During the final week of the campaign at PEARL, weather conditions remained clear and calm through the weekend from April 7 - 9 with temperatures near -20C at the PEARL Ridge Lab. From April 10 to the team's departure from PEARL on April 12 winds increased to about 15 kts with lower temperatures near -
30C.
On Sunday, April 9, the team was visited at the Ridge Lab by members of the Alfred Wegener Institute
(AWI) who were visiting Eureka as part of a flight campaign to measure sea ice thickness. Pierre, Erik and
Ramina gave them a tour of the lab and the instruments. In the evening, the campaign team was invited to
tour the AWI team's Polar 6 research aircraft at the Eureka runway. The AWI team showed Pierre, Erik
and Ramina the aircraft and the instruments onboard, and discussed the science that they were doing.
Afterwards, Erik and Ramina joined the AWI team and were driven out on the EWS track truck to view a
large iceberg on the fjord.
Erik prioritized solar measurements with the Bruker FTIR over the final week, alternating between near-
and mid-infrared measurements. With increasing daylight hours, Erik was able to remotely start and end
measurements from the Eureka Weather Station, allowing for measurements to be recorded from
approximately 7 am to 9 pm local time. While at the Ridge Lab, Erik continued to monitor the Bruker FTIR
measurements and in particular assess the Bruker FTIR's solar tracker. After the solar tracker adjustments
and software initialization that was performed the previous week, Erik found that the solar tracking was
greatly improved with the position of the solar beam remaining centred on the Bruker FTIR's input aperture
throughout the day.
In the final week of the campaign, the UT-GBS tracker stopped functioning properly. Ramina spent some
time with the UT-GBS tracker to source the problem and troubleshoot it. The azimuthal tracker controller
had stopped working and was replaced as there was a spare one at the lab. The UT-GBS now continues
to measure under optimal conditions. Ramina also spent some time this week ensuring that all the UV-vis
instruments remained in good shape to optimize the measurement period for the year. This included
checking the GBS domes and Pandora collimator daily to clear them of frost and snow, as well as ensuring
that all remote connections to the instruments and cameras were operating.
On April 12, the team's final day at PEARL, Pierre, Erik and Ramina spent their morning at 0PAL, where
they tidied up the lab and packed computers and equipment to be sent down South with them. They spent
the afternoon at the Ridge Lab where they made final checks of the instruments and prepared them for
remote measurements to continue once they left.
The team departed Eureka around 9 pm local time on April 12, arriving in Yellowknife at about 1:30 am
local time. After a late night of travel, the team met for breakfast at their hotel before taking a taxi to the
Yellowknife Airport. They departed Yellowknife at 1 pm arriving in Calgary at 3:45 pm local time. After a
short layover of about 45 mins, the team boarded their final flight to Toronto, arriving at the Pearson
International Airport around 10:30 pm local time.
With the campaign now at its end, we would like to thank the Canadian Space Agency, Environment and
Climate Change Canada, NSERC, the Northern Scientific Training Program, and CANDAC for their
continued financial and logistical support of the Canadian Arctic ACE/OSIRIS Validation Campaigns. The
campaigns provide unique learning and training opportunities, as well as invaluable opportunities for
continued long-term measurements of trace gases at Eureka. We highly appreciate the support of these
organizations.
We would also like to thank the Eureka Weather Station staff for their support and hospitality. We wish to
thank:
- Al Gaudet, the station program manager during our stay in the Arctic, who welcomed us, oversaw
accommodations, and made our stay a pleasant one.
- Earl and Natalie, who made incredible meals for us, considered all our dietary restrictions and
preferences and never failed to keep the fridges stocked up with delicious food.
- David and Jason, who kept the lights on, the station warm, and the roads clear.
- Peter, Alan, and Lyndon from the meteorological office, who kept us informed of weather conditions,
launched the ozonesondes and kept us updated on their status.
Finally, we would like to thank you all for following our daily reports and for your continued interest in our
work at Eureka. We hope that you've enjoyed our campaign updates from the high Arctic.
Ramina Alwarda and Erik Lutsch
[On behalf of the 2023 Canadian Arctic ACE/OSIRIS Validation Campaign team]