Arctic Climate Impact Tour 2011

Nick Toberg and Till Wagner went to the North Greenland Sea in September 2011, to measure the properties and thickness of the sea ice aboard the Greenpeace ship ARCTIC SUNRISE - to document their work they started writing this blog.

As the ice was reaching a new record low (see the NSIDC sea ice extent graph) this year, we went back to carry on our work.

Last year, we were joined by SCANLAB, who performed 3d laser scans of the surface of the ice. They are on board again this year, but now we're getting the bottom as well: Hanumant Singh from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution is joining with his team to get 3d profiles of the underside of the ice.

So now, for a historic first, we got the whole 3d picture of sea ice floes in the Arctic Ocean.

On board as well this year was the master of it all, our group leader Professor Peter Wadhams.

After the Arctic Climate Impact Tour, Peter and Till travelled to West Greenland and took part in expedition Operation Iceberg - a BBC funded science project that was subsequently featured in the 2 part BBC 2 documentary Operation Iceberg.

Ship

http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/about/ships/the-arctic-sunrise/

(By Nick)
For the month of September 2011, Greenpeace's Arctic Sunrise will be our sanctuary against the harsh Arctic climate. There is nothing I can say at the moment that you cannot find easily on the Internet, having not yet set foot on her decks. A website is supposed to educate with unique information and it's redundant to list specifications of the ship here. We will give you our impressions of her dimensions in the context of our research as the cruise unfolds. The first couple things that sprang to my mind, when I was told I'd be going on this trip a month ago, was her sealing past and unique keelless hull that once let her chase seals into the pack ice. Of course now she is used for a very different purpose indeed.

Back in her red days:
 
and with helicopters, oh yes:

 (photos: Peter Wadhams)
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