After 24 days of social isolation in the vicinity of Cape Town and three Covid-19 tests per team member (all came back negative!) the 2020-2021 BELgian Antarctic Research Expedition (BELARE) is ready to begin!
Due to poor landing conditions in Antarctica, the quarantine for the BELARE team in Cape Town was extended until travel was possible. Now that conditions in Antarctica have improved, the BELARE team, comprised of Expedition Leader Alain Hubert and several scientists, has been cleared for travel and are on their way to the Russian Novolazarevskaia (Novo) Station aboard an Illyushin transport plane.
At Novo, the team will tranfser to a flight that will take them on to the first zero emission polar resaerch station, the Princess Elisabeth Antarctica (PEA).
Straight to work
Upon arrival at the station, the team will have to get to work stright away. Their first task will be to head to the hangar (which the BELARE team built two years ago on a local blue ice field), where maintenence vehicles and equipment are stored. The team will use the vehicles to clear away snow that has accumulated in front of the station during the autral winter.
The team will then complete a verification and maintenance check of all the electronic, energy, water production and water treatment systems at the station. This must be done before starting any scientific activities.
Stay tuned for more news from the team once they reach Princess Elisabeth Antarctica!
The time has finally arrived! The 2020-2021 Antarctic season upon us!
The BELARE (Belgian Antarctic Research Expedition) team arrived in Cape Town, South Africa at the beginning of November, where they are currently spending two weeks in quarantine before being allowed to journey to the Princess Elisabeth Antarctica (PEA) Research Station, where a shortened 2020 - 2021 season with a reduced team will take place.
Antarctic logistics during COVID-19
Times are different this year, as the spread of COVID-19 has rendered the execution of the of this current season more challenging, but not impossible.
Following the DROMLAN (Dronning Maud Land Air Network) COVID 19 Sanitary Protocol and with the help of the IPF Cape Town Operations Team, all members of the BELARE team have been self-isolating since their arrival in Cape Town at the beginning of November.
Every member of the expedition is required to isolate for a period of two weeks in Cape Town and undergo a number of COVID-19 tests before being allowed to proceed with their journey to the Princess Elisabeth Antarctica.
Every precaution to isolate and protect the BELARE team has been taken.
Once they arrive in Antarctica, the team will be isolated on Earth’s southernmost continent for the next few months.
Follow the adventure
For more details on these setons events, check out the website dedicated to the Princess Elisabeth Antarctica. Here you can find the latest news, photos, and videos of the season.
We’ll post regular updates about the important scientific research projects being undertaken at PEA as well as everyday happenings at the station.
As the ill-fated year 2020 rolls to an end, the new Antarctic Season begins for the Princess Elisabeth Antarctica Research Station.
It is a testament to the dedication of the crew and the research teams, that they are not daunted by what they are called upon to do. Despite the difficult months that we, collectively as inhabitants of Planet Earth, have lived through following the announcement of the pandemic and with the confinements in Europe and throughout the World, there is a certain resolve and determination as Alain Hubert and his team contemplate the coming season.
The first team is currently in quarantine in Cape Town, following the DROMLAN (Dronning Maud Land Air Network) COVID 19 Sanitary Protocol, having arrived under special permit issued by the South African Department of Home Affairs. Cape Town is currently in low-level lockdown (Level 1) and life has returned to something approaching a semblance of normal……but with masks. However, the restrictions on foreign arrivals are still in place, and it took the coordinated efforts of the Belgian Embassy and the South African National Antarctic Program, in support of the applications of the team, to finally help obtain the laisser-passers needed to board flights.
The quarantine requires that all the participants should be in self-isolation for a period of two weeks after arrival in Cape Town. Two PCR tests are conducted after arrival, one at Day 5 and one at Day 12. The team is accompanied by the station doctor, Dr Martin Leitl, who will be responsible for the first rotation, and who is carrying out the tests. Dr Jacques Richon will cover the second rotation. The Belgian Antarctic Research Expedition has obtained its own PCR testing equipment, which has the capability to test either for the SARS COV-2 virus or a range of other viruses including mutations of the COVID-19 virus causing the pandemic. This has allowed the team to put in place a pro-active strategy for testing giving rapid results and permitting certain flexibility in the management of the self-isolation.
The team is currently staying in the foothills of Table Mountain National Park and has been given the liberty to exercise outdoors in the fresh air by taking walks around the national park. This has contributed to team morale while maintaining the general physical condition of the Expedition.
The Cape Town Operations Team is managing the cargo preparations, procurement and quarantine support for the station crew as they have to cook for themselves, and are not allowed to have contact with others.
The Ilyushin 76 which will take the team to the Antarctic and which will assure a medevac standby during the whole season is also in Cape Town while the flight crew carries out the same quarantine procedures, under the management of the Antarctic Logistics Company International (ALCI). The DC3 ski-equipped planes which will assure the final leg are also in quarantine in Punta Arenas, from where they will make their way to Novo Air Base when the weather window opens in the coming days.
The amount of preparation required for this year’s Expedition is significantly more than for a “normal” season, and every effort will be made to assure that the virus does not reach the Antarctic.
Once at the station, the crew will carry out essential work to protect the infrastructure of the station, while the researchers will carry out maintenance on the monitoring instruments and will install some new devices.
The enforced quarantine hase provided the time to prepare for the season using Zoom and Skype meetings with colleagues in Belgium to prepare strategies and work on new aspects such as computer modelling of the Air Handling Units. The time of forced reflection has created a fresh dynamic as creativity has blossomed. More on this soon.
