by Matthew Shupe, CIRES/NOAA scientist and co-coordinator of MOSAiC I’ve been getting frustrated and exhausted lately. So many tasks to get done to get everything set up and fixed. Added responsibilities in being the co-cruise leader. And there are not as many people here now that they understand how the system works, both from the… Read More

by Matthew Shupe, CIRES/NOAA scientist and co-coordinator of MOSAiC The ice around us, at least on the Fortress, is filthy. In many locations it is brown with sediment. Many small rocks have been found, suggesting that this ice was initially formed as land-fast ice along the Siberian Shelf. A recent satellite radar image shows that… Read More

by Matthew Shupe, CIRES/NOAA scientist and co-coordinator of MOSAiC We have lakes. These are no simple melt ponds but are more like lakes. With some wind there is even a bit of chop out there on the water. They are so nice and blue, especially at those times when the sun is shining. In the… Read More

by Matthew Shupe, CIRES/NOAA scientist and co-coordinator of MOSAiC Wow, it has been intense out. The skies cleared, leaving us bathed in full sun all day.  Full bright sun, nearly twice as bright as a typical sunny day back home because of the high albedo surface. Photons coming in from all directions. It’s time to… Read More

by Matthew Shupe, CIRES/NOAA scientist and co-coordinator of MOSAiC Parties are fun. Particularly on Polarstern when they pull out the barbecues on the working deck and make the web lab all nice inside. Tables, a bar, music, and a fantastic spread of food. Many options for the BBQ, various meats, fish, veggies, potatoes. Each person… Read More

by Matthew Shupe, CIRES/NOAA scientist and co-coordinator of MOSAiC We ran into the floe. Directly. While scientifically we decided it would be best to moor to the floe along the ship’s port side to facilitate CTD operations, others onboard have been concerned about the Polarstern’s ability to hold its position alongside the floe in the… Read More

by Matthew Shupe, CIRES/NOAA scientist and co-coordinator of MOSAiC Today we parked against the MOSAiC floe, just outside the Fortress on a large shoulder of first year ice. An overcast day with little contrast, but generally warm out. It was a day for exploration, for assessing the state of the floe. Two teams were assembled… Read More

by Matthew Shupe, CIRES/NOAA scientist and co-coordinator of MOSAiC It’s been a 7-week journey to this point. Perhaps we can call it a commute. But now we are finally at our MOSAiC ice floe. I can see it with my own eyes. Some orange flags here and there with various installations around. I’m still trying… Read More

by Matthew Shupe, CIRES/NOAA scientist and co-coordinator of MOSAiC I saw our flux station today, the one that’s been operating at the MOSAiC floe. A window of favorable flight conditions allows Markus and I to fly out to explore the floe and assess the conditions. We’ve been pouring over satellite images, identifying different ice floes… Read More

by Matthew Shupe, CIRES/NOAA scientist and co-coordinator of MOSAiC With high ice pressure we continue to be stopped in the ice. The ship cannot make much progress under these conditions and it is just not worth the effort to keep trying at the moment.  So the ship is waiting until somewhat more favorable conditions to… Read More