Work at the Norwegian Polar Institute

            Now that Christmas is over it is time to get back to work again.  I am starting work at the Norwegian Polar Institute (NP) in Tromsø.  Moving to a new place is a little hectic and stressful but things how calmed down now and I have started to work on my new project: calculating englacial water content of Holtedalfonna on Svalbard.  As this work is ongoing and I have just started, this entry will be a brief overview of using radar-echo sounding data to image glaciers. 

            Glaciers, like trees, have annual accumulation layers.  The layers are formed by snowfall that falls each year and which eventually is compressed to ice due to pressure from the new snow above it.  Each layer of accumulation, one year of snowfall, thins and spreads out from the weight of the new snowfall.  Additionally, due to gravity, glaciers flow.  Although we generally think of ice as a solid, it is relatively close to its melting point on Earth and therefore behaves quite similarly to liquid in many cases, only on a longer time scale.  We see that the ice flows like a liquid when we measure the stakes on glaciers that were allowed to sit over a winter.  They have moved, often at different rates, showing that different areas of a glacier move with different speeds.  When examining glaciers or ice sheets, such as those on Greenland and Antarctica, we can see annual accumulation layers and identify properties in them.  As the ice is compressed and flows the layers deep down become thinner than those on the surface and interpretation becomes more difficult, instead of dealing with a foot of ice as representative of one year, we may be dealing with centimeters if ice or less as representing one layer.

            Ice cores are usually used to examine the annual layers.  We drill into the ice and pull out a core that contains layer upon layer of ice.  Bubbles of air, and if there is more pressure ice-air clathrates, trapped in the ice give us a picture of the atmospheric composition in that accumulation layer and therefore at a definite time in the past.  Furthermore, radioactive isotopes and volcanic dust provide us with dates on layers that can confirm our interpretation.  A core is, however, a picture of the ice in one place.  We can only be sure of our conclusions where the core is drilled and thus have a picture of the history of the ice sheet at that one spot.  This is where ice-penetrating radar comes into the picture. 

            When operating ice penetrating radar we place a radar transmitting antenna and receiving antenna on the ice surface.  The light waves are then transmitted into the ice.  Each layer has slightly different dielectric properties and therefore acts as a lens with a slightly different characteristic.  The reflections from these ice lenses, representing annual accumulation layers, are clearly visible on a radargram, a visualization of radar data.  If we take radar data where a core is drilled we can quickly extend the results from a core several hundred kilometers across an ice sheet and give a large-scale picture of past climate.  Furthermore, radar data allow us to examine dynamics inside a glacier.  We can see cavities, conduits, water, and the ice-bedrock interface using radar since the optical properties of these objects are different.  Furthermore, we can also see the dynamics of the ice.  The bending of layers conforming to bedrock topography is visible.  We can also see stress and strain in the ice layers.  Radar data thus gives us a much more complete picture of the internal workings of an ice sheet and is unique in that it can image large areas of the ice sheet easily without a large amount of bulky equipment. 

            My specific project is looking at radar data from a glacier called Holtedalfonna on Svalbard.  I will calculate and spatially map the englacial water content.  This work is just starting and pictured below is some radar data with several digitized layers. 

Click on the image for a larger version.

An example of interpreted radar data from a glacier.

Jul i Norge

For Christmas my Dad and brother came to visit me in Norway.  After some difficulties with flights everybody had arrived in Longyearbyen, Svalbard by December 23rd.  We were still able to go on several excursions in despite the 24-hour polar night.  On Svalbard the polar night lasts from October to March, and in December 24 hours of darkness means complete and utter darkness.  There is no twilight here, only light from the aurora borealis, moon, and stars.  On the positive side there are spectacular displays of the northern lights during the day and night.  There are a wide variety of colors: green, red, blue, violet, yellow, and white.  The form of the lights also varies forming curtains and crowns that dance across the sky.  I don’t have any pictures that truly capture this phenomenon.  It is something that you must experience and pictures don’t do it justice.            