Before the closure of Princess Elisabeth Antarctica (PEA) Station for overwintering, it was crucial for the BELARE team to complete the construction of the station’s new garage, located in the station’s north annex.
With the need to replace the more than ten year-old garage and workshops, which had been built on the ice to allow monitoring of the supporting glacier’s movement, the BELARE construction team concentrated all their efforts on the construction of this new specifically designed PREFALUX structure.
The new structure can cope with the glacier’s movement and hold a long-awaited heated garage (for the maintenance and repair of all machines used at the station), several workshops, a storage area, and a definitive shelter for the station’s two backup generators. Luckily, good weather conditions allowed the team to work hard and to conclude the construction process in just over two weeks!
First steps of the construction in 2019
In November and December 2019, the old garage was dismantled. In January 2020, while waiting for the delivery of the construction materials by ship, the area was cleared of snow and leveled to two different heights to prepare for the building foundations.
One of the challenges during this time was keeping the backup generators sheltered and operational in case they might ever be needed. Therefore, a remaining part of the old garage was kept intact to keep them safe from the elements until enough of the new garage had been completed and their new storage area was ready.
Arrival of the construction materials by icebreaker
After the S.A. Agulhas II (a South African ice-breaking scientific and supply ship) arrived at the coast of the Droning Maud Land on January 30th and unloaded all of its cargo onto an ice shelf, the BELARE team transported about 150 tonnes of freshly-delivered construction materials to PEA in order to start the construction of the new building as soon as possible.
In addition to the hard work of the construction crew, two machines were used to build the new garage: the Komatsu HB215LC-1 hybrid excavator and a large Terex TCC45 crane.
To create a firm anchor point on the supporting bedrock that would also allow some leeway to compensate for the glacier’s movement, the wooden beams are fastened to the granite ridge on large hinges on the eastern side. On the western side, the BELARE team prepared a proper foundation area where the wooden beams are held up by four wooden support structures and metal clogs. By regularly adjusting its height with pistons, this will allow the new garage to remain level despite the slowly moving glacier underneath that retreats both sideways and vertically by about 8-10 centimeters per year.
Once the foundation was in place, the floor was assembled, and the vertical structural wood beams were installed. Soon the whole structure was already ready for the roof to be put on, which was then covered with an EPDM membrane (an extremely durable rubber roofing material) to protect the new structure from moisture infiltration and damage that could be caused by snow or ice. Soon after, the BELARE team installed large folding doors that hermetically seal the building’s entrance to keep the heat in and the snow out!
The team also started putting the finishing touches to the structure, such as insulation in the walls, as well as structures inside to compartmentalise the garage.
By February 16th, the new garage was completed and ready for overwintering. By that time, the second group of scientists had already left the station and the last 16 members of the BELARE team were left to begin the technical operation of the station’s overwintering.
Functions of the new durable building
One of the biggest advantages of the new garage is that it will be heated starting next season! This was indispensable for the proper maintenance of all the machines and for the working comfort of the mechanics who will work there. When all the finishing touches on its interior will be put in next season, the new building will also host a wood and a metal workshop, and a storage area for tools, equipment and spare parts for machines.
Building this structure under such a tight schedule was very challenging, but ended up being a great success. It represents the final, most important achievement of the BELARE 2019-2020 expedition!
After many interesting editions over the last decade, it is with extreme pleasure that the International Polar Foundation and its many partners from the Arctic community wish to invite Arctic stakeholders and members of the general public to the 11th edition of the Arctic Futures Symposium.
The symposium will bring together a wide variety of stakeholders from local, national, and EU policymakers, Arctic indigenous peoples, entrepreneurs and representatives form the business sector, natural and social scientists, and other academics with interests in the Arctic.
Due to Covid-19, this year's symposium will be held as a series of webinars over three successive days starting at 2 pm Central European Time (GMT+1) or 8:00 am Eastern Standard Time (GMT-5) during week 49 (Monday 30 November - Wednesday 2 December).
Programme Outline
The symposium will feature panel discussions that cover a number of key topics chosen by Arctic stakeholder partners including:
- Arctic Challenges
- Arctic Policies of the EU, Arctic states, and Arctic Stakeholders
- Arctic Community Needs and Preparedness
- Pollution, Climate Change and Biodiversity: Challenges and Solutions
- Community Resilience through Empowerment
- A Unique Arctic Entrepreneurship and Investment Culture
- The EU's Engagement in the Arctic and Implementing the EU Green Deal
All are welcome
All those who are interested in what is happening in the Arctic region - be they politicians, diplomats, civil servants, academics, indigenous peoples, representatives from industries operating in the Arctic, representatives of civil society, teachers, students, or members of the general public, - are welcome to register to the event.
For more details about the symposium programme, speakers, and information on how to register for the event, please consult the Arctic Futures Symposium website.
If you have any additional questions about the symposium, you are welcome to contact us at events@polarfoundation.org or at +32 (0)2 520 34 40, and we will be happy to get back to you as soon as possible.
We look forward to seeing many of you online at the end of November!
Hendrik Huwald is a scientist at the Laboratory of Cryospheric Sciences (CRYOS) and a lecturer at the Environmental Sciences and Engineering Section at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL). He developed a numerical model for sea ice and studied energy transfer processes in the Arctic at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zürich (ETHZ), and in the Alps at the former Environmental Fluid Mechanics laboratory of EPFL. In 2013, he joined the newly founded CRYOS laboratory, where he conducted research in the domains of snow science, hydrology, boundary layer meteorology, and environmental sensing. He has spent several seasons conducting research at the Princess Elisabeth Antarctica station, studying snow deposition and surface mass balance.
