Scientists begin their annual trip to Nunavut’s PEARL
Researchers will look for signs of climate change in the atmosphere
A PEARL operator cleans frost off research instruments. From Feb. 25 to March 31, scientists will be using PEARL to validate data from two satellites. (Photo by Pierre Fogal)
Research scientists have begun their journey to the Polar Environment Atmospheric Research Laboratory, also known as PEARL, on Ellesmere Island in Nunavut.
From Feb. 25 to March 31, the group will take part in the “Canadian Arctic ACE/OSIRIS Sunrise Campaign,” a project that tries to confirm data from Canada’s SCISAT satellite and Sweden’s Odin satellite.
Both the ACE and OSIRIS projects focus on climate change in the Earth’s atmosphere. ACE and SCISAT measure atmospheric chemistry, with special attention to the Arctic’s ozone layer, while OSIRIS measures how sunlight scatters when it passes through the different levels of the Earth’s atmosphere.
The research campaign has run since 2004. Last year, scientists kept a daily diary and photo journal on the campaign website.
Scientists validate their measurements using PEARL, a laboratory specializing in atmospheric research. People usually travel to PEARL while living at the nearby Eureka weather station.
PEARL nearly ran out of funding and could have been forced to reduce operations, but received short-term funding in 2017.
(0) Comments