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Messages from Ny-Ålesund 2025: Aerosols Edition
Ny-Ålesund NIPR Observatory in Norway serves as one of the international collaboration sites for the ArCS III project. As the observation season begins, many research teams once again visited Ny-Ålesund for their field studies. Here, we share a look at the aerosols observations conducted this summer.
Field survey of the East Brøgger Glacier and outwash plains
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Author: Yutaka Tobo（NIPR）
As in the last summer, we went on a research trip to the East Brøgger Glacier (Photo 1).
When we visited this glacier last August, its surface was dirty, but we could not find any cryoconites. However, we could see that cryoconite holes were widely distributed on the glaciers this summer (Photo 2).
After the survey and sampling on the glacier, we conducted additional survey on the glacial outwash plains (a landform created by water flowing from the glacier) (Photo 3). Glacial outwash sediments are thought to be one of the main sources of wind-blown dust found in the Arctic atmosphere. To investigate the characteristics of dust originating from this area, we walked along the flow of rivers flowing from the glacier and collected the sediment samples.
Arrival in Ny-Ålesund
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Author: Yutaka Tobo（NIPR）
We arrived in the Ny-Ålesund Research Station in Svalbard. We traveled from Japan to Ny-Ålesund via Copenhagen (Denmark), Oslo (Norway), and Longyearbyen (Svalbard) (Photo 1). Ny-Ålesund is about 100 km away from Longyearbyen, but we could arrive after a less than 30-minute flight.
When we visited Ny-Ålesund in the summer of last year, almost all the snow on Mt. Zeppelin, where aerosol and cloud observations have been conducted, had melted. On the other hand, we could confirm from the aircraft that there was still quite a bit of snow left on Mt. Zeppelin at this time (Photo 1, 2). We also saw a tourist boat docked in the harbor.
The five members who arrived in Ny-Ålesund today will work on activities related to the aerosols theme of the ArCS III (Arctic Challenge for Sustainability III) project, which began in April this year. Among them, this is the first time for Dr. Naga Oshima (a principal investigator of this theme) from Meteorological Research Institute, Japan Meteorological Agency and two graduate students to stay here. Since we heard that polar bears have appeared frequently this summer, we will focus on safety as we carry out our planned activities.