Our first excursion was to an old abandoned mine.  A fun, short hike this trip also involves sledding down a mountain side; it really is safer then walking down the steep and ice slope.  As Olav, my brother, and I were talking about how my Dad dislikes this activity, he yelled from behind “take a picture of me, quick,” with a big smile on his face.  The next day we took an excursion to the ice caves on Longyear glacier.  This trip involves skiing for 3 hours to the entrance, digging through the snow bridge, setting up climbing ropes and climbing with ice axes and crampons, then skiing back down.  It is also pitch black, besides the northern lights, and we must always keep the rifle ready in case we encounter a polar bear on the ice.  The ice cave is an amazing site.  In reality it is not a cave, but a series of meltwater channel that have been covered by snow bridges.  As we descended into the glacier it got warmer, approaching freezing, and I could feel the difference that I have seen on radar-echo sounding data of glaciers.  Some areas are large, like hallways, and others are more like crawl spaces.  I have included several pictures below.  We also tried to climb Sarkofargen, a nearby mountain, a few days later but were turned back by a storm.  The next morning, the day we were scheduled to leave Svalbard, “en skikkelig snowstorm”, a full blizzard, had begun.  Winds were sustained at 70 mph and conditions were a constant white out.  After my Dad almost got hit by flying debris he decided that we shouldn’t be outside.  Needless to say the flight was canceled and we had one more day on Svalbard.             

From Svalbard we traveled to Tromsø and saw several museums.  The best here was Polaria, with an excellent seal show.  New Years Eve was really impressive with fireworks being fired in every direction by everyone.  Really, it was a fantastic show. 

After Tromsø, we continued to Trondheim and Trondelag.  We visited the historic site in the area including St. Olav’s cathedral and Stiklestad, the site where he died on 29 July 1030.  Olav Haraldsson, later St. Olav den Hellige, was a Viking king of Norway who was exiled and later martyred by forces loyal to King Knut den Mektige, then ruler of Denmark, England, Norway and Sweden.  Sometimes I wonder why our parents choose to name us Knut and Olav.  Olav was the king who played the most important role in uniting a newly Christianized Norway and started a monarchy that lasted for another 400 years.  He is the patron saint of Norway and his life and death are celebrated at Stiklestad every July 29.  In addition to visiting this site we also went skiing in Trondelag.  One of the best ski resorts in Norway, Oppdal lived up to its reputation.  Conditions were perfect and the skiing was excellent.  Soon after this my family left, but it was after a good trip through some areas of Norway that we hadn’t previous seen.   Click on the photo for a larger version.

 

My brother, Olav, and I at the julenisse’s (Santa Claus) mailbox. 

My dad and I at the entrance of the abandoned mine.Equipment for the ice cave.

Getting ready to ski up to the ice cave.

Setting up a climbing anchor in the ice cave.

Climbing up an ice wall.

 Pondering the best way to proceed.

My brother, Olav, ascending up the wall.

Who said a polar bear can’t be tamed.

New Year’s Eve.

 My brother, Olav, and I in front of Nidarosdomen.     

 

 

Excursion to Andøya Rocket Range

            Every class at UNIS includes an excursion.  For the excursion for my course in the Middle Polar Atmosphere, we traveled to Andøya Rocket Range near Andenes for a week in late October.  This was exciting because we got to see the sun again which had been gone for over a week on Svalbard.  Andenes is also in Lofoften, one of the most beautiful areas in Norway where mountains meet the sea.  Our lodgings were extremely nice as we were housed in cottages near the shore, usually rented out to vacationers in the summer. 

            Our activities on the excursion were varied.  We had the relatively mundane offering of lectures.  This time the lectures focused on stratospheric warmings and the quasi-biannual oscillation.  Additionally we were given a tour of the rocket range and got to see a rocket launch.  The launch was testing a new heat shield that protected a small capsule with sharp angles.  Currently heat shields on both the Space Shuttle and the Russian Soyuz space crafts are around smooth surfaces.  The ability to effectively protect sharp angled surfaces gives more flexibility to engineers when designing spacecraft.  This capsule was tested while we were at the rocket range and we could view the live telemetry and see the successful launch from the liftoff to splashdown.  We also toured a LIDAR facility and got to see a variety of large lasers used for measuring atmospheric conditions in the troposphere, stratosphere, and mesosphere.  One precaution that they must take includes not shooting the lasers when airplanes are flying overhead for fear of the reflection from the plane blinding people on the ground.  Those are some powerful lasers!  We also saw the launch of the first Norwegian satellite live from Russia.  The satellite is designed to track tagged reindeer.  Finally we worked extensively with an infra-red handheld camera and took a survey of the rocket range to determine where there were thermal leaks that could be corrected to increase efficiency of heating buildings.  We turned in a report to the rocket range but unfortunately they neglected to give us a commission. 

