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Blog Tundra Stories: A brief look back

Friday 14, September 2012


The two stations in Samoylov. (Photo: Max Heikenfeld, Alfred Wegener Institut)The two stations in Samoylov. (Photo: Max Heikenfeld, Alfred Wegener Institut)It's been a little over a week since we said goodbye to the Samoilov island in the Siberian Lena Delta. It has thus come to the end of this blog. We would like to thank all those who have followed our work here on the website in recent weeks. We found writing the blog a lot of fun, allowing for the world "out there" to grasp in words andimages what we have been up to. I certainly hope you have had as much fun as we have and have been able to get an idea of ​​what has kept us busyfor the past weeks.
 
For me, a newcomer, this Arctic expedition was of course a very special experience. First, there were many new experiences, like the polar night, the northern lights and the fascinating landscape of the Lena Delta. The expedition meant to me the first "real see and touch" to what I had previously been studying for several months more theoretically or in the form of digital data in Germany.  I was also from different scientific area than many of the other expedition members, which kept me busy with learnign about new impressions, ideas and research results.  I could always be sure that between our scientific tasks, during the very rare free time, I would not get bored.

After our return, I used the first day to adapt to life in Germany. I also had a huge jet lag. Now we are in a period of evaluating the results obtained during the expedition. So, now the time will be spent primarily in front of the computer desk or in the laboratory. That's quite a change after havinmg spent the last two months in the fresh air.

I personally, will in the coming months be developing a model for the heat transport in the polygonal tundra. In addition I have determined this summer the characteristics of the soil, which are crucial for the energy exchange at the soil surface. These are, for example, soil moisture, surface temperature and albedo, which describes how much of the incoming sunlight the vegetation is reflecting back into the atmosphere. Also, I use the data as recorded by our station in recent years on the permafrost.

Our station will slumber quite lonely until next spring, when the first expedition will come and move into the new research station next door. The term "spring" is perhaps a bit misleading: while in Germany we have usually first warm days in April, on Samoilov the temperatures will still be well below freezing mark. The tundra will  be looked at from a completely different perspective than we have explored in the last two months. The expedition team will have to wear thick thermal suits instead of boots and mosquito shirt and to be prepared for snow and ice instead of soggy tundra. 
 
So this is the final blog message from me. Thanks for your interest!
 
Max
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