Science Series Video Archive

Living and Working in the Freezer

Dr. Victoria Hill - Old Dominion University, Bio-Optics Group

February 7, 2012

Very little data of any kind exists from the early spring in the Arctic. The reason? It's extremely cold and that makes it difficult to survive, let alone conduct science. From March through the end of April, 2011, scientists from around the world braved temperatures of -48°C in the high Canadian Arctic in the name of science. At the Catlin Arctic Survey's floating 'Ice Base' off Ellef Ringnes Island, Dr. Victoria Hill was investigating how organic material in fresh water near the surface of the ocean may be trapping heat from the sun, causing the upper ocean layers to warm. This is a very new area of research and this mechanism represents a key uncertainty in accurate modeling of ice thickness and upper ocean heat content. In this presentation Dr. Hill will talk about living and working at the ice base and discuss preliminary data from the expedition.