2008 report
Progress: 60%
The plan for 2007 activities was developed based on collecting the logistics needs from the WP1, WP2 and WP3 meetings winter 2006. The detailed implementation of the logistics were dependent on the success of establishing a large-aircraft runway at the Tara drifting station, the availability of space on the icebreakers of opportunity, and the ultimate decisions of the Damocles steering committee, balancing the logistics needs and the budget.
The overall principle of funding of Damocles logistics was: partners pay own costs for transportation to coastal bases accessible by commercial transport. Damocles pays for transfers to and from ice or ships. Icebreakers and ship deployments are on an opportunity basis, with limited or no Damocles support. Damocles funds aircraft activities, through a combination of the logistics funds and earmarked funds for airborne activities already allotted to selected partners (e.g., AWI and DNSC).
The April/May 2007 airborne field campaign was the first (largest) field effort of a two-year effort for providing a “snapshot” of environmental conditions in the Arctic Ocean. The activities were focused on the French drifting ice station “Tara”, with backup from the Russian ice camp “Borneo”. Activities also included continued sea-ice airborne remote sensing in the region north of Ellesmere Island, Greenland and Svalbard.
A detail overview of the DAMOCLES field program in April/May 2007, including the detailed schedule of aircrafts movements, personal schedule and cargo issues (shipments of scientific equipment) are given in the deliverable D8.4-4b (DNSC responsible).
- Airborne operations April/May 2007
One of the main responsibilities of the DNSC in DAMOCLES is to take care of the logistics connected to fieldwork for the WP1.1. In Spring 2007 an ice camp was planned around TARA where several scientist were to camp in tents on the sea ice for 10 days while gathering in situ and validation data. The crew on TARA was to take care of the supplies and cooking while Russians were hired in to do the work connected to keep the camp running. In addition the sea-ice programme included several flight activities from Canadian Forces station Alert and north of Greenland, as well as a 2-day coordinated flight programme at the APLIS ice camp north of Alaska.
DNSC chartered on behalf of DAMOCLES and TARA projects two airplanes from Ken Borek, Canada, especially as they are used to landing on sea ice. The first plane was a DC3 which were planned to transport food, equipment, the exchange of the crew at TARA, journalists and scientists forth and back between Longyearbyen, Svalbard and TARA (87˚55N 130˚E). The 2nd plane, a Twin Otter, was planned to be used as scientific flight, being equipped with laser scanning hardware, and the drop of buoys and deployment of ice tethered platforms.
The logistics planning was a major time consuming job which required organizing accommodation and transport of people and equipment, planning weight loads, calculating use of fuel and manage fuel caches together (See Deliverable 8.4-03b) with optimizing waypoints and necessitated an intense communication with the involved partners and scientists, as well as a wide range of authorities for permission. In February the logistic plan was ready (See Deliverable 8.4-04b1) and only smaller adjustments were planned, but it turned out that several problems challenged this plan, and the whole field campaign April 2007 was a very close call due to these problems.
First was a problem of permission with the Norwegian Aviation Authorities on landing rights at Svalbard for the DC3. DNSC had as done often before contacted the Norwegian Aviation Authorities (Luftfartsverket) in January 2007 applying for permit for landing and take-off of the DC3 from Longyearbyen airport. After several phone calls which indicated everything was OK, latest on March 27, the landing request was denied only few days before leaving for Svalbard the 13th of April, at a time when several scientists, journalists and TARA crew were already waiting in Svalbard. The problem was the lack of TCAS-2 anti-collision equipment in the DC3, equipment which is required in European airspace, but not Canadian. After many phone calls and negotiations between the aviation authorities and DNSC/DAMOCLES, with aid from central Norwegian players (NPI), a limited flight permission were finally granted on the 11th of April for a total of eight flights with the DC3 in and out of Longyearbyen airport.
