Rainy Day = Data Day

Today started out a little wet, so the FieldSpec had to stay inside. So, Fjord and Allen got to work on a bit of much-needed data processing. The main conclusion was that we need more samples to be more sure of any conclusions drawn about different reflectance of snow surfaces! This is not surprising. And good to know, seeing as we have 10 days left here...

On the up side, here's a pretty graph of some of the data so far. Each line is the average reflectance (without error bars) of different surface types. Going from top to bottom, they are Snow, White Ice, Semi-Saturated Ice, Slush, and Saturated Ice. Things are looking promising!

Percent reflectance on vertical axis, Wavelength minus 350nm on vertical axis

More sun, more research

The sun was out for the second morning in a row – and we took advantage of it! After a nice hike out to the glacier, we stopped to take a few photos before work started…

Conwaybreen, across Kongsfjorden from Midtre Lovénbreen

With touristing over, we got to work. You saw the spectrum yesterday, but what does the data collection actually consist of? It’s pretty simple. Fjord monitors a light meter to make sure light levels are staying steady.

Fjord, taking his job very seriously

If the light is stable (whether clear or cloudy, the illumination just needs to stay the same between reference and measured target). The FieldSpec operator (here, Allen) then takes a measurement of the white reference panel (defined as 100% reflectance) and then quickly measures the chosen point on the glacier surface. Each reading takes about 15 seconds and is actually an average of 30 quick scans. For each point on the surface this is repeated at 10 times – we rotate the angle of view, too, because the surface doesn’t necessarily reflect the same in all angles.

Allen measuring an icy glacier surface; the computer controls the FieldSpec and shows realtime data to use for quality control

After the spectra are measured, then Jon measures the surface roughness (he’ll cover that in another post) and we also measure the density of the snow and size of the snow grains – both factors which influence the spectra. Processing of the data is underway, and I’ll let you know if we find anything cool!

Today’s hike also took us to a new part of Midtre Lovénbreen, onto one of the side tributaries. It was a bit steeper, so small crevasses start to form up there. We try to be safe of course, but small reindeer have to look for small crevasses…

Finally - Science!

For the first time today we took the FieldSpec out to the glacier – and it went really well! The morning started very auspiciously. Unlike any other morning since we’ve arrived, it was bright and sunny outside.

As we arrive at the glacier, clouds covered the sun. Although this isn’t ideal for getting a strong signal with the FieldSpec, it did mean we didn’t have to worry about confounding reflections and we could get balanced spectra. Like the one below.

An example of how snow reflects light – we collected this data today!

On the horizontal axis is wavelength (color of light) and on the vertical axis is percent reflectance (how much of that color gets reflected back vs. absorbed). As you can see snow is very bright in the low wavelengths. This is the visible range, showing what we know – snow is bright white! There is a dip near 1000 nm where it absorbs some infra-red light, and snow is effectively “black” (absorbent, not reflective) at higher wavelengths. The big spiky bits near 1300 and 1800 nm are due to interference by water in the atmosphere.
The day was really productive, although I admit not the most interesting if you weren’t there. We established a good protocol for how measurements are taken and recorded and got spectra on at a couple different sites including water-saturated ice, semi-saturated ice, two areas of snow, and some slush. Hopefully tomorrow we’ll get some more snow and unsaturated ice. Most importantly – we now know that we collected some reasonably and useable data!!

As we packed up to head back to town for dinner, the sun came out again. The scenery was beautiful and we just had to keep taking out our cameras to snap some shots. It probably added 30 minutes to our “commute”! Here are a couple – enjoy!

Our SHADOWS on Midtre Lovénbreen, looking across Kongfjorden

Bright and sunny – the nicest weather we’ve had yet

A view of Ny-Ålesund from the glacier, Kapp Mitra in the distance

Exploring Austre Brøggerbreen

When choosing Ny-Ålesund as a research site, one of the reasons to come here was the immediate accessibility of a few different glaciers. So, today we went to check out another nearby one – Austre Brøggerbreen (the eastern Brøgger glacier, Brøgger being the name of the peninsula Ny-Ålseund is located).

