning we will sail north. First destination is a point referred as P1. It is approx. 500 km east of Svalbard’s southern tip. From there we will continue heading north to the other stations, if weather and sea ice conditions allow it.

The planned route (Source: project folder Arven etter Nansen JC3)

The northernmost position is planned to be approx. 82° N, somewhere in the Arctic Ocean. That’s more than 10 degrees of altitude further north than I’ve ever been and less than 900 km to the North Pole.

I’m so excited, that’s really way up north!

We will work both on the sea ice and on the ship using various measurement and sampling methods. Some of them I learned a bit last week but most of them I do not know yet. I’m a newbie. I’m here to learn. And hopefully I’ll learn a lot on this cruise.

After three weeks of tokt (Norwegian for “cruise”) we are supposed to arrive in Longyearbyen on 11 Mars. There I’ll take a flight back to Tromsø the same day.

I will not blog on this cruise because there will be a lot of work and hardly any reliable internet connection. But I’ll definitely take photos, both for the Norwegian Polar Institute and in private for this blog.

So, my dear readers, cross your fingers that I do not get seasick, we can reach our planned destinations and most of all that no one has Covid on board.

You can check the live position of the Kronprins Haakon on the map below. And you are welcome to leave a comment. See you again in mid-March when I’ll answer your comments and start posting articles.

23. Feb, 13:03: Just a short note: This map does not seem to work in polar regions. At time we have internet. Outside temperature -17.4 °C. Position round about 76°29′ N 31°11′ E.