Finished! The climate station is in place and the soil sensors are installed!A report by Simone Stünzi, Niko Bornemann and Jannika Gottuk, AWI-employees in the project MOMENT

19 September 2023

Photo: Simone Stünzi

We as the AWI group of the MOMENT Expedition 2023 (Simone Stünzi, Niko Bornemann and Jannika Gottuk) have successfully completed our fieldwork this year in September.

After an ~2.5-day journey via Copenhagen and Ilulissat, we made good progress with our work on Disko Island in the Blæsedalen valley. After a day and a half of carrying equipment (81 kg of batteries, 42 kg of tripod and rods, 34 kg of hammer drill/tools and 41 kg of sensors) to the study area that was located more than 6.5 km away, we were able to get started with the installation.

We installed a climate station including snow and soil sensors. In addition to the usual microclimatic sensors, we installed snow needles, temperature and humidity sensors (TDR) in both soil and snow, and time-lapse cameras. The overall goal is to record the interactions of vegetation, permafrost, and snow from as many angles as possible and to collect background data for the entire project partners.

We read the sensors already installed last year for measuring the temperature and humidity of the soil and air (type "TOMST") and for measuring the surface temperature (type "iButton"). Such sensors were also installed at additional sites. In addition, we described the vegetation, flew a drone over the study sites, and collected soil samples to determine soil physical parameters.

We were fortunate with the weather during the first week; apart from a day and a half, there was hardly any rain. However, it was clear that summer was over. The vegetation had turned colorful, there was already snow on the surrounding mountains, and there was nighttime frost in the valley. So, in addition to the usual "squelching" sounds, we occasionally heard a "crack" as we walked through frozen puddles of mud towards the study site. In the second week, the weather became more uncomfortable with a few snow showers and windy, rainy days. But that didn't stop us from completing all of our planned work.