With a small but international group we will spearhead this summer’s Polaris Project with the first expedition to Cherskiy (June 14 through July 9). Our team consists of:

Claire Griffin (PhD student, University of Texas, US)

Sam Berman (BA student, Clark University, US)

Elise van Winden (Bsc student, Utrecht University, The Netherlands)

Jorien Vonk (Post-doc, Utrecht University, The Netherlands)

Karen Frey (AssistantProfessor, Clark University, US).

Claire, Sam, Elise and Jorien will arrive in Cherskiy on June 14, with boots on the ground for approximately 3.5 weeks in total. Karen will be supporting us from a distance, back in the US. Sam and Claire are returning students: Sam was part of the 2012 team and Claire took part in the 2009 expedition.

The research efforts of this satellite group will focus on:

–       Investigation of lake physics (bathymetry, conductivity, temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH) and lake biogeochemistry (dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and chromophoric dissolved organic carbon (CDOM)) to quantify the total storage and flux of carbon in lakes.

–       Aquatic survey sampling (CDOM, DOC, total suspended solids (TSS), chlorophyll-a) of larger river systems to optimize satellite calibration and validation.

–       Collection of water for isotopic analyses (oxygen and hydrogen isotopes) to trace water masses, lake residence times, and channel flow patterns. This also gives us further insight into sources of water and organic matter.

–       Various incubation experiments with river and permafrost carbon. Similar experiments will be repeated in July (with the core Polaris Project group) and September (with the River/”Carbon Bomb” Polaris Project group) to get a seasonal perspective of the variability in carbon characteristics.

We are now preparing for our trip by testing equipment and methods, and ordering consumable supplies. Our departure is in less than 10 weeks, so we are busily preparing for this exciting field work! We will update more as the time draws nearer and certainly while we are in Cherskiy during June and July!

Karen & Jorien