Following a smooth, error-free morning flight, Andy Mahoney, Josh Jones, and myself arrived in Barrow. We were welcomed with a balmy temperature of -20F and a stiff 15mph westerly wind. We made a quick stop at UMIAQ headquarters to pick up keys, discuss the itinerary, and down a few cups of coffee to shake off the cobwebs of the morning. After dropping off our personal luggage at the NARL hut and fueling up with a late lunch, we headed back to UMIAQ HQ to gear up and perform a scouting mission for a suitable site location. Winding our way by snow machine between rubbled blocks of sea ice created during the formation of the landfast ice under westerly winds, we searched for flat areas of ice suitable for locating our instruments. Upon finding a level area, I was tasked with boring my first hole through the ice to take measurements of ice thickness, freeboard (height of ice above the water level), and water depth. We drilled in two places before settling on a location.
