The international field campaign planned in Svalbard in August 2022, called THINICE 2022 has been done in close collaboration between French, British and US scientists. Two instrumented research aircraft have been deployed during 3 weeks: the ATR42 operated by SAFIRE, the French facility for airborne research, and the Twin Otter operated by the British Antarctic Survey (BAS).
The main goal of the field campaign was to study the dynamics of Arctic Cyclones, moist intrusions, Tropopause Polar Vortices (TPV), their interactions with cloud microphysics, sea surface and sea ice. A better knowledge of such processes should improve numerical weather forecasts in the Arctic and provide a better understanding of rapid sea ice loss events affecting the Arctic in summer.
The measurements on board the ATR42 was dedicated to studying atmospheric dynamics and cloud microphysics in the middle troposphere. The objectives of the BAS Twin Otter concern interactions between atmospheric dynamics and sea ice.