PolarisProject

As part of another NSF funded project, I’m in Russia for ~3 weeks with a group of four people.  Two have never been to Russia before, so in some ways it is a good test run to help identify some of the logistical challenges we’ll face moving the Polaris Project group from the US to Moscow to Yakutsk to Cherskiy.  We’re in Yakutsk now and leave for Zhigansk in a few hours.  Temperatures have ranged from about 0C in Moscow to -25C in Yakutsk, with -40C(-40F) predicted for Zhigansk.  The locals say that winter is over and they are now enjoying spring!  In Zhigansk we’ll be sampling the Lena River (through ~2 meters of ice).  We’re interested in how climate change is impacting the discharge and chemistry of rivers flowing into the Arctic Ocean.  The Lena is the second largest of the arctic rivers and has an annual discharge equal to the Mississippi.  Cherskiy, where the Polaris Project will be based, is on the Kolyma River – a smaller river but still 10 times bigger than the largest river on the East Coast of the US(the Hudson).  I don’t know if I’ll have internet access in Zhigansk, but will post a more thorough report in 8-9 days when we get back to Yakutsk.  I’ll also try to post some photos in the photo gallery.   Max Holmes 

In addition to having research interests in impacts of permafrost thaw on land-ocean linkages of carbon and nutrients in Siberia, my research also investigates carbon dynamics in coastal and shelf environments in the Arctic. My most recent project seeks to determine impacts of sea ice variability and polynya formation on biological productivity and spring phytoplankton blooms in the northern Bering Sea. Much of this work utilizes remotely sensed imagery from satellites, but I also collect in situ data from the field to validate and interpret satellite imagery. My fieldwork for this project takes place on the US Coast Guard Cutter Healy, a 420 foot icebreaker that spends up to eight months each year carrying out National Science Foundation-funded scientific missions in arctic marine environments. I leave on Monday, March 10 for the first of the Healy’s missions for 2008. This will be a particularly interesting time to investigate sea ice dynamics and associated spring phytoplankton blooms, as this March (seasonal sea ice maximum) follows the incredibly significant 2007 September sea ice anomaly and potential “tipping point” of sea ice decline:

http://nsidc.org/news/press/2007_seaiceminimum/20071001_pressrelease.html

While onboard, I will be collecting water samples for measuring chlorophyll-a concentrations, measuring optical properties of the water column, and recording observations of sea ice properties and dynamics, all of which will help to validate and interpret satellite imagery. For more information about what it’s like to conduct research and live onboard the Healy, watch these brief videos at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WN80g16rx8 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfKvNydpbR0

In addition, each hour, the ship posts a real-time photo taken from its “aloftcon” at the very top of the ship at:

http://mgds.ldeo.columbia.edu/healy/photos/aloftcon/2008

On March 6, the Healy began its transit from its home port in Seattle to Dutch Harbor, Alaska, where I will board. From March 13-26 or so, I encourage you browse the aloftcon photos as I would expect to see some dramatic photos of sea ice once our fieldwork gets underway.