Journal

Because we arrived on Friday, right before the weekend, we haven’t been able to get the rifles and boat we need to begin the field work or to explore the area. (Even up here people take a break for the weekend!) But we had to open up the boxes and get things organized and ready, anyway, so we spent both yesterday and today organizing and testing the equipment we need to do the field work. If you’ve been reading the blog since the beginning, you might recall that we shipped six large boxes up here. So there has been quite a bit to do!

Getting organized
Xander and Kelly working on the bathymetry (ocean floor depth) setup.
Getting organized
Xander working on the new cable for the winch.
Getting organized
I am very proud of my nice wrapping technique with a brand new cable on the winch we’ll use for the CTD and water sampling.
Getting organized
Julie and Kelly troubleshooting the bathymetry setup.
Testing the equipment
Xander testing out the water current velocity meter.

We’re hoping to get out on the water tomorrow and at least begin planning out how we will attack the next few weeks of field work. The work we’ve done over the past two days is a reminder of how much planning, preparation and organization goes into successful field work.

In the meantime, we’re settling in nicely to the community. Ny Ålesund is a base set up by the Norwegian government for the purpose of doing Arctic research. In the height of the summer, it can hold around 150 people. Most of the people here are scientists, but there is also a large staff here to support the work of the scientists and to make sure that they can stay here comfortably while they work - technical people, logistical support people, administrative people, facilities people, cooks, etc.

Many countries have their own “stations”, which are buildings operated by that country. For example, there is a Norwegian station, a British station, a Dutch station, an Indian station, a Chinese station, and several others.

United States does not have its own station. (We do have our own research base at Toolik Lake in Alaska.) So when Americans like us come here we rent space and equipment from the Norwegian station (The Norwegian Polar Institute or NP). They have provided us with office space and access to a lab if we need it. The folks at the NP have been quite helpful in getting us what we need.

The atmosphere is definitely very collaborative from a science perspective, but also very social. There are social events several times a week. Every Saturday night there is a “formal” dinner. This means that there are nice napkins and place settings at every table, and folks come dressed in the nicest things they brought. OK, it’s not exactly a black tie affair, but people make an effort - you know, a shirt with a collar or your cleanest fleece. (Photos are not allowed in the dining hall unfortunately!)

Ny Ålesund
Ny Ålesund from the air
Ny Ålesund
Ny Ålesund

Details
Author
Mark Goldner
Date
Location
Ny Ålesund, Svalbard
Expedition
High Arctic Change 2021
Weather Summary
Mostly sunner
Temperature
3.3°C (38°F)

View Comments

Comments

Wed, 07/14/2021 - 13:33

Andy Vogel

Mark, glad to see you arrived safely, and are having great successes wrapping yellow cords tightly! Love the photos and the blog! Be safe, and enjoy your experience! - Andy

Tue, 07/20/2021 - 12:49

Mark Goldner

Thank you, Andy! It's great to hear from you. I feel incredibly lucky to be a part of this science adventure - and to be able to return to this special place. I hope you and your family are having a nice summer.

Mon, 08/09/2021 - 10:16

Charlotte Pappas

Hello Mr. Goldner,

Foremostly, I found it interesting reading this post, and finding out what the area you stayed at in Ny Ålesund, Svalbard, was like.
I was especially focused on the section where you mentioned setting up the science equipment you sent over, as it seems like a complicated and difficult task to do.
For example, from your pictures in this post, I notice that there seems to be a lot of plugs and tools you had to use to open up the equipment, and also to charge them and make sure that they were working. Furthermore, I am now wondering what you would do if an essential piece of equipment for your research, such as the CTD device, ended up not working properly. Would you ask another team doing similar research if they have equipment that you could borrow, or would you change around your research, so that it can incorporate more usage of the equipment you do have?

Moreover, I also have some questions about area you stayed at in Ny Ålesund, Svalbard.
For instance, from your post, you mention that there are many stations there that are operated by other countries, such as China and India, and I am further wondering what actions these countries have to take in order to get and own a station at Ny Ålesund, Svalbard, and if they have to get approval from their leader or an organization to own a station?
In addition, are the majority of stations at Ny Ålesund, Svalbard, run by countries with large populations, and have more wealth and power, such as the Untidied Kingdom, China, and Canada, or are there also some stations run by countries with smaller populations, and that have less wealth and power, such as Suriname, and Tuvalu?

That is all of my wonderings for now,
Charlotte

Sat, 08/28/2021 - 07:17

Thomas Ryan Kee

Dear Mr G,

Hello. It was really interesting learning about what kind of people are needed to run a research facility. One question I have is, were there more staff members then researchers? Another is why does the United States not have it’s own “station”. It’s really cool that even in the Arctic they still do fancy dinners and social events.

From,
Thomas Kee

Sun, 08/29/2021 - 11:24

Mark Goldner

Hi Thomas, thanks for your comment and questions. This year there were fewer scientists in Ny Ålesund than usual, because of COVID travel restrictions. I didn't count, but I estimate about 30 staff members to run the facility in the summer. In a normal summer there would be around 150 scientists at full capacity; this summer there were only around 80 while we were there.
The United States doesn't have its own "station" because it costs a lot of money to run one, and we have several research facilities in Alaska where Americans can do similar sorts of research. I think it's too bad, because what is unique about a place like Ny Ålesund is how international it is - this provides for lots of great collaboration between scientists from other countries.

Mon, 08/30/2021 - 07:06

Emily Morse

Hi, Mr. Goldner,
I hope you had fun on your trip. I love reading the journals you made, it has been super interesting. I do have one question for you, in the picture when you wrapped the new cable, how did you use it for water sampling? Because it looks different than I imagined in my head. Also another question is how long do you think it took you to wrap it up with your new technique?

From,
Emily Morse

Mon, 08/30/2021 - 11:00

Mark Goldner

Hi Emily, thanks for your questions! The best way for me to explain it to you is to show you - check out this video that I made showing how the water sampler works. Then check out this video where we use the winch (and cable) for doing CTD casts. You'll see in both how important it is to have a cable that is well wrapped on the winch. Also we needed to mark out every meter so we could measure roughly how deep in the water the samples were taken and measurements made.

Once we figured out exactly how we wanted the wrapping to go (which took a couple of hours of trial and error) It only took about 15-20 minutes to get the cable completely wrapped (it's about 80 meters long). The challenge during its use was to try to make sure that we re-wrapped it nicely onto the winch. There were some times when we got a little sloppy, and then the cable could get stuck, or slip. This was a particular problem during the CTD casts, which are supposed to be done at a steady and slow speed.