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Julienne Stroeve of the National Snow and Ice Data Center at the University of Colorado, Boulder, and her research team stand near a marker (pyramid-shaped structure) used by aircraft to stay on course for the researchers' transect measurements. Stroeve's team measured temperatures and other variables at the snow/ice interface in Elson Lagoon in Barrow, Alaska.
Field data collected by Stroeve's team was used to help validate models that predict the potential response of arctic ecosystems to environmental changes, and to validate satellite measurements and help identify variables that can be reliably retrieved from satellites. Because detailed field sampling of ice and snow conditions can only be conducted over limited distances, Stroeve's team also uses aircraft observations to characterize snow and ice conditions in arctic environments.Image credit: Don Perovich, CRREL, Hanover, N.H.
