During China's 13th Arctic Scientific Expedition: What are the challenges facing 24-hour continuous scientific research? Expedition Team | Science | Arctic Ocean
CCTV News: Yesterday, China's 13th Arctic Scientific Expedition team boarded the "Xuelong 2" polar research icebreaker and conducted operations at the Chukotchi Sea in the Arctic Ocean. CCTV reporters set sail with the ship and recorded the entire process of China's Arctic scientific expedition. So, what are the challenges currently faced by the team members of the Chukchi Sea scientific expedition? Read the report.
What are the key tasks of this Arctic scientific expedition?
The entire process of this scientific examination is about 80 days, and apart from the round-trip travel time, it is expected that there will be more than 40 days to carry out scientific research assignments. What are the key tasks of this Arctic scientific expedition?
![During China's 13th Arctic Scientific Expedition: What are the challenges facing 24-hour continuous scientific research? Expedition Team | Science | Arctic Ocean](https://a5qu.com/upload/images/671a352dcd6ea6df3529aa7ae1612184.jpg)
Wang Jinhui, leader of China's 13th Arctic Scientific Expedition Team: Our Arctic scientific expedition this time focuses on the changes in the ecosystem under the rapid changes in the Arctic, with four key tasks: first, investigating the ecological environment of the Pacific sector of the Central Arctic Ocean and comprehensively investigating sea ice; The second is the geological and geophysical investigation of the Jiake Ridge; The third is some scientific research plans, mainly focusing on research on circulation and sea ice. The fourth is international cooperation.
What are the black technologies for studying aerosols in the Arctic Ocean?
During this scientific examination, various new methods were used to study the polar atmosphere. It is understood that China conducted a LiDAR observation experiment on the aerosol situation in the Arctic Ocean in 2016. With the continuous optimization of radar performance, this year's Arctic scientific expedition began to fully utilize LiDAR to collect data.
![During China's 13th Arctic Scientific Expedition: What are the challenges facing 24-hour continuous scientific research? Expedition Team | Science | Arctic Ocean](https://a5qu.com/upload/images/742294262932873c2f3ff24a2833c103.jpg)
Chinese 13th Arctic Scientific Expedition Team member Le Fange: This instrument is called aerosol scattering lidar, mainly used to observe the vertical distribution of aerosol concentration from the near surface to 10000 meters in the high altitude, as well as some related physical parameters. This is a real-time generated data graph. It is preliminarily speculated that this may be mainly due to the increase in PM10 aerosol concentration caused by a large amount of sea salt aerosols emitted from the ocean.
What challenges do 24-hour continuous scientific examinations face?
CCTV reporter Wang Nan: The most obvious difficulty in scientific research in the Arctic Ocean is actually the harsh natural conditions. For example, nowadays, the outdoor temperature has dropped to below 0 degrees Celsius, but many work projects need to be carried out on the stern deck of the ship.
![During China's 13th Arctic Scientific Expedition: What are the challenges facing 24-hour continuous scientific research? Expedition Team | Science | Arctic Ocean](https://a5qu.com/upload/images/d3137e68ceb314521bd3030bbab1100b.jpg)
Liu Kun, a member of the 13th Chinese Arctic Scientific Expedition Team: It will take about two hours. Cold, the seawater is relatively cold, and after coming up, it is around two degrees Celsius, and the temperature of the mud is also about two degrees Celsius.
Multiple operations on floating ice require finding a "pond"
Due to the focus of the homework project on the Chukchi Sea, which mainly focuses on water environment, biological ecology, etc., a large amount of floating ice on the sea surface has also brought considerable difficulties to the scientific research homework.
![During China's 13th Arctic Scientific Expedition: What are the challenges facing 24-hour continuous scientific research? Expedition Team | Science | Arctic Ocean](https://a5qu.com/upload/images/e883fc4f2ad242798edb48876aab924b.jpg)
In order to minimize the impact of floating ice, the "Xuelong 2" will use a radar system and visual inspection to find suitable ice water areas for operation, commonly known as "ponds", after sailing to the designated station.
Frequent sea fog and high pressure to prevent bears
In addition, frequent sea fog can bring another major risk to team members, which is polar bears. In addition to installing safe houses and bear cages, the inspection team will also use various means.
![During China's 13th Arctic Scientific Expedition: What are the challenges facing 24-hour continuous scientific research? Expedition Team | Science | Arctic Ocean](https://a5qu.com/upload/images/b1cbd2e19939fd9f8698e2e9f6bf7851.jpg)
Wang Jinhui, the leader of the 13th Arctic Scientific Expedition in China: Currently, the main method is through observation, which is to observe whether there are bears in the area where we work from several aspects of the bridge. If there are bears, ask the workers to quickly withdraw. In addition, when encountering low visibility and fog approaching, stop working immediately and withdraw. Thirdly, we will also use drones and some infrared sensors to detect the presence of bears, including helicopters that are also on standby.