National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration
United States Department of Commerce

CICCI 2015 Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard

Group Photo

CICCI 2015 Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard

Cooperative Investigation of Climate-Cryosphere Interaction

PMEL atmospheric chemists teamed up with PMEL’s engineering division, NOAA/ESRL/CSD, the Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory (LDEO), and the Norwegian Northern Research Institute (NORUT) to measure black carbon (soot) and ice conditions in the climate sensitive Arctic region.  Unmanned aerial systems (drones) were launched out of Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard, Norway located at 79°N during April and May, 2015. The drones were equipped with a variety of interchangeable payloads with sensors that measured aerosol particle size and concentration, light absorption, chemical tracers that help detect the geographic origin of the particles, aerosol radiative effects, and snow and ice properties.  A total of 26 flights and 31.8 flight hours were completed.