Notes from the Field

Scientists and engineers are ready to fly a new instrument designed to measure the water contained within a snowpack.

Like the isbjørn (polar bears), we are ambush hunters. Our prey are atmospheric fountains, jets of gas being shot into space under the impact of the cusp aurora.

We fly to honor the sacrifices that we each have made, and the dedication we all feel to each other, in our three-year journey from project inception to field campaign.

Without the regular rising and setting of the Sun to bring a sense of duration, the long winter nights in Ny-Ålesund can seem timeless.

We have journeyed to Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard, the northernmost town in the world, so that we can touch the sky.