On 13th of April all scientists, journalist and people connected to TARA were gathered in Longyearbyen. Unfortunately problems continued. Bad weather between kept the Twin-Otter stuck at Station Nord for a week, and a planned airdrop of fuel and a tractor for clearing the runway could not be carried out due to internal Russian problems (somebody has stopped the Russian aircraft in Murmansk during the northwards flight: clearly there were internal Russian problems with permissions and who controls what). This added another major delay in operations. When permits were finally obtained for the airdrop, it then took several days to get the air crew back to the staging airport for the drop. The airdrop, arranged by the TARA project, was a requirement for the put-in of people to Tara, since the DC3 would need to refuel at Tara for the flights, and the runway would need to be improved prior to the flights.
In the end the tractor was never operational, and only a marginally useful runway established. It was only due to the big flexibility and professionalism of the Ken Borek DC3 pilots that it was possible at all to successfully carry out the field project at Tara. After all the complications, which included a April 16 Medivac operation with an insulin airdrop at the Russian Barneo north pole camp, successful flights to TARA were finally initiated on April 21.
With all the delays, the TARA/DAMOCLES group was forced to stay in Longyearbyen for more than a week. This was a huge problem, as hotel rooms were only booked for a couple of nights, and a group of 18 people were without accommodation every morning after checkout, in the peak tourist season at Svalbard. To this was added the pressure of who could go and who not, in case the planned operations needed to be cut back. This would have meant scientists competing with journalist and explorers on getting into the TARA camp. Lucky nearly everything went according to plan, and only one add-on science project could not participate, since the equipment did not make it in time from Resolute Bay.
On the 22st of April people were finally gathered in the ice camp and the scientific work could begin (See Deliverable 1.1-3), and in the first few days an extensive laser flight and buoy programme was carried out with success. The weather was quite tough with hard wind. On the 5th day of operations the wind settled down and also thereby released an ongoing pressure on the sea ice it self. This meant that at midnight the 26th of April the ice broke creating a huge lead which split the runway in two. The Twin-Otter was therefore called back from Station Nord, Greenland (where it had just left to after the successful flight programme) to assist in finding another emergency runway for the DC3, so the TARA camp could be evacuated. After 5 hours of search, the Twin-Otter found a suitable runway relatively close to Tara, and the remaining personnel was transferred to Svalbard, with parts of the scientific programme cut short. This was another good demonstration of the versality of the Twin-Otter/DC3 combination for remote sea-ice logistics.
Overall the flight logistics programme was a success – despite the science cutbacks. It was also relatively cost-efficient, in part due to the joint sharing of expenses with Tara, as well as with a private person – Frederik Poulsen – who contributed significant economic support to Tara in return for a flight to the “Pole of Inaccessability”. This flight was done along with air drops of UHAM met buoys, as well as laser scanning. It is quite a paradox, that in spite of all the problems of the expedition with lack of permits, interinvention in Russian airdrop, weather and runway break-up, Mr. Poulsens trip to the pole went exactly as originally planned (up April 22 down April 25).
Other DAMOCLES or associated logistics activities were done with partly success. A combined AUV / laser and EM programme was carried out at the APLIS camp, with laser flights on April 12-13. A planned EM programme by AWI from Barneo Russian north pole camp was only partially successful, due to EM equipment failure. This failure continued at CFS Alert, so that only lidar data and limited ground truth data were collected for the sea ice WP 1.1.
Flights of the Twin-Otter for 2007 field program, including non-Damocles actitivies in
Aircraft used for Damocles April 2007: DC3 at Station Nord (left); Twin-Otter at APLIS (right)
- Deployed instruments
Two Ice Tethered Platforms (ITP/POPS) by UPMC, one Ice Mass Balance system (IMB) by CRREL, sixteen meteorological buoys by UNIHAM and three tiltmeters by SAMS, were deployed during Damocles airborne operations on April 2007. All the airborne operations were as mentioned above conducted from two Canadian aircrafts equipped with skis for landing on sea-ice: a DC3 and a Twin Otter chartered by DNSC for Damocles to the Borek aviation company based in Calgary (Canada). The DC3 was based in Longyearbyen most of the time and the Twin Otter at Station Nord, north of Greenland. The first contact with Tara was established early on April 2007 for exchanging personnel but we had to wait until April 21 to start the deployment of the scientific instruments. That was completed in just about one week (instead of two weeks as initially scheduled). The shortening was mainly due to a two weeks delay for airdropping 30 tons of cargo at Tara (an operation contracted by Tara expeditions with a Russian company).