Which projects have Swiss scientists been involved with at the Princess Elisabeth Antarctica station?
Teams of Swiss scientists have been at the PEA Station every year since the 2016-2017 season. The projects we have been working on evolve in scope every year a little bit based on previous results and findings. We hope to establish a continuous long-term time series of observations related to snow transport and surface mass balance in Antarctica.
So far, we have conducted research at PEA in the context of two projects: "From Clouds to Ground: Snow Deposition in Extreme Environment" and the “Local Surface Mass and Energy budget in Antarctica” (LOSUMEA). Both projects are trying to clarify the relationship between precipitation, snow transport (in the form of drifting and blowing snow), snow deposition and ultimately firn and ice formation.
Last year, we also saw the start of the “Princess Elisabeth Orographic Precipitation Experiment” (POPE) project, run by our colleagues from the Environmental Remote Sensing laboratory at EPFL. This project aims to collect reference observations on the dynamics of precipitation formation, snowfall and interactions with complex terrain in Antarctica using a suite of terrestrial in-situ remote sensing instrumentation.
What are the objectives of the “From Clouds to Ground” project?
The goal of this project is to understand the evolution of the surface mass balance in this region of Antarctica within the context of climate change. However, to reach this objective, several years of observations are required to detect trends and signals in the inter-annual variability. Going to Antarctica once to collect data is interesting, but such measurements are only a snapshot; it is not possible to see an increase in accumulation or sublimation over time with just one visit.
We know there has been a lot of melt and ice loss at the periphery of the Antarctic ice sheet, and a number of ice shelves have collapsed. Therefore, it is important to measure what happens in the interior of the continent, including the study of atmospheric circulation processes, precipitation and accumulation or erosion of snow (ice mass); this will give us a more holistic picture.
Warming of the atmosphere over Antarctica could lead to increased moisture transport from the coast towards the interior of the continent, resulting in a possible increase in precipitation. The challenge is to understand and quantify the continental scale mass balance of current and future precipitation and ablation processes in Antarctica. The scientific community will need decades of observations to b able to answer this question.
Data from our projects will also be used in larger-scale atmospheric circulation models. We use local measurements around the PEA Station and upscale these observations to larger areas representative of this part of the continent. This may contribute to climate projections produced by global atmospheric climate models.
In what ways does the project “From Clouds to Ground” differ from previous studies looking at surface mass balance in Antarctica?
It is the unique suite of instruments in place and the combination of measurement techniques that makes this project different. This includes snow particle counters, turbulent sensible and latent heat flux measurements, radiometers, standard meteorological sensors, automatic cameras, terrestrial laser scanning and snow property measurements using a snow micro-penetrometer. During the 2019-2020 season, we started using a drone for aerial photogrammetry (3-D scans of the surface). This data will help us understand processes related to snow transport and characterise the surface roughness. For example, we used the drone to survey the surface topography of specific areas near PEA before and after a storm to determine how surface characteristics of the snow change during a storm.
During future visits, we would like to repeat the drone flights over the exact same areas to determine the evolution from year to year. We are interested in detecting overall snow accumulation or erosion in the area. Images are geo-referenced using differential GPS measurements.
The novelty of this project is the combination of local-scale processes, heat fluxes, surface topography, the latter impacting turbulent heat fluxes (i.e. convection of heat and moisture), sublimation and snow erosion and deposition. While this project aims at quantifying the local mass balance it is also geared for at understanding the physical process and involved dynamics in detail.
During the 2019-2020 season, you added radiometers to your arsenal of instruments, and you moved several of them. What was the purpose of doing this?
Radiometers allow us to determine additional components of the surface energy balance, namely solar radiation. The combination of the energy and mass balance provides a more coherent view of the involved physical processes. We already measured other components of the energy balance such as sensible and latent heat fluxes. Currently, we have no infrared radiation sensors installed, but this is something we plan to do in the future.
Additionally, as a result of continued snow accumulation, we have to lift the sensors every year or even rebuild the entire setup of our measurement stations. Otherwise, the sensors will eventually get buried.
How are the LOSUMEA and POPE projects complementary to one another?
While the POPE project focuses on clouds, atmosphere and precipitation in Antarctica, our measurements in the LOSUMEA project concentrate on near-surface transport processes such as snow drift and snow accumulation
Our principal goal in the LOSUMEA project is to understand the local mass balance of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet in the vicinity of the PEA station. For this purpose, we need the data of POPE as an important input.
Surface mass balance of an ice sheet is calculated by looking at the inputs, i.e. precipitation in the form of snow and deposition of drifting snow, minus the output, e.g. sublimation, advection in the form of snowdrift, and eventually ice flow to the coast where mass is lost by iceberg calving and/or melting.
It is not easy to quantify the surface mass balance for several reasons: precipitation in Antarctica is very limited (climatologically, Antarctica is a desert) and most mass balance components (e.g. snow drift, sublimation) are generally difficult to measure, especially in these extreme conditions.
It is also difficult for instruments on the ground to distinguish between blowing snow and actual precipitation. This is one reason why we closely collaborate with the POPE project. Thanks to their measurements (Radar and Lidar), we have estimates of the amount of actual precipitation.
As there is no ice melting in this part of East Antarctica, sublimation (phase transition from solid to gas/vapour) and snow transport are the principal components of the surface mass balance in this region. Drifting snow and a very dry atmosphere create the perfect conditions for sublimation to happen. To quantify these two components, we measure them using snow particle counters and gas analysers to obtain vapour fluxes, which can be converted into sublimation.
