Image of the month: November 2020

Our image of the month November was taken in August 2019 during the expedition JR18007 of the British research icebreaker James Clark Ross in the Fram Strait. This waterway between Greenland and Spitsbergen connects the North Atlantic with the Arctic Ocean. The region is therefore of great importance for many physical, but also biological and biogeochemical processes. The expedition collected data and samples for the research project PETRA, which is part of the international Changing Arctic Ocean Program (CAO) and deals with climate-relevant gases such as dimethyl sulfide, carbon monoxide, methane or nitrous oxide in the Arctic Ocean. A central question is how the production and consumption processes, and thus also the emissions, of these gases will change in a changing Arctic Ocean and in turn influence the local and global climate.

For the photographer Hanna Campen, doctoral student in the PETRA project, the view of the ice floes was exciting not only from a scientific perspective. "For me personally, it was already the second expedition on which I was able to experience Arctic ice. It is always fascinating how many different facets, colors and shapes it can take on depending on the incidence of light. Beautiful. A beauty that probably not too many people will get to see anymore," she says of her impressions.

More information about the PETRA project in CAO:
https://www.changing-arctic-ocean.ac.uk/project/petra/