The Twin Otter was used by DNSC to accomplish laser surveys between Alert, Station Nord, Longyearbyen and Tara and also to deploy scientific instruments within an extended area around Tara by other groups (UNIHAM, UPMC and SAMS). At APLIS07 a survey pattern was put together to measure drift corrected submarine lines to match laser scanner data to upward looking sonar (ULS), and also tracks flown by EM-bird, and ICESat tracks, as well as a mow-the-lawn around the camp. The program out of Alert included a local survey to cover an area surveyed by ULS by a UK submarine on March 8. At Tara the survey line, made up by the ice drillings and snow sample validation line, was over-flown as part of a local mow-the-lawn pattern.
The Twin Otter also did the air drop of 16 UHAM Met buoys in a square array (approximately 300x300 km) while doing laser scanner data on the whole flight. Further two tiltmeter buoys and a Polar Ocean Profiling System (POPS) buoy was deployed landing the Tin Otter on the sea ice at 3 different locations. Unfortunately the deployment of a second POPS buoy and an ice mass balance buoy (IMB) was cancelled due to the break up of the runway. Also the planned coincident EM-bird profile between Tara and Borneo was cancelled due to a malfunction in the EM-bird.
The detailed fuel arrangement for 2007 airborne activities was split in two. The amount which had to be used from the ice cache at TARA itself was ordered from TARA (Troublé) from Russia. This cache was 4 weeks delayed. The airborne activities North of north- east Greenland was handled by DNRC through VECO Polar Resources which flew the fuel in with NYANG C130 to CFS Alert, Canada.
- Barneo ice camp
A commercial Russian ice camp Barneo was operated in April 2007 by Center Polus, Moscow (see http://www.polus.ru/) Borneo served as backup for Tara operations, and had a shorter runway than planned. AWI operated an EM bird fra Barneo on MI-8 helicopter, but no coincident flights with Twin-Otter was done due to EM bird malfunction. The AWI activities were part of Jean-Louis Etienne “Pole AirShip” project, which plans 2008 a crossing of the Arctic Ocean using an airship (Spitsbergen - North Pole - Beaufort Sea) with the EM bird.
- APLIS 2007 Beaufort Sea Ice Camp
The Applied Physics Lab run an ice camp for the US Navy north of Alaska March-April 2007. The last two weeks of April the camp was open for non-classified research. UCAM made initial Gavia measurements from this camp and AWI EM measurements were done as well. The DNSC laser system profiled in the vicinity of the camp in connection with the pickup of Gavia/UCAM group, to allow measurements coincident with submarine and ICESat tracks (see http://www.iarc.uaf.edu/aplis07). With the failure of the EM at Barneo and Alert, the APLIS ice camp thus provided the only full coincident data on multiple sea-ice sensors and satellite information (ICESat, Envisat) during 2007 Damocles activities.
