The Yacht Tara has just set sail for a two year arctic expedition during IPY. Tara is now home to only a handful of people taking the expedition into the ice where they will become frozen in over winter. They are then intending on drifting across the arctic during which time they will carry out a huge range of science including meteorology, nivology (snow density, thickness and water content), glaciology, oceanography, atmospheric and oceanic chemistry, marine biology, zoology and physiological studies of the crew. The UN Environment Programme is providing major support for the expedition.

The science being carried out is part of the huge DAMOCLES project, sponsored by the European Union. The main objectives are to observe, understand, and quantify climate changes in the Arctic. DAMOCLES (Developing Arctic Monitoring and Observing Capabilities for Long-term Environmental Studies) is an IPY-endorsed project 40 involving a consortium consisting of 45 institutions in 11 countries. The Tara expedition is just one of many platforms collaborating to observe changes in the Arctic during IPY.

During the next two years we will be posting stories from the Tara team, and other scientists involved in DAMOCLES, on this web-site. For now, we wish them all bon-voyage as they sail North.

Text by Rhian Salmon