Russian expedition logs week of Barentsburg measurements

Russia's Arctic expedition on Spitsbergen ran round-the-clock air measurements and a series of geophysical observations at Barentsburg between 4 and 10 November, the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute said in its weekly bulletin.

Staff there measured aerosol particles and soot in surface air throughout the week. On 9 and 10 November they also collected surface aerosol samples on a filter to determine its elemental composition. The expedition's weather instruments and ground-temperature strings on the cryosphere test site kept running, and the data were read on 9 November.

The geophysical programme included sounding of the ionosphere on radio paths between Barentsburg and seven other stations, and continuous recording of the magnetic field and of cosmic radio noise absorption. The ionograms and the magnetometer readings were passed to the institute's polar geophysical centre, the bulletin said.

On 10 November, representatives of Norway's communications authority, Nkom, carried out a planned inspection of the expedition's satellite reception point in Barentsburg, which ended without claims or remarks. The reception point prepared 1057 satellite image files for sending by file transfer.

In hydrology, the team set up a test site to observe evaporation from the snow cover and began readings twice a day. Workers also worked on fitting the last heating branch in the warehouse and workshop building.

The temperature in Barentsburg on the morning of 11 November was −8.0 °C, with an east-north-easterly wind of 3 m per second, the institute said.

Coverage: Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute, Spitsbergen expedition bulletins