What was missing in previous years were accurate measurements of precipitation. We only had local and unreliable data from the ground. This is where the POPE data turns out to be extremely useful for better understanding surface mass balance in the region.
Why did you choose Princess Elisabeth Antarctica as an observation site of the research project?
Our research at PEA is part of research efforts happening at several places across Antarctica: the Japanese Showa station, the Australian Davis station and the Belgian Princess Elisabeth Antarctica. We hope that measurements from these sites will allow us to obtain a larger picture related to surface mass balance and snow deposition in Antarctica.
PEA is located about 200 km from the coast at a unique location. To the north of the station is a plateau, with a rather homogenous surface gradually descending towards the coast. To the south, there are the Sør Rondane Mountains, which interact with the katabatic winds originating from the continent’s interior and the typical easterly wind influencing snow deposition in this region. This geographical diversity of conditions is ideal to study a variety of processes that can otherwise not be observed at many other sites in more homogeneous terrain. In this respect, it is a unique location.
Additionally, our laboratory has had a very good relationship with Alain Hubert and IPF for a long time, and the logistical support at PEA is excellent.
Why do you believe it is important to study extreme environments in the quest to better understand the effects of climate change?
A lot of our extreme environments include the cryosphere, which comprises not only ice-covered areas in the Arctic and Antarctic but also mountain glaciers around the world. These environments are very sensitive to climate change, and the changes happening there are very pronounced. They play a major role in regulating the planet’s climate.
However, it is often very difficult to access many parts of the cryosphere to collect in-situ data. As a consequence, the data we do have today is rather sparse and insufficient considering the importance that these regions play in regulating the global climate. This is particularly true for high altitude and high latitude regions. This is why studying extreme environments and especially the cryosphere is so important.
Have you personally observed any significant changes in the parts of the cryosphere that you have visited?
In the Alps, the changes have been very pronounced. I spent a lot of time in the Alps as a child, so I have a few decades of personal observations for comparison. Looking at my personal photographs, I see that the glaciers have retreated drastically, the snow line is higher, and the quantity of the snow in the Alps has decreased and the snow season is shorter. Many ski resorts at low altitudes are at the limit and even higher altitude resorts only survive thanks to artificial snow production.
As for Antarctica, I’ve spent two seasons at PEA myself while our team has spent four seasons there, so we have not been there long enough to observe a significant trend. However, I was surprised of how warm the 2019-2020 season was. But again, one season is not long enough to infer a trend.
What are your plans for the future? Is your team planning on returning to Antarctica?
We actually plan to return to PEA a few more times over the next seasons to collect more data and extend the time series. Fortunately, one of my colleagues at EPFL received a grant from the Swiss Polar Institute that allows him to go to PEA during the 2020-2021 season. While I am very happy for him, I am sad at the same time I cannot go myself.
I had a great time at PEA during the seasons I spent there. The team is amazing, and the work environment is very productive. My scientific colleagues and the IPF staff became friends from the very first day. It was an exceptional experience to be there and I am very grateful for these opportunities.
What will your colleague focus on during the 2020-2021 season?
As usual, the first task is maintenance after the unattended winter period. There is always a lot to do. We plan to install a more robust power supply system that will allow the instruments to function throughout the austral winter without data gaps, which happened in previous years. He will also replace some of the sensors on the stations to improve measurement precision and of course, he will repeat drone flights over our survey areas.
Stefania Gili is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Laboratoire G-Time (Geochemistry: Isotope, Mineral and Element Tracing) at the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB, Belgium). Stefania was selected in 2018 for a postdoctoral fellowship to take part in the CHASE (Chemical Characterization of the airborne particles in the Dronning Maud Land area: from the atmosphere to the surface snow) research project funded by the Belgian Federal Science Policy (BELSPO), as part of the BRAIN-be (Belgian Research Action through Interdisciplinary Networks) program.
The CHASE project has been based at Princess Elisabeth Antarctica Research Station. The work Stefania has been doing within the CHASE project is dedicated to the study of the geochemical and isotopic composition of inorganic particles and aerosols in the atmosphere in Antarctica. During the 2019-2020 season, Stefania has been in Antarctica with Preben Overmeiren from Ghent University.
What are the objectives of the CHASE project?
The acronym CHASE stands for Unravelling particle CHemistry in Dronning Maud Land: from Atmosphere to SurfacE snow. CHASE is a project that has been financed by BELSPO, and it has four main partners who are the Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB, Belgium), the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB, Belgium), Ghent University, Belgium and the Royal Meteorological Institute (RMI) of Belgium. Each of them has a crucial role because they all have different expertise.
CHASE has two goals. One of them is to provide details about the physical and chemical characteristics of atmospheric and surface snow particles. Ghent University is in charge of studying the organic particle composition (meaning they contain carbon) with the help of its organic chemical group. Then there are the inorganic particles, which are primarily mineral dust. This is what I am in charge of studying at the Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB). The second goal of CHASE is to investigate the atmospheric transport pathways. This is what the Royal Meteorological Institute (RMI) is in charge of.
Why study atmospheric particles in East Antarctica?
This part of Antarctica is interesting to study because atmospheric particle composition and particle transport through the atmosphere had never been studied there before, especially where the Princess Elisabeth Station is located. Up to now, there is no database on the trace element or isotopic composition of atmospheric particles in this part of Antarctica. So we decided to carry out this research project to fill this gap in knowledge.
Why is the CHASE project intriguing for you as a scientist?
Because Antarctica is supposed to be the most pristine place on Earth, with very little influence from human activity. However, our research shows that influence is larger than expected.