- AARI ice camp
On June 7, 2007 as a part of activities of the High Arctic Research expedition aboard nuclear icebreaker "Rossiya" on the drifting ice to the north of archipelago New Siberian Islands AARI research camp was developed ("AARI Ice camp") with 9 persons. The position of the development of the Camp was 80°57'N, 168°53'E. The personnel of the Camp was placed in the tents considering the summer conditions. Scientific program of AARI Ice Camp included hydrometeorological research in the summer period in the central Arctic basin. While developing AARI Ice Camp it was suggested that under favorable conditions such as low drift speed and ice flow safety the Camp will be set there. Nevertheless sufficient drift speed northwards and decreasing of ice flow to 100х200 m caused to leave this idea and to start the AARI Ice Camp recovery. At August 23 RV 'Akademik Fedorov' made evacuation of the AARI Ice Camp at the position 84,9°N and 172,4°E During the drift of the AARI Ice Camp in the Arctic Ocean the sufficient amount of oceanographic, sea ice, meteorological and other investigations was conducted. In total 76 soundings of the ocean was accomplished and the continuous number of observations of currents at different depths was obtained using two acoustic Doppler profilers of currents. Infrastructure of the closed ice camp and its members joined the members of the drifting research station 'North Pole-35'
Drifting Research Station "North Pole - 35"
NP-35 Ice camp have been established on 21 September 2007 nort of Severnaya Zemlya archipelago in location 810,3 N и 1030,5 E. Operation made under use RV'Akademik Fedorov' with a support of the nuclear powered icebreaker “Rossia”. Total weight of unloaded cargo for ice camp is 343.9 t. A staff of the Drifting Research Station NP-35 consist of 22 persons, 7 from them were participants of the closed drifting "AARI Ice Camp". Oceanographers, meteorologists, geophysicists, aerologists, chemists, and technical specialists were in the station staff. Large complex of research has been carried out on the station. Beside standard meteorological observations an aerological complex was established for two-time every day atmosphere sounding. The equipment for gas-exchange investigation (carbon, methane) on ocean-ice-atmosphere boundary layer was used. Planned observations on total content of ozone in atmosphere and obtaining the vertical profiles of gas concentration by captive balloon are of great interest. These observations were performed by only one foreign participant on the station, Juergen Graeser from AWI. For the first time bottom echo sounder of high resolution was used to perform depth observations for estimation of sediments in layer up to 200 m below bottom surface from ice drifting research station NP-35. Various autonomous measuring complexes of new generation, which transmit information about ocean state, ice cover and atmosphere practically in real time to the centers of data collecting, will be established on drifting ice in NP-35 region. Among the mentioned tools are sea ice oceanographic profiles buoys to measure the mass balance of the drifting ice, autonomous meteorological buoys etc. Essential part of these tools were provided by foreign partners under the IPY 2007‑2008 from USA, France and Germany.
· Icebreaker and ship activities
Akademik Fedorov (Russian)
The Russian icebreaker 'Akademik Fedorov' cruise to the eastern Arctic Ocean took place in July-September 2007. During this cruise the AARI ice camp and the drifting research station 'NP-35' were served. 243 hydrographic stations were performed and 47 helicopter CTD stations on the ice.
Polarstern (German)
The AWI icebreaker operated in the eastern Arctic Ocean from July 28 to October 7, 2007 with Ursula Schauer from AWI as a chief scientist. The 'SPACE' cruise included helicopter and surface EM sea ice thickness profiling. Microwave radiometer was operated from ship together with automatic weather station and rawinsonde soundings for WP2. Different types of ice tethered platforms (ITPs, ITAC, IMMB, AOFB, met buoys and other) were deployed during the cruise and several CTD section were performed in the Eurasian Arctic Ocean. See http://www.awi-bremerhaven.de/Polar/polarstern.html or the Damocles icebreaker web-side for details.
Lance (Norwegian)
Lance will be used in the Fram Strait, Aug-Sept 2006, 2007, 2008 for deployment and servicing of Fram Strait moorings as well as for optical work by NPI (albedo, energy balance). Also used for ice thickness validation (NPI and FIMR). For Lance cruise activities see http://www.npolar.no/lance/ In 2007 the 'Lance' cruise to Fram Strait took place in September 10-30. Due to severe ice conditions on the shelf and slope east of Greenland, most of work was done in the central and eastern Fram Strait, including exchange of mooring array and hydrographic sections. Extensive field program on several ice floes was also accomplished during 'Lance' cruise.
Oceania (Polish)
She will operate in Greenland and Fram Strait in summer 2007, 2008 and 2009 for WP2 and WP3 collecting data on air-sea fluxes of heat and sea spray, in addition to CTD activities. In 2007 the 'AREX2007' cruise took place in June/July 2007. During the cruise 172 standard CTD/LADCP vertical casts along 11 sections were done.
Maria S Merian (German)
The RV 'Merian' cruise MSM05/6 planned for the exchange of moored array in Fram Strait in September 2007 has been cancelled due to the severe failure of ship engines. The limited ship time obtained in September thanks to a courtesy of the Norwegian Polar Institute on board RV 'Lance' allowed for recovery of 7 and deployment of 8 moorings of the total number of 12 moorings operated in Fram Strait by AWI.
