Arctic Expeditions, to Prepare ARCTIC for the Future
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THE SCI ENCE OF Let's compare and contrast past (Fram) and present (MOSAiC) Arctic expeditions, to prepare ARCTIC for the future. We can investigate how scientific questions, methods, technologies, and our EXPEDITIONS knowledge of the Arctic changed over time. 1893-1896 FRAM EXPEDITION 2019-2020 MOSAIC EXPEDITION MOTIVATIONS The Fram expedition was the first attempt to reach the North Pole by freezing a ship in ice and drifting with the ice through the Arctic. Fridtjof MOTIVATIONS Nansen got this idea when he learned that the debris from the shipwrecked When comparing observed and Jeannette was found thousands of miles modeled September sea ice extent from where it sank, suggesting an datasets, we see that the models do East/West current through the Arctic. not predict the observed Another goal of the Fram expedition measurements well after 2005. Clearly was to explore and understand the the models lack some known factor Arctic region by gathering scientific and are underestimating the sea ice observations. loss. The science from this expedition will help fill that gap in knowledge. NAVIGATIONAL METHODS & TECHNOLOGIES NAVIGATIONAL The Fram relied on celestial navigation to determine their location, a technique METHODS & where the angle between celestial bodies (sun, moon) and the visible TECHNOLOGIES horizon is measured. This angle, along A variety of methods were used to with the time the measurement was navigate during the MOSAiC taken, was used to determine their expedition, including satellite imagery, latitude. ice cores, an EM-Bird, computer models, drifting buoys, and global positioning systems (GPS) SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATIONS While frozen in sea ice, the crew SCIENTIFIC constructed an ice camp outside the INVESTIGATIONS ship and studied the formation of sea ice, measured the temperature and Hundreds of scientists from 19 countries salinity of sea water at different depths, took part in the expedition. Using and examined living things both on the instruments like satellites, ice cores and ice and at the bottom of the ocean. buoys, they measured cloud reflectance, They also measured air temperature cloud formation, ocean and atmosphere and pressure, along with gravitational temperatures, sea ice extent and measurements. incoming and outgoing solar radiation. .