            Overall this was an exciting trip that showed many aspects of research in the middle and upper atmosphere.  Some pictures are included below. 

Click on the photo for a larger version. 

A rocket launch!!

One big laser for a LIDAR facility. 

Image from the infrared camera.

Mørketiden

Such an innocuous name for an aspect of your life that affects you more than you realize.  On Svalbard after the fall equinox, everyone quickly notices that darkness is constantly encroaching on all aspects of daily life.  It become more difficult to get up in the morning and it is easy to lose track of daily routines.  If you approach this period with a positive attitude these are the worst of the experiences you will have due to constant darkness.  This and the fact that all outdoor activities become somewhat limited.  There are also positive sides: excellent views of the northern lights in multiple colors in the night and that day, spending more time with friends as there is not much to do outside, and although not necessarily positive time to study since there is little left to distract you.  At the end of the day constant darkness is an interesting experience, but not one that I’d like to have permanently. 

Click on the photo for a larger version.

Longyearbyen during mørketiden.

First Day of School

My first day at UNIS started was officially an orientation course and started with things that you would expect with an orientation course.  We heard various university officials give short talks on why the university was located where it was, what kind of activities were conducted there, and how it was our responsibility to further these activities.  Then we split into 2 groups to start some more “hands on activities.”  The one group, my group, immediately departed to the rifle range where we quickly learned how to shoot 30-.06 rifles in order to defend ourselves against polar bears.  It was necessary to learn how to do this in a wide variety of conditions including snow storms, darkness, and stressful situations.  The process of using a rifle must become routine as they are necessary for field work and even for any activities outside of town.  The next morning training continues with the continuation our orientation course.  This time our focus is water safety.  We immediately put on survival suits and departed in rubber zodiacs.  The instructor then asked us to jump out into the water, approximately 0°C year round, and link up with everyone in the boat and then help each other climb back in.  We weren’t wearing any gloves, which is a normal when working with instruments in field conditions, and quickly saw that fast action is necessary in order to safely get out of the water in controlled conditions.  With this as part of the orientation course I knew that I was in for a different kind of study experience on Svalbard and this wasn’t your typical university. 

Click on the photo for a larrger version.

I am stading in front of UNIS in early August.

UNIS in the twilight of midday in late October.

The student dormitories in Nybyen in early September. 

 

Ny-Ålesund Mass Balance Fieldwork September 2005

In late-September I accompanied Dr. Jack Kohler of the Norwegian Polar Institute to Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard to participate in the fall mass balance studies.  Ny-Ålesund is in a beautiful natural setting, surrounding by mountains and glaciers.  This is a small scientific community that has between 20 and 100 inhabitants depending on what projects are in progress.  The community is of an international nature and includes instruments or stations from Norway, Germany, France, Great Britain, China, and Japan.  For a field station, Ny-Ålesund is extremely well equipped, including: high speed internet, a solarium, gymnasium, and extensive DVD library, as well as a bar that is open on Saturday nights.  There is also a store that opens twice a week, even if it only sells souvenirs, beer, and soda.  You get to know people quickly in this small community as all meals are shared. 

            My stay in Ny-Ålesund was short, just over a week.  The goal was to complete fall mass balance studies of four glaciers in the area: Midtre Lovenbreen, Kongsvegen, Holtedalfonna, and Brøggerbreen.  Mass balance is a simple way to keep track of whether a glacier is growing or shrinking.  A brief introduction into this technique is quite illuminating and shows how simple scientific measurements can give an important result.  Generally, glaciers can generally be divided into two zones, an ablation zone and accumulation zone.  In the accumulation zone snowfall exceeds melting and there is a net gain of snow and therefore mass.  In the ablation zone melting exceeds snowfall and therefore there is a net loss of snow and mass.  If the rate of melting in the ablation zone exceeds the rate of accumulation in the accumulation zone the glacier is shrinking and recedes.  If the opposite occurs the glacier grows and advances.  In order figure out whether the glacier is growing or shrinking we place stakes on glacier and measure the distance from the top of the stake to the ice surface twice a year.  That way we can develop a time series for the change of the ice surface at each stake.  Averaging all these changes together we can see if the glacier experiences a net loss of gain in mass.  Additionally, with the advent of GPS, we can locate these stakes extremely accurately and get an idea of how the glacier flows and calculate stress and strain rates in the glacier on a biannual basis.  We also measure the meteorological conditions on the glaciers from a network of weather stations, which are downloaded when we measure mass balance each spring and fall.  Finally, we compare these results to aerial photographs and satellite images which offer another confirmation of our results.  The mass balance records of Midtre Lovenbreen and Brøggerbreen are the oldest in the Arctic going back to the late 1960s.  They thus provide us with the longest existing record of how the glaciers react to changes in temperature.  It was exciting to be part of this legacy and continue to make these measurements. 

