• All photos copyright A. G. Slater, 2002

Once again, Matthew Sturm (my snow guru), had invited me up to the Arctic to participate in some winter based field work. Last year we were at Councuil, 75 miles ENE of Nome, but this year the location was Barrow - the northern most settlement on the North American continent, and Point Barrow is the northern most piece of land. Want to see a map ?

Matthew is perhaps the best field scientist I have had the pleasure to work with, so the experience is always educational - academically, I am largely a modeller. In addition to the work, I got to see some amazing sights, such as sea ice pressure ridges, as well as experience some of the local Inupiat culture.

The main purpose of the trip was to work on validation of the AMSR/E microwave radiometer over sea ice. The Aqua satellite wasn't in the sky yet (well, it launched on May 4), but a prelim study of field techniques and the work environment are a vital process in developing an efficient field program for when the platform is flying and sending data. Drs. Jim Maslanik and Sheldon Drobot (Aerospace Eng.), also from Uni. Colorado were working on this project.

• Sheldon and Jim calibrate the "albimeter". The albimeter is set of pyranometers mounted back to back that measure the amount of solar radiation hitting the ground, and the amount reflected.
  Note that there is also an IR thermometer mounted on the arm.
• The frozen Chukchi Sea on a windy arctic night (~11pm). The sun was putting on a small rainbow/halo show as well.
• Science in action ! Eric takes another core, while Matthew books as Ken reads the thermocouples. Here we are trying to get a temperature profile of the ice.
• Eric, Sheldon and Jim, holding the depth drill. We use this drill to see how thick the ice is. It was a cold and windy day on Elson Lagoon. The ice was between 1.2 and 1.5m thick below the snow.
• Home sweet home Out near the Will Rogers memorial someone had had built an igloo. It's quite a nice shelter for 2 people. The well packed arctic snow is ideal for making blocks for igloos - unlike the snow in the Rocky Mountains !
• Off to work ! Ken has a GPS/MagnaProbe unit, which will records snow depth as well as the location of the measurement. Jim carries the Remington 870 shotgun just in case a Polar bear were to show itself and be aggressive. The building on the skyline in the Barrow DEW (Defence Early Warning) station.
• Hmm, looks the same in every direction .. . Jim looks at a RadarSat image and tries to match it to what he sees.
• The pre-fab Arctic. NARL (Naval Arctic Research Lab), like most construction in the Arctic, is a set of prefabricated buildings. NARL dates back to the 1950's. The accommodation was more than functional, even including satellite TV.
• Arctic Palms ? Pseudo palm trees made from bowhead whale baleen. This is at "duck camp" up near Point Barrow. Perhaps you can tell from the photo how cold and windy it was that day. We did no field work that day other than Ken and I going out on snowmobiles to take a GPS (Global Positioning System) survey of the coast.
• Matthew and Warren look at a newly forming pressure ridge. The relief of an ice convergence zone was much more than I expected.
• Ken drives his snow mobile through an area of rubble ice. Are we on Earth or the Moon ?
• Sea Ice knowledge. New school and old school - Jim Maslanik, a remote sensing expert, and Warren Matumiak, a local Inupiat elder discuss the ice conditions. Each has knowledge to contribute to the other.
• Warren stands atop an ice floe on the look out for Polar bears.