OIB complete the “North Beaufort Loop” sea ice mission today. Weather varied quite a bit over the loop, ranging from mostly clear on both beginning and end of science lines, to fairly thick haze and clouds on the northern portion. By descending to 1000′ above the ice, and varying laser settings, the ATMs acquired good data (only missing about a dozen 30 sec to one minute gaps on the north portion). The DMS and FLIR cameras were impacted by the hazy north portion, and the CReSIS snow ice radars worked in all conditions. All remote sensing instruments reported good data collection.
Tomorrow is a “hard down” rest day, we’ll resume OIB missions on Tuesday.
An aircraft and some sea ice photos below
NASA 426 at sunrise with huffers warming up the plane (and providing dramatic exhaust)
