by Matthew Shupe, CIRES/NOAA scientist and co-coordinator of MOSAiC Our ship now sways side to side. It’s subtle because there is little swell. But it is a distinctly different feel than transiting through ice when there are periodic jolts and shutters resonating through the whole vessel. We are now in open water and have left… Read More

by Matthew Shupe, CIRES/NOAA scientist and co-coordinator of MOSAiC Our process of investigating the environmental system can have its own environmental impacts. A few of these are major. These ships burn 10-40 tons of fuel per day with the proportional emissions of carbon dioxide, aerosols, black carbon and more. We also launch four weather balloons… Read More

by Matthew Shupe, CIRES/NOAA scientist and co-coordinator of MOSAiC We have a new mission now that we’ve sailed off on Tryoshnikov. Picking up the distributed network.  For MOSAiC we made this fantastic network of buoys, a constellation of observations stretching for 10s of km in all directions from Polarstern. The whole constellation had drifted across… Read More

by Matthew Shupe, CIRES/NOAA scientist and co-coordinator of MOSAiC Sometimes goodbyes are hard. Like this morning. Two ships together, then the lines are reeled in. Subtle movements and a slow parting. The railings of both vessels crowded with people, initially just a few feet apart. Waving. Photos.  Crying. Further movement as Polarstern starts to move… Read More

by Matthew Shupe, CIRES/NOAA scientist and co-coordinator of MOSAiC The big move-in today. People that will be leaving on Tryoshnikov officially moved over to their new home for the next days. Lots of hugging on Polarstern, and the Leg 4 team sang the MOSAiC song to the incoming people.  Then a progression of baskets being… Read More

by Matthew Shupe, CIRES/NOAA scientist and co-coordinator of MOSAiC As with last time, it again felt like an invasion. Today, after the ships were stable alongside each other, we started having some exchange of people. An invasion of new, strange faces…. of different energy. This leg of MOSAiC is really coming to an end now.… Read More

by Radiance Calmer, a CIRES postdoctoral researcher  How do you picture a polar bear guard?  A few months ago, I would have answered with stereotypes of the Arctic explorers from the past centuries: men, aged by the harsh weather conditions, long beard and disheveled hair, gruff personalities, never more than two words pronounced in a… Read More

by Matthew Shupe, CIRES/NOAA scientist and co-coordinator of MOSAiC These moments are always noteworthy. Two ships passing in the night… The Akademik Tryoshnikov is now here. Red hull. Large, twin cranes on her cargo deck. Two helicopter pads. It’s a nice looking vessel.  And now our task is to conduct an orderly handover and exchange… Read More

by Matthew Shupe, CIRES/NOAA scientist and co-coordinator of MOSAiC Our days lately have been strange. Searching around the ice in dense fog. It’s so hard to see anything, and especially some of these small buoys we’ve been hunting. But today was a beautiful day. Bluebird conditions again. And it started out with a great bear.… Read More