Vagabond (French)
Continued to be moored in Storfjorden, Svalbard, preparing for new overwintering.
Oden (Swedish)
The icebreaker Oden together with Russian nuclear icebreaker “50 let Pobedy” did in the period Aug 13 – Sep 16 geophysical and oceanographic measurements north of Greenland and Canada in a Swedish-Danish cooperative project. Several Damocles participants onboard did ocenographic (CTD, ocean chemistry etc.) and sea-ice research (coring, thickness, freeboard etc.) onboard. This was the first time surface ships entered this part of the Arctic Ocean, with the most heavy ice conditions.
Field work activities planned for 2008
For spring 2008 following field actions are planned: the second year of iAOOS–Norway with KV 'Svalbard', a deployment of the tomography array in Fram Strait, a deployment of the AITP Array and ULS floats from Canada (Eureka), DAMOCLES ice camp operations north of Alert, fourth wintering of 'Vagabond' in Storfjord . In summer 2008 several cruises will take place, including the ASCOS cruise of the icebreakers 'Oden' and 'Frej', the 'Akademik Fedorov' cruise in May-June (with evacuation NP-35 ice camp, oceanographic research in North Laptev and Kara Seas and a short term ice camp on pack ice in the vicinity of Baranov cape) and joint field activities in a frame of NABOS-RUSALCA project (China, Russia, USA)
Air logistics in spring 2008 will be done for main scientific experiments including:
· buoy deployment (6-8 buoys, ITP's, POPS by UPMC, CRREL, WHOI),
· ice thickness and snow depth measurements – helicopter EM, laser scanning, Ku-band radar for snow depth determination (ESA CryoVex08), an intercomparison of methods and general mapping,
· autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) swath mapping of sea-ice from below,
· simultanous 2-D mapping of local sea-ice floes from top and below,
· in situ measurement of snow and ice properties (reference line, coring),
· in situ radar measurements (UCL broadband 13 GHz Cryosat),
· local ice drift bouy array (Wilkinson, SAMS),
· optical measurements (NPI).
This activities will take place in following areas:
- 85°-90°N, north of Canada (ITP's)
- Canadian Forces Station Alert (at two sites: a MY floe near station and the ice camp further away),
- Fram Strait, KV 'Svalbard' drifting station.
Field operations in April/May 2008 will be done in as a coordination of projects DAMOCLES, ESA CryoVex 2008 (Cryosat Validation Experiment) and the Greenland home rule sea-ice program. Main time line covers following operations:
April 7-21 DAMOCLES buoys from Eureka, 2 Canadian Twin-Otters
April 15-May15 Air Greenland Twin-Otter with laser and ASIRAS snow radar system
April 17-May 9 KV Svalbard first cruise, Fram Strait, 79°N
April 17-23 Greenland sea-ice flights and in situ work
April 24-25 Fram Strait flights, flights north of Greenland
April 27-29 Alert: CryoVex-DAMOCLES main work area, EM-bird and some put-in via Resolute, put-in from Qaanaaq by Ken Borek Twin-Otter
April 29-May 4 CryoVEx laser/ASIRAS flights
May 1-7 Sea ice AUV camp, Ken Borek Twin-Otter, work on sea-ice line close to Alert
May 5 Devon ice cap CryoVex flights, Air Greenland (ESA)
May 7-8 Depart Alert: Canadian Forces C-130, Ken Borek Twin-Otter to Resolute, EM bird to Svalbard via Station Nord if possible
Approx. load of the DAMOCLES extra personnel on KV Svalbard was estimated on 4 persons with S. Gerland from NPI as a cruise coordinator. Approx load of the DAMOCLES personnel at Eureka, Canada (for buoy deployment) was 4-5 people. Total costs of planned operations were estimated on 270 k€, while the residual DAMOCLES air logistic budget is 155 k€. This requires a relocation or additional raising of necessary funding of 120 k€.