When we study the chemical composition of the natural and extreme environment of Antarctica, we can evaluate and quantify the quality of the air. In addition, by studying the geochemical and isotopic signatures of these atmospheric particles, we can identify their origin: certain regions in the Southern Hemisphere. Consequently, we can extrapolate information about atmospheric particle composition and transport of those particles in other parts of the world. This allows us to see how contaminated or not the atmosphere is in Antarctica compared to other parts of the world. At the same time, Antarctica is one of the places that has the most pristine and undisturbed climate records in ice cores. We can compare the atmospheric particles we’ve found with those found in ice cores, which unfortunately are not so plentiful.
The CHASE project will provide a new dataset that will help to improve the knowledge that we have about how the air masses transport organic and inorganic particles to Antarctica. These particles contain micronutrients that nourish phytoplankton in the ocean. We can also trace the different sources of both natural and anthropogenic particles in Antarctica, how abundant pollutants are, and how they reach Antarctica.
Why use active and passive sampling of both organic and inorganic atmospheric particles?
Active sampling by high-volume pumps is only done during the austral summer research season, which is from mid-November to February, when the Princess Elisabeth Station is open. Because the overall particle amount in Antarctica is very low, we still need one whole week of continuous high-volume air flow for the collection of one single filter sample.
For the passive sampling (i.e. no pump is used), different passive sample methods and sample devices are used respectively, for organic and inorganic atmospheric compounds.
The passive sampling technique for ambient-air particle collection for inorganic compounds was based on the use of Sigma-2 passive-samplers, which are placed at 2.5 m above ice/snow level on aluminium poles. The Sigma-2 samplers are cylinders with slits at the top part, which guarantee a wind-sheltered and low turbulence air volume inside the Sigma-2 sampler. Inside a specific filter support is placed for collecting the particles. These passive samplers are placed along a transect at several sampling sites from the vicinity of the Princess Elisabeth Station to the coast. The filters passively collect atmospheric particles over the course of an entire year. The filters are replaced once a year, when our team goes into the field during a BELARE expedition season.
The 2019-2020 season was the third time for the CHASE team at the Princess Elisabeth Station. How did the research program move forward during the past season?
We were able to do everything we needed to do for our project. The weather was more favourable compared to previous seasons. It was warmer with fewer storms. At the same time, during the last season, we performed a pre-test of some shallow ice-cores for future projects.
You re-visited seven passive sampling sites during the last season that had been set up during the previous season (2018-2019). Why were these sites chosen?
The seven sampling sites cover a transect of approximately 203 km from the Antarctic Plateau to the coast. For us, it is very important because the high plateaus do not record the same winds than the air masses at the coastline. We can compare the influence of the atmospheric circulation inland versus the coastal atmospheric circulation over time. Inland atmospheric circulation transports particles produced by the denudation (erosion or weathering) of the mountains inside the Antarctic continent, while coastal atmospheric circulation brings in particles from different landmasses surrounding Antarctica like South America, Africa and Australia. Sampling along this transect allows us to see all the distinctions between local versus coastal (distal) influence.
How did you find the logistical support you received during your time in Antarctica?
It was awesome. I have already done two seasons at the Princess Elisabeth Station, and the IPF BELARE team is excellent from the beginning to the end. Whatever we might need or miss, they solve it.
What have you done with the atmospheric samples since returning to Europe? Has the pandemic interfered with your research in any way?
We’ve already been able to analyse both organic and inorganic samples taken during the 2018-2019 research season. The results are going to be published soon in an international scientific journal. All I can tell you at the moment is that they are very promising.
I’ve been analysing the inorganic samples at the ULB while my colleague Preben Van Overmeiren from Ghent University has been analysing the organic compounds.
During the first season, the samples arrived in March, but the pandemic this year delayed the transport of the samples, which meant they only arrived in mid-June this year. At least they were safe and frozen, which is the most important and crucial point, as it is a long way from Antarctica to Belgium. We will analyse these samples to write and interpret data from the last seasons.
What will the next steps be for the CHASE project? Do you plan to return to Antarctica in the coming years?
If the Covid-19 pandemic allow, there will be fourth and last Chase season at Princess Elisabeth during austral summer 2020-2021. Further, it is my understanding that the PIs of the project would like to continue with another project in line with CHASE, but for that, a new proposal needs to be submitted to get more funding. Mainly they would like to do long-term monitoring of organic and inorganic samples in this part of Antarctica.
Concerning myself, I soon plan to head to Princeton University in the United States. But I hope to return to the Princess Elisabeth Station in the future. Living there is totally different from anything else in the world!
Are there links between the CHASE project and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) review, or the Year of Polar Prediction (YOPP)?
Yes, there are links to both. For the IPCC review, the CHASE project is looking at atmospheric transport of mineral dust, which can be used to trace pathways of atmospheric circulation. You can link past atmospheric circulation that we know about with atmospheric circulations of today's climate and see if and how it will change in the future. For that, what scientists do is, to drill very deep ice cores, because in these ice cores you have some layers of particles, and you can analyse these particles to determine where on the planet they originally came from. The further you drill into the ice, the further back in time you go.
Concerning the Year of Polar Prediction (YOPP), the analyses of the organic compounds and metal concentrations in aerosols within the CHASE project are relevant, as organic or metal-bearing particles are potentially more often pollutants. If the organic compounds originate from Antarctica itself, then it means that we are polluting Antarctica as well. This is an interesting point to consider.
As an early career female scientist, do you believe it is important to encourage young women who are starting their higher studies to pursue careers in STEM subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics)?
