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Cryospheric Sciences

Cryo Adventures

Field notes from the Chhota Shigri Glacier: A journey of science and survival in the Himalaya

January 10, 2025
Weather station on the snow
Figure 1: First-ever automatic weather station installed in the accumulation zone at 5218 m a.s.l. on the Chhota Shigri Glacier (Credit: Himanshu Kaushik).

I’m Himanshu Kaushik, a PhD student working under the guidance of Dr. Mohd Farooq Azam at the Indian Institute of Technology Indore (India). Seven years ago, I took my first steps onto the Chhota Shigri Glacier (CSG) in the Indian (Western) Himalaya, and it felt like stepping into another world. Surrounded by the towering peaks, it seemed otherworldly and humbling. After that first expeditio ...[Read More]

Crossing borders – Glacier fieldwork at Sulitjelma/Salajekna

November 22, 2024
Crossing borders – Glacier fieldwork at Sulitjelma/Salajekna
Postdoc Sarah Tingey filtering samples from the portal of Sulitjelma all wrapped up to avoid the chilling katabatic winds from the glacier. [Credit: Silje Waaler]

The time I first set foot at the university, I didn’t expect that two weeks later I would be looking at a backpack more than half my size, turning my back to the shelter of our rental car and walking almost 100 km in the Norwegian Arctic. Howling winds, heavy backpacks, daunting bridges, and endless beauty – that’s how I would describe my first experience with glacier fieldwork. I, Silje Waa ...[Read More]

A First-Timer’s Journey to the Heart of the Himalayas

October 25, 2024
The route of our journey from Srinagar to Panikhar.
The route of our journey from Srinagar to Panikhar. The black line is the road we took for the car journey. The road is not to scale! (Credit: Krishnanand J)

I am Krishnanand J, a graduate student in glaciology from IISER Pune, India. This is a story about my very first field trip to the Himalaya. Coming from a small village in Kerala, which is the southernmost state of India, going to the Himalaya is considered a big thing. It is like a camel visiting Antarctica. So below, I will take you along on an immersive journey, as I tell you about my first fie ...[Read More]

Dreaming & reading about fieldwork – summer blog break 2024

July 29, 2024
A person is kneeling down at a brown pond, all covered in mosquito net, waterproof gear, kitchen gloves and a pancake flipping spatula.
Maria during an Arctic Microbiomes PhD Summer school in Nunavut, Canada. Yes, sometimes, kitchen utensils help you stay away from mosquitos and discover some amazing bacterial mats (you can find them in your non-Arctic ponds, as well! (Photo Credit: Pascal Paradis)

  As we are starting into our annual blog summer break, we reflect on what summer can mean for polar researchers (including some fieldwork saudades). As an Arctic or Alpine cryo-scientist, chances are that you are somewhere in between vacation, fieldwork or trying to work through data while everyone else is free. If you, like us, did not have your vacation yet or do not have any fieldwork com ...[Read More]

The joy of collecting snow meltwater: a problem-solving hunt for meltwater in Northern Finland

April 5, 2024
The joy of collecting snow meltwater: a problem-solving hunt for meltwater in Northern Finland
Figure 1: Pallas Catchment, Finland. [Credits: Charlotte Ditlevsen]

We know that climate change is affecting many aspects of what we have considered “stable” throughout a long period of modern times. One of many impacted and changing factors is snow and thereby also snow meltwater. One way to study meltwater is to trace it by the usage of stable water isotope signals and we plan to use it by asking: Are we underestimating the portions of snow meltwater in differen ...[Read More]

UndercoverEisAgenten – Permafrost, drones and young explorers investigating Arctic change

November 24, 2023
UndercoverEisAgenten – Permafrost, drones and young explorers investigating Arctic change
Figure 1: Aerial view of Aklavik Northwest Territories Canada: A serene grid-patterned settlement nestled by the Peel channel of the Mackenzie River, surrounded by autumnal wilderness. [Credit: Christian Thiel]

The “UndercoverEisAgenten” project takes us on a drone journey over the ever-changing permafrost landscapes. Initiated by the Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI) for Polar and Marine Research, the German Aerospace Center’s (DLR) Institute of Data Science, and the Heidelberg Institute for Geoinformation Technology (HeiGIT), this venture is about more than just capturing images. It̵ ...[Read More]

The search for the Antarctic giants!

October 13, 2023
The search for the Antarctic giants!
The Southern Ocean, a place of wonders and giants. At the surface we are amazed by giant icebergs, but it is in the deep that the true mystery persists! [Credits: José Queirós]

The deep Southern Ocean is full of giants! Some of them scared the sailors for centuries, like the colossal squid or, as they called it, The Kraken. They thought it was a huge monster capable of sinking ships! Far from it, these giants ran away from us, and we still know very little about them! They live in depths where the light cannot penetrate, the largest ecosystem on Earth, the Deep-Sea! They ...[Read More]

Looking for the Window during Fieldwork

September 15, 2023
Looking for the Window during Fieldwork
Qaanaaq fjord in Northern Greenland, 79°N [Credits: Katie Sipes].

Arctic fieldwork is a meticulous dance with the ever-fickle weather, where nature’s temperament can determine the course of scientific endeavors. Rain or fog can swiftly put a halt to even the most well-laid plans. This holds true for Greenland, where proximity to the ice cap doesn’t shield researchers from the capriciousness of the climate. In August 2023, the Deep Purple ERC Project ...[Read More]

Quantifying the experience: Himalayan fieldwork in numbers

May 5, 2023
Quantifying the experience: Himalayan fieldwork in numbers
The Langtang expedition Team. [Credit: Renko Douze/Christian Paulussen]

The Himalayas are Big. But how Big is the fieldwork experience? What is behind all the mountain field data and beautiful mountain pictures? 40 preparation emails, 110 km of hiking, 170 kg of gear and 25 people in the team. We try to put some numbers on the experience we had during the Langtang, Nepal Himalaya expedition in November 2022. Behind the scenes Remote mountain fieldwork can be quite an ...[Read More]

Arctic Frontiers Emerging Leaders

February 24, 2023
Arctic Frontiers Emerging Leaders
Kabelvåg, Lofoten Islands, Arctic Norway [Credit: Jenny Arthur]

Here on the Cryoblog we often talk about the impacts of climate change in the Cryosphere. So now for something completely different: how does this fit into sustainable development in the Arctic? Here, I take you on a journey through the Arctic in a round-up of the recent Arctic Frontiers Emerging Leaders program, a unique early-career and mentoring program bringing together academic, industry, ind ...[Read More]