            Working in the vicinity of Ny-Ålesund is also a lot of fun.  Our daily routine consisted of gathering our equipment: ropes, crampons, rifle, radios, precision GPS, ruler, etc., and accessing the weather for the feasibility of a helicopter flight to the further away glaciers of Holtedalfonna and Kongsvegen.  It was quite cold for September and there was already a thick snow cover but not quite enough for snow mobiles.  On the first day we hiked on foot and quickly found that this was strenuous in the deep snow and not the best way to do things.  So from then on we used skis.  Having only a basic knowledge of cross-country skiing this was a steep learning curve for me.  I have since purchased a set of randonee skis which allow me to capitalize on my more extensive downhill experience.  Once on the glacier we go to each stake, measure the position with the GPS antenna, measure the amount of snow, and measure the distance to the ice surface with a ruler.   We compare our measurements to last year’s results while in the field to make sure there are no hugely unreasonable measurements.  If necessary we also repeat measurements on site to confirm our results.  Then each night, Dr. Kohler would do a preliminary mass balance calculation to see if results seemed reasonable and to determine if we needed to repeat measurements. 

            For me this was quite a bit of fun.  I got to ski around glaciers and admire nature for a week.  The helicopter rides were especially breathtaking and offered an awesome view.  Although my interest in studying glaciers is intrinsic and related to understanding their important and not completely understood role in affecting our climate, the opportunity to work outdoors in pristine areas is a nice bonus.  I won’t enjoy working permanently in a lab nearly as much as I have always had a love for the outdoors and although some people would call me crazy, for snow and ice.  Being surrounded by mountains covered in snow and ice while making contributions to an important scientific result confirmed that I wanted to make this into my career.  I look forward to the fieldwork in the spring where I will get to spend a month in this area and help on a variety of projects including: ice-penetrating radar, shallow ice coring, mass balance, and digging snow pits.  Enjoy the pictures below of the fabulous nature surrounding Ny-Ålesund. 

Click on the photo thumbnail for a larger version of the picture. 

Midtre Lovenbreen. 

Skiing on glaciers. 

An outlet glacier of Holtedalfonna.

Fieldwork with the helicopter.

Meteorology Fieldwork September 2005

On September 1st, we received out first accumulating snowfall at sea level in Longyearbyen and the next week my Polar Meteorology and Climate class started fall fieldwork.  All courses at UNIS include a fieldwork component and unless weather conditions are dire, we spend a lot of it outdoors.  The 10 days of meteorology fieldwork coincided with the first cold air of the season, temperatures between 0 and -10°C and wind-chills around -20°C.  Although not cold for Svalbard, it does take some time to adjust.  Luckily we returned to the heated and well-equipped dormitories in Nybyen each evening so were only in the cold for 12-16 hours a day. 

Despite the cold this was an exciting experience for me.  My previous research experience has been using ground penetrating radar to image the interior of alpine glaciers and ice sheets with the St. Olaf Center for Geophysical Studies of Ice and Climate headed by Dr. Robert Jacobel.  Thus the instruments, analysis, methodology and principles were all new to me and it was exciting to be in action collecting data so soon after coming to Svalbard. 

My responsibility was the maintenance, operation, and analysis of data from a sonic anemometer.  Basically this instrument measures deviation in the speed of a sound wave between two probes from the speed of a sound wave in dry air.  This instrument has an extremely high sampling frequency and measures in three dimensions.  These properties make it ideal to examine turbulence which is of great important in boundary layer meteorology and can have a large impact on aircraft, windmills, and skyscrapers.   Understanding the turbulence in the boundary layer is also vital to understanding the thermodynamics near the earth’s surface and thus the daily diurnal variations in temperature that are standard in the middle-latitude regions that most of us call home.  The Polar Regions are unique in that this diurnal variation vanishes during times of midnight sun and polar night.  However, during this time, in early September, there are strong diurnal variations in turbulent fluxes, and thus our results were comparable to those in textbooks written about middle-latitudes. 