I believe it is very important. Encouraging girls and young women to pursue a career in STEM subjects can really make a difference. While exposing them to STEM subjects is important it is also essential to support them. This support means building self-confidence, which must come from every environment: home, work and school. We have a long way to go in order to obtain full equity between men and women in STEM fields. But we need to get there.
Over the weeks I was at the station during the two previous seasons when I was in Antarctica, I was one of only three women present, and I was the only scientist (the other two women were the cook and the doctor). We also took a picture at the airport in Cape Town of the team leaving for Antarctica, and I was the only woman surrounded by more than 20 men. When I saw the picture afterwards, I was not shocked, but I realised that this is how things currently are. There are not many women who go to Antarctica right now, and we must change that.
The International Polar Foundation was deeply saddened to hear of the fatal accident in Greenland that befell Prof. Konrad “Koni” Steffen. Prof. Steffen had been in the north of Greenland conducting field research at Swiss Camp (a meteorological research station he established in the ‘90s) when he passed away on Saturday, August 8th.
The 68 year-old Swiss-American glaciologist was a giant in the world of polar research. One of the world's leading experts on the Greenland Ice Sheet and climate change, his career spanned 40 years and was marked with several major accomplishments. His work as a researcher contributed significantly to the understanding of glaciers, ice sheets, and sea ice, and also contributed to the regular Assessment Reports released by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
From 1986 until 2012, Prof. Steffen worked at the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) at the University of Colorado Boulder, where he became a visiting fellow in 1986, a professor in 1991, and Director of CIRES in 2005.
At CIRES, Prof. Steffen mentored many of today’s prominent polar scientists, including current CIRES Director Waleed Abdalati, Julianne Stroeve of University College London and the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), and Jason Box of the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland.
In 2012, Prof. Steffen returned to his native Switzerland to become Director of the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research. He was Scientific Director of the Swiss Polar Institute and Switzerland’s delegate to the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR). He was also an active and dedicated member of the International Glaciological Society (IGS) for the duration of his career.
Koni was a close friend and an enthusiastic supporter of the International Polar Foundation, always ready with advice and good counsel. Not only was he an Honorary Member of the IPF, but he also participated in the Foundation’s activities. He was on the Fellowship Committee of the Baillet Latour Antarctica Fellowship, spoke regularly at the Arctic Futures Symposium, and was to become the first Vice Chancellor of the Andromeda Antarctic University, the current project of the IPF.
He was an admirer of the Princess Elisabeth Antarctica (PEA) Station and its Zero Emissions philosophy, and regularly advised on the scientific direction of the station. He was very interested in the data that could be collected at the Princess Elisabeth Station, as it was in the middle of a vast, hitherto little-monitored area of East Antarctica, and the data would be valuable for mathematical models on climate. He donated three Automatic Weather Stations that he had designed to the station. He event travelled to Antarctica to install them: one on an ice field, one on the Antarctic Plateau, and one at the station’s airfield.
Koni had a profound grasp of the bigger picture and wanted to help to integrate the valuable data from PEA into regional mathematical models to improve the resolution of the surface mass balance (SMB) models. He provided the equipment to start off the meteorological balloon launches from the Princess Elisabeth Station, (under the ACME Project) with the IPF and the Royal Meteorological Institute (KMI/IRM) of Belgium.
For several years, Alain Hubert and Nighat Amin from the IPF used to travel to Greenland to help out at Swiss Camp. The building campaigns were one of the highlights of the year for Alain Hubert, who is an accomplished carpenter.
Koni’s openness and warmth meant that scientists of all ages gravitated towards him, and some of the most interesting conversations were to be had, eating sushi hand-made by a NASA researcher on the ice at Swiss Camp. Whether at Swiss Camp, Boulder, Zurich, or Davos, Koni was always encouraging exchange and debate on the importance of science in society.
Koni enhanced life. He will be deeply missed by all. Our thoughts are with his children, for whom he always found time to create the most wonderful experiences.
Frank Pattyn in a Belgian glaciologist and ice sheet modeller. He is the director of the Laboratoire de Glaciologie at the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB). Professor Pattyn has developed many ice sheet models, such as the Blatter-Pattyn model (a three-dimensional thermomechanical ice sheet model including higher-order stress gradients) and more recently the fast Elementary Thermomechanical Ice Sheet model (f.ETISh). These models simulate the behaviour of ice sheets and ice shelves, and allow for projecting future mass changes of ice sheets.
Professor Pattyn is currently Chairman of the Belgian National Committee on Antarctic Research, the Belgian branch of SCAR, the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research. He is also vice-president of the International Glaciological Society and Associate Chief Editor of the Journal of Glaciology. He has also taken part in nineteen expeditions to study Arctic and Antarctic glaciers.
During the 2019-2020 BELARE season he travelled to the Princess Elisabeth Antarctica Research Station with the Mass2Ant project team for the final season of that project, an experience he has recounted. While not being a project PI, he was involved with the research during the 2019-2020 season.
What has the MASS2ANT project been studying in the Princess Ragnhild Coast region of East Antarctica?
The Mass2Ant project focused on temperature increases that we have observed over the last few centuries and associated changes in surface mass balance of the Antarctic Ice Sheet. Most of the mass balance of the Antarctic Ice Sheet is influenced by precipitation brought from across the Southern Ocean.
During previous seasons at PEA, the Mass2Ant team conducted two drillings in ice rises to complement the one which had already been carried out in the past for another project. Now, in three of these ice rises we have a record of how mass balance and snow accumulation changed over a period of more than one hundred years.
What were your objectives this past season?
