MOSAiC PI Blog, Part 4: Scenes From the Ice

Editor’s note: The Multidisciplinary Drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate (MOSAiC) expedition, using more than 50 ARM instruments, continues in the central Arctic through October 2020. Matthew Shupe, MOSAiC co-coordinator from the University of Colorado, Boulder, shares more pictures from the expedition.

Thin crack in ice during MOSAiC — A thin crack cuts through footprints across the ice adjacent to a meteorological tower being prepared for installation.

Cracked ice during MOSAiC — A wider crack runs past a met tower at Met City, a research station where meteorological instruments are operating on the ice. The near miss could have dragged the tower down.

Instrument work during MOSAiC — Dave Costa, an engineer from Shupe’s atmosphere research team, works on an atmospheric surface flux station located 15 kilometers (about 9 miles) away from the icebreaker *R/V Polarstern*. These stations are designed to provide information on spatial variability of the surface energy budget.

Blizzard at Met City during MOSAiC — A blizzard sweeps across Met City.

R/V Polarstern icebreaker during MOSAiC — The moon shines above the *Polarstern* and the ARM instruments on the icebreaker.

Read Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 of Shupe’s blog series.

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MOSAiC is an international arctic research expedition led by the Alfred Wegener Institute with U.S. contributions from the U.S. Department of Energy, National Science Foundation, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and NASA.