Not subscribed?

This is your first view of the settlement of Ny Alesund, arriving on a small plane from the main town on Svalbard, Longyearbyen. The flights are not open to the public and only scientists and support staff for the research base are allowed to fly here.

The quay is at the far end of Ny Alesund. Ny Alesund used to be a coal mining settlement before it was converted to a series of science research stations from the 1950s. 11 countries have science facilities here. This view from the quay is one of the best in Ny Alesund and you can see for miles on a clear day.

Many of the buildings you can see were connected to coal mining, and have now been converted for Ny Alesund’s modern use as an international ‘science village’. The science village is run by the same company that was involved in mining, King’s Bay. The community here need to be self-sufficient, especially during the long winter months, when it is dark 24 hours a day.

The UK Arctic Research Station is a permanent field base in the Arctic, operated by the British Antarctic Survey. It provides visiting scientists with accommodation, laboratory facilities, operational and safety back-up and a range of different bits of kit and equipment. Some expeditions still camp out on the ice if they want to study a particularly remote area, but it is nice to come home to a warm bed and hot shower after a long day in freezing temperatures.

The laboratory space at the UK Arctic Research Station is where scientists can start the analysis of the research they are doing. This might be melting and filtering ice and snow samples or in the case of this expedition, examining the data gathered by the 3D laser scanner. Ongoing analysis is important as it allows the scientists to adjust their techniques while they are in the Arctic.

The team headed up to the glacier (the Austre Broggerbreen) each day to study inside the glacier. To study inside the glacier, the team had to search for a way in. You can see the hole they descended through. The glacier is about 100 meters thick here.

Descending through the moulin shaft, you enter another world. Each day, the team would rappel (abseil) down the rope and then at the end of the day haul themselves (jumar) out again. The team then had to access the inside of the glacier to see how the meltwater flows through the glacier. If the meltwater reaches the bottom of the glacier, this can increase the speed at which the glacier melts into the sea.

Meltwater comes from the surface of the glacier and creates these channels through the middle of the ice. In the summer, when the snow and ice melt, this would be like a stream. The scientists are interested to see how this channel changes over time. If it reaches the bottom of the glacier, this can increase the speed at which the glacier melts.