My main objective was to close the project this year by carrying out repeat measurements, and we did so very efficiently. We had only one day of bad weather, which was very lucky.
What is behind the differences in surface mass balance across the Antarctica? Why is it important to study surface mass balance?
There are many places where surface mass balance is directly measured. The most obvious way to do so is by drilling a core and then analysing the thickness of the different layers. That gives you a year-to-year variability of snow accumulation. We further analyse isotopes of hydrogen and oxygen in the water molecules. The isotopes give you the yearly cycle in temperature so you can precisely date each of these layers to determine how much has been deposited every year.
We had done that with the first ice cores we drilled, and we saw that over the last couple of decades, there has been an increasing in mass balance along the Princes Ragnhild Coast in East Antarctica. This is a surprising trend, as it was not seen in other ice cores in other parts of Antarctica. One of the hypotheses we put forward was that this was due to the fact that the area where we extracted the ice cores was much closer to the ocean, where you can see higher rates of snowfall. The amount of snowfall on a given area depends on how far a weather system can penetrate inland. Therefore, variability in weather patterns is probably related to the variability that we can detect in the ice cores we extracted.
Besides extracting ice cores and taking surface mass balance measurements of snow and ice, the Mass2Ant team also placed automatic weather stations on ice rises near the coast. How do the data these weather stations collect complement the project?
When you drill ice cores, this helps you to travel back into the past. But in order to get the whole picture, you also need to understand the different processes that are responsible for the distribution of ice and snow in the region.
In Belgium, for instance, whenever it rains or snows, the precipitation usually stays more or less in one place. This isn’t the case in Antarctica, where wind plays a major role in redistributing fallen snow. So, if you drill an ice core in a certain place, it does not necessarily mean that you’ll be able to measure precipitation in that spot. The snow could also have been deposited there by the wind. There is a risk of underestimating or overestimating snowfall in a particular place. So, in order to understand those processes, we installed two weather stations to understand how much snow arrives in that spot due to the wind and how local meteorological parameters influence this deposition.
Why is it important to study small-scale climate processes occurring in the Southern Hemisphere? What impacts could they have on large-scale events?
Upscaling is quite important. This is also a big part of the work of the Mass2Ant project. The idea is to see whether local variabilities are also detectable in larger atmospheric models. They translate local information to a larger scale, which allows us to understand how the surface mass balance of the whole Antarctic Ice Sheet functions.
During the 2018-2019 season in Antarctica, MASS2ANT extracted ice cores at the coast drilled to a depth of 260 metres. Have you been able to analyse these cores and learn anything from them?
Two ice cores were drilled. One during the 2017-2018 season, and one during the 2018-2019 setons, which was led by Professor Jean-Louis Tison and included Sarah Wauthy, who is in the process of analysing the ice cores at the ULB.
There are different types of analyses that Sarah will conduct. I already mentioned looking at the hydrogen and oxygen isotopes in the ice molecules, which allow you to determine the local temperature variations. It furthermore helps you to date the ice layers in the ice core.
But there is also the analysis of the density of the ice, the thickness of the layers, and eventually the analysis of other elements and gas, which allows you to identify and link these two variations in the sea-ice extension.
But the fact is that if you want to accurately interpret the ice cores, then you must also take into account ice-dynamical aspects. When ice accumulates every year, it also stretches. The reason why it happens is because the ice sheet on which the snow falls every year is moving. It moves not towards the centre, but sideways, out towards the coasts of the continent. And it means that the deeper you go, the more you find that the layers of ice have been stretched.
The ice layers in the ice sheet are like a rubber band: they get thinner when they’re stretched. So if you measure the thickness of the rubber band when it’s stretched, you actually underestimate its initial thickness. In the same way, there’s a risk of underestimating the amount of precipitation and snow accumulation with regard to the ice sheet’s mass balance. So what we need to do is to understand how this thinning process works.
How can one avoid underestimating mass balance?
A way to do so is by taking repeat measurements, preferably a year apart. This means that you need to do a measurement one year and then the following year you need to do exactly the same measurement in the same place. This allows you to measure how layers are stretched over time. There are several methods one can use.
One method is the optical televiewer. You lower a camera in the ice core borehole, and it takes 360° images as we lower it into the borehole. By processing the data, you are able to have a complete cylindrical 3D view of the ice core, which allows you to detect several layers in the hole corresponding to each year of snow accumulation.
You can distinguish individual years due to melting and refreezing at the surface that occurs with the seasons. Melting that occurs in summer makes the ice layers become denser and darker, while in winter, there is more accumulation and so the ice layers are less dense but whiter. If we compare these layers year-to-year, we can quantify how much stretching and thinning of each ice layer occurs over a year.
It’s also possible to use radar to quantify how ice layers are stretched and thinned. The radar emits electro-magnetic signals that penetrate the ice but bounce off of impurity layers in the ice. These impurities can be volcanic ashes but also icy layers or variations in ice density. The bottom of the ice, where it meets the bedrock, is the brightest reflector. Therefore, ice radar is often used to determine the thickness of the ice. However, if you have impurities in the ice, they show up as little wiggles in your radar image. You can then compare the wiggles of one year with the ones you obtained the following year-end this helps you determine how the ice layers change over time.
And then there is a new method I have tried this past season. I employed the same radar but with varying antenna orientations. This method is interesting because ice crystals are not aligned in the same direction and the radar signal bounces off differently depending on the orientation of each crystal. This crystal orientation is a function of how ice deforms, or to put it differently how the rubber band stretches. So we can determine changes in ice crystals orientation by changing the angles of our antennas.