In order to take meteorological measurement without interference from the ground you have to elevate the instruments above other objects on the ground to eliminate interference.  We do this by using masts and measuring at several levels on the masts so we get an idea of how meteorological parameters vary with height.  It is quite difficult to raise a 10 meter mast in winds of 20-25 m/s (around 50 mph) and prompts numerous quotations that are quite amusing in retrospect, such as:

“Pull harder.  Don’t let the mast fall; we don’t want to destroy the instruments.” 

“What about the students who are below the mast?” 

“The instruments are quite expensive, and students are disposable.  I mean we receive new students every year.”

“I need good ideas; very fast…my fingers are getting quite cold.”

“So what’s the best way to fasten the guide ropes again?” 

“I am not really sure.  I just make some loops until it looks like it won’t come undone, so they don’t really have to be that good.” 

“But make sure you’re knots are good enough, we don’t want the mast to fall.” 

“We need rocks.  Lots of big rocks.” 

In addition to the large mast we also set up several smaller, 3 meter, masts in the area of Adventdalen, Svalbard to get a spatial picture of boundary layer.  The masts were set up at a variety of elevations ranging from sea level to over 1000 meters in elevation.  We also took manual observations every 3 hours in order to have a secondary record.  Finally we archived the satellite images and analyses from the days we were in the field so we would have an idea of both the local and synoptic meteorological situation. 

In order to take measurements above 1000 meters, we planned to take a series of balloon profiles up to 1 km.  We quickly learned that there were numerous frustrations with fieldwork through our experience with the balloon.  First in order to launch the balloon winds had to be below 10 m/s (20 mph), otherwise we risked loosing the balloon and tether system and we couldn’t risk damaging this very expensive system.  Secondly, a 5×2 meter bright orange balloon could interfere with local air travel so we could only launch with clearance from the local airport and when there were no planes or helicopters in the vicinity.  Due to these restrictions, we were only able to launch four times during the 10 day period.  Still we retrieved some valuable data on the boundary layer through these measurements. 

The first episode of fieldwork was a fun and valuable learning experience.  It showed that a large amount of ingenuity and cooperation are sometimes necessary to accomplish seemingly simple tasks, such as setting up a weather mast, when conditions aren’t ideal.  Examining the data also showed that despite all your efforts, data collection isn’t perfect and you have to report the errors or incompleteness of your data when presenting your results to the public. 

Click on the photo thumbnail for a larger version.  

The weather balloon.  

The 10 meter weather mast.  

The sonic anemometer.   

A Short Summary of my Activities in Norway

         Traveling by ship on Isfjorden. 

 

My name is Knut Christianson and I am an American Fulbright grantee spending one year in Northern Norway.  My grant in Norway has two primary components.  The first is taking courses in Arctic Geophysics and Geology at the University Centre in Svalbard (UNIS).  The second component is working with the Norwegian Polar Institute (NP) on a project called EnviTools which studies the interaction of microwaves with snow and ice.  EnviTools aims to develop new methods for retrieval of cryospheric variables from Earth Observation (EO) data in order to increase the usefulness of EO data by environmental authorities and the research community. 

Just as my grant has two components, I will be spending my time between two places.  I spent my first semester in Longyearbyen, Svalbard taking classes in Arctic Geophysics at UNIS.  I also took a short trip to Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard in late September to help my supervisor at NP, Dr. Jack Kohler, with the annual fall mass balance program.  When not taking classes or working in glaciers on Svalbard, I enjoy the hospitality of the Norwegian Polar Institute and work at the Polar Institute in Tromsø.  I will be working at the Polar Institute in January and February.  Then I will return to UNIS to take a short duration course in Glaciology in March.  Following that course I will return to Ny-Ålesund in order to participate in the spring field season during April and May.  Although I will be helping out with several projects in the field, my specific task is to calculate and spatially map the water content on a glacier called Holtedalfonna from ground-based ice-penetrating radar data.  After completing the field season I will return to Tromsø in mid-May to tie up any loose ends with my research.  

This blog got started a little late so there will only be some summary entries about my activities first semester with some more frequent entries in the spring.  Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.  Enjoy!

Below are some pictures from my first few days on Svalbard.  Click on the photo for a larger image. 

My mom and I at basecamp near Esmark glacier.

The calving front of Esmark glacier.

Peering into a crevasse on Esmark glacier.