This campaign took place in April 2015, with the focus upon the characterization of ice clouds and pollutant levels, including black carbon, across the Arctic.  The campaign was again a collaboration between NETCARE scientists and AWI.   Along with the POLAR 6, the POLAR 5 make the trans-Arctic passage with its intent to characterize sea ice levels.  The campaign started in Longyearben, Spitzbergen and was to have continued in Station Nord, Greenland but bad weather at the start required us to skip science activities in Station Nord and to pass to Alert and Eureka, Nunavut and then onto Inuvik, NWT.

The instrumentation (list below) was similar to that flow in the summer 2014 but with specific changes to better characterize the optical properties of the particles and the character of the ice clouds.   Close to 10 science flights were performed, with some measurements also performed on the ferry flights between stations. During the campaign our scientists submitted updates that can be found in the NETCARE activities blog.

POLAR 6 2015 Instrumentation

• Meteorological Parameters (T, RH, P etc)
• Sun Photometer
• Optical Particle Counter (UHSAS, particle sizes and concentrations)
• Single Particle Soot Photometer (SP2, black carbon particles sizes and numbers)
• Carbon Monoxide Analyzer
• Carbon Dioxide Analyzer
• Sulfur Dioxide Analyzer
• Water Vapour Analyzer
• Ozone Analyzer
• Soot Particle Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (SP-AMS, particle composition)
• Condensation Particle Counters (total particle numbers, different cut points)
• Optical Particle Counter (super-micron particle size and number density)
• Filter Ice Nuclei Counter (numbers of ice cloud forming particles)
• Continuous Light Absorption Photometer (visible absorption abilities of particles)
• Nephelometer (light scattering abilities of particles)
• Nevzorov Probe (total water content)
• Cloud Probes (FSSP 100, 2DC, 2DP, cloud droplet sizes and numbers)

Ten NETCARE scientistswere on board the Canadian Coast Guard Ship Amundsen, a research icebreaker, studying atmospheric and oceanic composition throughout the central Arctic.  The cruise departed from Quebec City on July 8, entering Lancaster Sound on July 17, undergoing a partial exchange of scientists at Resolute Bay, Nunavut on July 24, before heading west through the Northwest Passage.  All NETCARE scientists left the ship on August 14 in Kugluktuk, Northwest Territories.  

The scientific goal was to assess the impact of the ocean in promoting the formation of atmospheric aerosols. In particular, as sea ice retreats in years to come, it is important to understand the role that oceans play in affecting Arctic climate.  To do this, we took measurements of biogeochemical parameters in the ocean to explore the production of molecules that are released from the ocean to the atmosphere.  On the atmospheric side, we measured the concentrations of these gases and their oxidation products, and studied the nature of the ambient atmospheric aerosol particles, including their size, concentration, composition and cloud nucleating abilities.

Please follow these links for a map of the five-week-long Amundsen Arctic cruise and a list of instrumentation deployed. During the campaign we hosted a Campaign Blog that will be updated regularly by the NETCARE scientists. 

Amundsen Instrumentation

• Two Time-of-Flight Chemical Ionization Mass Spectrometers (gas phase DMS, atmospheric acids)
• Quadrupole Chemical Ionization Mass Spectrometer (gas phase OH, H2SO4)
• Ambient Ion Monitor – Ion Chromatograph (soluble gases and aerosol species)
• Two Scanning Particle Mobility Sizers (sub-micron particle size and number density)
• Aerodynamic Particle Sizer (super-micron particle size and number density)
• Condensation Particle Counter (total particle numbers)
• Cloud Condensation Particle Counter (numbers of liquid water cloud forming particles)
• Filter Ice Nuclei Counter (numbers of ice cloud forming particles)
• High Volume Air Samplers (sulfur isotopes of atmospheric species)
• Cartridge Sampling of Gases (gas phase DMS)

Institutions Involved

• University of Toronto
• University of British Columbia
• University of Calgary
• Environment Canada
• Laval University
• University of Quebec at Rimouski
• Fisheries and Oceans Canada

A large-scale aircraft campaign (on the German POLAR6 aircraft) that took place in July 2014, based out of Resolute Bay, Nunavut, aimed to assess the different roles that oceanic input and long range transport from lower latitudes play in driving Arctic atmospheric composition. For five days in late July, the aircraft also sampled emissions from the Amundsen icebreaker, as a case study of how ship emissions may lead to effects on the Arctic atmosphere, including clouds. With large scale commercial shipping likely to occur in the Arctic with sea ice retreat, a firm understanding of the processes governing the impacts of ship emissions is needed.

This campaign was a collaboration of NETCARE university scientists with Environment Canada, the Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI), Max Planck Institute at Mainz and the University of Mainz, which will all have instrumentation on the plane. LATMOS (France) provided forecasting support. The POLAR6 is a DC-3 (built in 1942 for wartime service) operated by AWI that has been entirely re-built and outfitted for polar studies Typical flight profiles during the four-week-long, 90-flight-hour NETCARE campaign included altitude profiles to 20,000 feet to assess vertical structure of the atmosphere and long range transport, spatial studies over ice and open water to assess biological sources of particles, and plume emission studies of the Amundsen icebreaker in Lancaster Sound. 

The campaign starts with equipment integration in June 2014 and a test flight at Muskoka airport on June 27, with the first planned Arctic flight on July 3 from Resolute Bay, Nunavut.  Flights will finish on July 23, before flying back to Muskoka for de-integration of the equipment.

Below you will find a list of instrumentation on the aircraft, in addition, here is a map of POLAR6 research locations during the summer of 2014. Our researchers and graduate students will be posted regular updates on our Campaign Blog throughout the campaign. 

POLAR 6 2014 Instrumentation 

• Meteorological Parameters (T, RH, P etc)
• Sun Photometer
• Optical Particle Counter (UHSAS, particle sizes and concentrations)
• Single Particle Soot Photometer (SP2, black carbon particles sizes and numbers)
• Single Particle Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (ALABAMA, particle composition)
• Carbon Monoxide Analyzer
• Carbon Dioxide Analyzer
• Sulfur Dioxide Analyzer
• Nitrogen Oxides Analyzer
• Water Vapour Analyzer
• Ozone Analyzer
• Soot Particle Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (SP-AMS, particle composition)
• Condensation Particle Counter (total particle numbers)
• Cloud Condensation Particle Counter (numbers of liquid water cloud forming particles)
• Scanning Particle Mobility Sizer (sub-micron particle size and number density)
• Optical Particle Counter (super-micron particle size and number density)
• Filter Ice Nuclei Counter (numbers of ice cloud forming particles)
• Continuous Light Absorption Photometer (visible absorption abilities of particles)
• Nevzorov Probe (total water content)
• Cloud Probes (FSSP 100, 2DC, cloud droplet sizes and numbers)

Institutions Involved

• Environment Canada
• University of Toronto
• University of British Columbia
• University of Calgary
• Alfred Wegener Institut
• University of Mainz
• Max Planck Institute
• LATMOS