Other members of the Mass2Ant team (from the Delft University of Technology and the University of Colorado Boulder) employed a snow micropen, which is kind of a needle that goes through the surface. If you constantly force the needle, then the way it penetrates the ice is a function of how dense the layer is. They used this method to get information about how ice layer density changes over time. The results still need to be analysed, but we can already tell that there is a huge amount of surface variability.
How will the findings of the MASS2ANT project contribute to future climate change projections? How will they contribute to future IPCC reports?
The major contribution of this project lies in improving the predicted behaviour of climate models and more precisely, the surface mass balance and the distribution of snow accumulation. This is possible in many ways. First of all, now we have direct measurements thanks to the ice core analysis and weather stations, and we can understand the processes that can link and compare the different models. We can see how well models are able to resolve small-scale variability, whether it is regional variability, temporal variability, etc.
The work of the project also helps to understand current and recent past surface mass balance of the Antarctic Ice Sheet over the last couple of decades. Most of this analysis is done by regional climate models to determine the surface mass balance, which can be validated against our ice core evidence. Finally, we also have a better understanding of the processes that are involved in surface mass balance, especially with respect how it is re-distributed across the surface of the Antarctic Ice Sheet.
What kind of logistical support did you receive during your three seasons in Antarctica? How did it help the project?
This was the third expedition of the Mass2ant and the main difference with the previous ones is that it was logistically much lighter. There was no drilling involved. In terms of equipment, this year we only brought radars, GPS instruments the optical televiewer and a snow micropen. So our team only consisted of a field guide from PEA and three scientists, which allowed us to travel swiftly.
We first went to the Western Ice Rise, put up small tents next to the borehole that had been done there last season to do all the measurements, and then headed to the second ice-rise to analyse that one. We only needed just over two intense and efficient weeks in the field to complete the work on the two sites. The organisation of and support for the field-campaign was excellent.
What are the next steps for your team of glaciologists at the ULB? Will there be future expeditions to Antarctica?
This was the last expedition of the Mass2Ant project and the remainder of the project will be dedicated to analysis of the different measurements and ice cores. For the moment there are no additional projects planned. There are calls for new projects coming up and wd are in the process of submitting a new proposal, but I cannot say much more about it now.
Let’s say that my interest is about the interaction between the ice and the ocean and this is something I am keen to discover more.
Thanks to a recent decision by the Greenland Place Names Committee, a previously unnamed glacier in Greenland now bears the name of world-renowned Swiss glaciologist Professor Konrad “Koni” Steffen. Koni was also an Honorary Member of IPF, and served on the Baillet Latour Antarctica Fellowship Committee. Professor Steffen passed away in August 2020 while on a research mission to Swiss Camp, which is situated upstream from the Jakobshaven Glacier in Greenland.
Now known officially as Sermeq Konrad Steffen, the ocean-terminating glacier flows into the Arctic Ocean in the far northwest corner of Greenland.
Honouring a legend
William Colgan from the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS), proposed naming glaciers after two of his former colleagues at GEUS Niels Reeh and Anker Weidick, along with Professor Steffen, who as one of the world’s top experts on the Greenland Ice Sheet, spedning decades studying the ice sheet’s dynamics and the dramatic changes it has been undergoing as a result of climate change.
Before his passing, Professor Steffen was the Director of the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL) and the Scientific Director of the Swiss Polar Institute (SPI). Prior to that, he was the Director of the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) in Boulder, Colorado, USA.
During his career, Professor Steffen also found the time to teach and mentor some of the world’s top glaciologists. He loved taking them on memorable research expeditions to the Greenland Ice Sheet.
He was a close friend of IPF Chair and Founder Alain Hubert and Nighat Amin, both of who helped re-construct Swiss Camp research station in 2012. Professor Steffen used Swiss Camp as a base to conduct the bulk of his research on the Greenland Ice Sheet over the last 30 years.
He also visited the Princess Elisabeth Antarctica research station in 2012, when he installed two automatic weather stations, at PEA and on the Antarctic Plateau, off the Gunnestadtbreen. His legacy is the establishment of five automatic weather stations across a 220km transect to collect high resolution data that will contribute to improving climate models in East Antarctica in what is called the Princess Elisabeth Antarctica Climate Experiment (PEACE) project.
His extensive contributions to our knowledge about the Greenland Ice Sheet, climate change, and the cryosphere makes it fitting that Greenland has decided to name a glacier in his honour.
The naming of the glacier after Professor Steffen was publicly announced at The Cryosphere in a changing climate - A scientific symposium in memory of Koni Steffen in Davos, Switzerland June 23-24.
At the same event, Dr. Derek Houtz from the WSL spoke extensively about the legacy of his former mentor.
A friend to Greenland
This is the first time in many years that a geographical feature in Greenland has received a name not of Greenlandic origin. However the extensive contributions Professor Steffen and his colleagues made to knowledge about Greenland also helped to elevate Greenlandic society.
Before naming the new glaciers, the Greenland Place Name Committee carried out extensive research to see if the newly named glaciers had any previous unregistered names that the Greenlandic population had used for these particular glaciers. They found no record of these glaciers bearing a name given by the local population. The families of the deceased researchers were also consulted prior to the naming of the glaciers.
In recent, times it is unusual for a geographical feature in Greenland to receive a name not of Greenlandic origin. However, the extensive contributions Professor Steffen and his colleagues made to knowledge about Greenland also helped to bring Greenland to wider attention internationally. Many politicians and journalists were invited to Swiss Camp, including former US Vice-President Al Gore and the Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi.