In order to get to the glacier, we have to hike up the side of the valley for a ways in order to bypass a very large meltwater stream. We may have overestimated the necessary climbing height and so had a bit of an adventure in the screen. Of course, Fjord managed to find some Svalbard poppies while we were hiking.


We finally got down to the glacier and hiked around it a bit, exploring the area. We found some ablation stakes from the Norwegian Polar Institute, measuring the amount the glacier gains or loses in a given year. We also found a pretty cool medial moraine where we had lunch.


Unfortunately, we came to the conclusion that based on the amount of snow that had already melted this year, Austre Brøggerbreen isn’t really a good place to do our spectral measurements. Lots of slush and nothing that Midtre Lovénbreen doesn’t have. Adventure had, lesson learned.

On the hike back we checked out this huge meltwater stream some more. See photo and video below. The majority of the stream actually emerges from the middle of the glacier, forced up out of a tunnel through the glacier rather that at its edge. You can see some of the water bubbling up and the torrent which flows out later. Jon wants to come back with a kayak and try riding it…

Photo 1 Revealed

It's a small glacier, up in a side valley which used to be connected to the main body of the glacier we're working on. Many of the dark lines we see here are layers (a bit like tree rings) formed each year by alternating snow in the winter (now ice) and dust blown in during the summer.

Mystery Photo 1

What do you think this photo is of? Guess! In a day or two I'll post the zoomed-out version.

Why Ny-Ålesund is Ny-Ålesund

Today on the walk back from the glacier, after helping Allen, Gareth and Jon collect their data I found this large chunk of coal and it reminded me of the rich history of Ny-Ålesund.

It was exactly 400 years ago, in 1610, that coal was discovered here by the English whaler Jonas Poole, who named the fjord Deer Sound, perhaps after meeting a few of my ancestors. The reindeer were left alone for 300 years until the Kings Bay Kull Company (KBKC) started mining coal in 1916. KBKC was based in Ålesund on the west coast of Norway, so the new mining town became known as Ny-Ålesund (New Ålesund).

The mining operation grew rapidly, extracting nearly 90,000 tonnes a year, but the mine was never very successful and the town was evacuated during World War II. After the war, mining operations were resumed but the work was dangerous and after a number of accidents there was an explosion in 1962 that killed 21 people.

The government decided to stop mining and in the late 1960s Ny Ålesund became the home to scientific research that it is today, still run by the Kings Bay Company.

Fjord Meets His Cousin

He didn't tell us his name, but he was wandering just outside the station.

Testing the Spectroradiometer

So, after our successful day of investigating the glacier, we thought we should make sure that everybody in the team knows how to use the spectroradiometer. This thing (aka the FieldSpec) is what we are using to measure how much energy a surface reflects across a wide range of wavelengths, all the way from infrared through the visible to the ultraviolet.


Here, you can see Jon, Gareth, and Fjord testing out the machine. Jon is holding a reference panel – this very bright white square tells us what 100% reflectance looks like so we can calibrate the FieldSpec. The sensor is on the end of the pole that Gareth is holding, currently measuring the reference panel. A fibre optic cable runs from the sensor to the detectors in the machine on Gareth’s backpack. All of this is controlled by the laptop sitting on the belly-board hanging off of Gareth’s next. Although it’s a bit of a hassle to get on/off, one it is set up you only need to hit the space bar to take a measurement!

We only measured some of the rocks and tundra outside the station, but hopefully soon we'll have some meaningful data on the glaciers.

Fjord Travels on a Glacier

This afternoon we took the opportunity to do a bit of reconnaissance and see one of the glaciers that we’ll be working on – Midtre Lovénbreen (breen is Norwegian for glacier). ML is one of the most-studied glaciers in Svalbard and even all of Europe because of its small size, simple geometry, and proximity to Ny-Ålesund, and Gareth has been here a few times before.

Fjord rides a bike

The trip out of town starts on bikes, which we take a couple km to the end of the road before dismounting and hiking across some lightly vegetated tundra and the moraine. The moraine is made up of material that has been spit out of the end of the glacier in the past and is made up of everything from sand and silt to jumbles of pointy rocks – not the nicest thing to hike on.

