North Pole Sea Ice twice as thick as expected

By Editor Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Radio Bremen

The research aircraft “Polar 5” today concluded its Arctic expedition in
Canada. During the flight, researchers measured the current ice thickness at
the North Pole and in areas that have never before been surveyed. The
result: The sea-ice in the surveyed areas is apparently thicker than
scientists had suspected.

Normally, newly formed ice measures some two meters in thickness after two
years. “Here, we measured ice thickness up to four meters,” said a
spokesperson for Bremerhaven’s Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine
Research. At present, this result contradicts the warming of the sea water,
according to the scientists.

Apart from measuring ice thickness, the composition of arctic air was also
investigated. With the help of a laser, the researchers studied the level of
pollution of the atmosphere by emissions from industrialized countries. In
the next few weeks the results will be evaluated. Some 20 scientists from
the U.S., Canada, Italy and Germany took part in the expedition.

"Edmund Fitzgerald" wrote in message
news:PbaMl.25825$Db2.7005@edtnps83...
North Pole Sea Ice twice as thick as expected

By Editor Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Radio Bremen

The research aircraft “Polar 5” today concluded its Arctic expedition in
Canada. During the flight, researchers measured the current ice thickness
at the North Pole and in areas that have never before been surveyed. The
result: The sea-ice in the surveyed areas is apparently thicker than
scientists had suspected.

Normally, newly formed ice measures some two meters in thickness after two
years. “Here, we measured ice thickness up to four meters,” said a
spokesperson for Bremerhaven’s Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and
Marine Research. At present, this result contradicts the warming of the
sea water, according to the scientists.

Apart from measuring ice thickness, the composition of arctic air was also
investigated. With the help of a laser, the researchers studied the level
of pollution of the atmosphere by emissions from industrialized countries.
In the next few weeks the results will be evaluated. Some 20 scientists
from the U.S., Canada, Italy and Germany took part in the expedition.



Bit more here..

http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/a...tic-expedition

"Another focal point of the campaign were large-scale measurements of ice
thickness in the inner Arctic, which were conducted in close collaboration
of the Alfred Wegener Institute together with the University of Alberta. An
ice-thickness sensor, the so-called EM-Bird, was put into operation under a
plane for the first time ever. To conduct the measurements, Polar 5 dragged
the sensor which was attached to a steel cable of eighty metres length in a
height of twenty metres over the ice cover. Multiple flights northwards from
various stations showed an ice thickness between 2.5 (two years old ice in
the vicinity of the North Pole) and 4 metres (perennial ice in Canadian
offshore regions). All in all, the ice was somewhat thicker than during the
last years in the same regions, which leads to the conclusion that Arctic
ice cover recovers temporarily. The researchers found the thickest ice with
a thickness of 15 metres along the northern coast of Ellesmere Island"