At the end of 2020, UCL scientists took part in a landmark international Arctic research expedition when RV Polarstern was deliberately lodged into sea ice to drift past the North Pole.
Professor Julienne Stroeve (featured below), who was leading this project, joined five other UK researchers on the 120m-long research ship as it moves with the current in the ice across the central Arctic Ocean from September 2019 to September 2020.
They were on board for two months, working alongside up to 600 international scientists and crew from 17 countries as part of this major international effort to better understand the fastest changing environment on the planet.
Professor Stroeve and Dr Michel Tsamados (UCL Earth Sciences) investigated the depth and density of the layer of snow which covers arctic sea ice to see if the radar technology used by satellites, such as the European Space Agency (ESA)'s CryoSat-2, is accurately measuring sea ice thickness from space.
See below for more information and updates on the research:
Polar Climate Modelling and Change (research area)
UCL scientists to join Arctic research ship 'drifting' past North Pole (29/08/18)
MOSAiC Expedition - we are in the ice! (30/09/19)
The icebreaker revealing the Arctic’s secrets (19/06/20)