After yet another delicious breakfast on Thursday morning, the team was taken to the Eureka runway to get on board the chartered Dornier aircraft that had arrived the previous evening. The weather hadn't changed much from the previous days. The temperature was at -42°C with low wind speeds and clear skies, so the team got treated to beautiful views, including sundogs. After saying goodbye to the weather station crew, and Pierre and Andrew who will continue measurements during the extended phase of the campaign, the team took off at 9 AM as planned and got a last view of the breathtaking landscape. The weather remained calm and, after a brief stop at Resolute Bay and Cambridge Bay, they safely arrived in Yellowknife at 3:40 PM local time.

The team took the shuttle to the hotel and headed out to check out the snow castle and snow sculptures on the lake in the late afternoon. Since the temperature in Yellowknife was slightly below -20°C (closer to -30°C with the windchill) and due to the early flight the next morning, the team decided to have an early dinner of local fish and chips.

At 4:40 AM on Friday morning, the team took the shuttle to Yellowknife airport and, after a short layover in Vancouver, arrived in Toronto at 3:30 PM local time. After this long journey, they all made it back home safely and are looking forward to the weekend to unwind and process the exceptional experiences of the past three weeks.

With the close of the intensive phase, we would also like to thank the Canadian Space Agency, Environment and Climate Change Canada, NSERC, the Northern Scientific Training Program, and CANDAC for continuing to financially and logistically support the Canadian Arctic ACE/OSIRIS Validation Campaigns. The learning opportunities these campaigns provide are truly unique and we highly appreciate the support of these organizations.

Finally, we would like to thank all of you for following these daily reports and for the kind feedback. We hope that you've enjoyed our updates from the far North.

Cheers,
Ellen Eckert
[on behalf of the 2020 Canadian Arctic ACE/OSIRIS Validation Campaign]