ALBERT

Description: With the Arctic rapidly changing, the needs to observe, understand, and model the changes are essential. To support these needs, an annual cycle of observations of atmospheric properties, processes, and interactions were made while drifting with the sea ice across the central Arctic during the Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate (MOSAiC) expedition from October 2019 to September 2020. An international team designed and implemented the comprehensive program to document and characterize all aspects of the Arctic atmospheric system in unprecedented detail, using a variety of approaches, and across multiple scales. These measurements were coordinated with other observational teams to explore cross-cutting and coupled interactions with the Arctic Ocean, sea ice, and ecosystem through a variety of physical and biogeochemical processes. This overview outlines the breadth and complexity of the atmospheric research program, which was organized into 4 subgroups: atmospheric state, clouds and precipitation, gases and aerosols, and energy budgets. Atmospheric variability over the annual cycle revealed important influences from a persistent large-scale winter circulation pattern, leading to some storms with pressure and winds that were outside the interquartile range of past conditions suggested by long-term reanalysis. Similarly, the MOSAiC location was warmer and wetter in summer than the reanalysis climatology, in part due to its close proximity to the sea ice edge. The comprehensiveness of the observational program for characterizing and analyzing atmospheric phenomena is demonstrated via a winter case study examining air mass transitions and a summer case study examining vertical atmospheric evolution. Overall, the MOSAiC atmospheric program successfully met its objectives and was the most comprehensive atmospheric measurement program to date conducted over the Arctic sea ice. The obtained data will support a broad range of coupled-system scientific research and provide an important foundation for advancing multiscale modeling capabilities in the Arctic.

Description: Clear indications of the phenomenon of Arctic Amplification include the above-average increase of the near-surface air temperature and the dramatic retreat of sea ice observed in the last decades. The mechanisms behind these features are widely discussed. Especially the role of clouds and of air mass transports into and out of the Arctic associated with related transformation processes are still poorly understood. Therefore, the HALO-(AC)3 campaign was performed to provide observations of meridional air mass transports and corresponding transformations in a quasi-Langrangian approach. Three research aircraft equipped with state-of-the-art instrumentation performed measurements over the Arctic ocean and sea ice in March/April 2022. The German High Altitude and Long Range Research Aircraft (HALO), equipped with a comprehensive suite of active and passive remote sensing instruments and dropsondes, was operated from Kiruna, Sweden. The flight pattern covered long distances at high altitudes up to the North Pole probing air masses multiple times on their way into and out of the Arctic. The Polar 5 (remote sensing) and Polar 6 (in-situ) aircraft from the Alfred Wegener Institute operated in the lower troposphere out of Longyearbyen in the lower troposphere over Fram Strait West of Svalbard. Several coordinated flights between the three aircraft were conducted with Polar 6 sampling in-situ aerosol, cloud, and precipitation particles within the boundary layer, Polar 5 observing clouds and precipitation from above roughly at 3 km altitude, and HALO providing the large scale view on the scene following air masses. The paper reports on first results of the campaign.

Description: Accurate age estimates are crucial for assessing the life-histories of fish and providing management advice, but validation studies are rare for many species. We corroborated age estimates with annual cycles of oxygen isotopes (δ18O) in otoliths of 86 northern pike (Esox lucius) from the southern Baltic Sea, compared results with visual age estimates from scales and otoliths, and assessed bias introduced by different age-estimation structures on von Bertalanffy growth models and age-structured population models. Age estimates from otoliths were accurate, while age estimates from scales significantly underestimated the age of pike older than 6 years compared to the corroborated reference age. Asymptotic length () was larger, and the growth coefficient was lower for scale ages than for corroborated age and otolith age estimates. Consequentially, scale-informed population models overestimated maximum sustainable yield (), biomass at (), relative frequency of trophy fish (), and optimal minimum length limit but underestimated fishing mortality at (). Using scale-based ages to inform management regulations for pike may therefore result in conservative management and lost yield. The overestimated asymptotic length may instill unrealistic expectations of trophy potential in recreational anglers targeting large pike, while the overestimation in MSY would cause unrealistic expectations of yield potential in commercial fishers.