Getting onto the glacier surface is fairly easy at the snount – just watch out for the streams of meltwater and the quicksand next to the ice. As you can see, the edge of a glacier is a dirty place scatter with mud, dirt and rocks.

Fjord deftly hops onto the dirty snout of Midtre Lovénbreen

It isn’t until you get higher up the glacier that the ice stays cleaner and there are even still bits of snow left from this past winter. Fjord seems to have found a clean patch to get a drink.

A clean, snowy part of Midtre Lovénbreen

Midtre Lovénbreen is a fairly safe glacier – the surface is not too steep, crampons aren’t necessary,a and there are few crevasses. What we do have to look out for are large meltwater streams which cut canyons into the glacier, complete with their own little waterfalls. Don’t fall in! Eventually, the tops of these canyons close back up with snow and ice and turn into tunnels which carry water through the interior of the glacier.

Fjord Plays in LYR Airport

Welcome to Ny-Ålesund!

After four flights over two days, we finally made it to Ny-Ålesund, the research station we will be calling home for the next couple weeks!

Leaving from London-Heathrow we had a short layover in Oslo and an overnight stop in Tromsø. Since Tromsø is above the Arctic Circle it means that we didn’t see darkness and won’t again until August 10th! From Tromsø we flew to Longyearbyen, the major city of Svalbard. There, Fjord encountered his first polar bear (stuffed, in the airport), had some fun on the luggage carousel, and boarded our final plane – and it was a small one! With pilot and co-pilot there were only 12 people on board.

Fjord's First Polar Bear

Even though it was only a 25 minute flight from Longyearbyen to Ny-Ålesund, the scenery was the most breathtaking we’ve seen yet, especially since the pilot nicely stayed below the cloud cover.

Flight from Longyearbyen to Ny-Ålesund

We landed! Gareth, Fjord, and our plane.

It’s 5°C and overcast here (but no rain – check out the weather anytime here), we’ve eaten dinner, and so far seen geese, Arctic terns and an Arctic fox. Fieldwork starts immediately, and we’ve also already been inducted at the Norwegian research station and gotten our kit together. A bit later on we’ll give you a tour of the town, but suffice it to say that Allen has already found the world’s most northerly rowing machine.

After a bit of training we’ll get out into the field as soon as we can!

FieldSpec Training

Today was our first day of “field” work – not in Svalbard, but in Edinburgh (another glacially-carved landscape)! An early train, plane, and bus got us (Fjord & Allen) to University of Edinburgh, the home of the NERC FSF. Today was all about learning the theory and practice behind the star piece of equipment on the trip – the ASD FieldSpec 3.

The FSF exists to (among other things), provide training and user support, and to promote good practice in the application of field spectroscopy. I have to say, they are amazingly informative, helpful, and friendly all day.

So, what are we measuring with this thing? When the sensor (it fits in a backpack, controlled by a computer with a detector that looks like a small gun) is pointed at the glacier surface, the FieldSpec scans the entire spectrum from 350nm to 2500nm and, with the help/calibration of a bright white reference tile we carry along, tells us the percentage of light at each wavelength that the glacier surface reflects.

There are lots of things to consider when taking each measurement. The sky needs to be clear, because that is the condition when satellite imagery is collected. We have to stand so as not to cast a shadow or to reflect additional light on the surface. We have to take the measurement at multiple angles so as to produce an average spectrum. And, one more thing – this instrument is worth £55,000 - so we have to be very careful with it!

You’ll see more photos of the FieldSpec in action once we’re in the field. Less than a week away…

Fjord in Cambridge

Although the weather in Cambridge is beautiful, I'm getting itchy hooves. I want to go North - and it will happen soon! We're heading to Svalbard on July 21 (with an overnight stop in Tromsø), so it won't be long now. Some of the packing has already begun and we have most of the kit we need.

The only major thing left is to get the field spectroradiometer - the one machine the expedition depends on! Allen & I are heading up to Edinburgh tomorrow to get it and to get trained. I'll let you know how it goes.