Fieldwork in Antarctica is approaching, and besides the packing, another important task that had to be carried out was the calibration of the instruments that we will use to measure stable water isotopologues in water vapor in Antarctica. These instruments are cavity ring down laser spectrometers, measuring the water vapor mixing ratio, which provides a measure of humidity, and the concentration of the stable water isotopologues 1H218O and HDO (deuterium).
Two of our instruments will travel to Antarctica. One is operated by the Cloud Dynamics group at the Institute of Geography at the University of Bern. It is the most experienced instrument for field campaigns, as it has already been deployed at several places from Barbados in the Tropics to the poles during ship expeditions in the Arctic and the Antarctic. During the most recent field campaign, it was deployed in Brittany, where it was operated on an aircraft. The other analyzer belongs to the Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF in Davos. It is not used to travel this far, as it has mostly been measuring in the laboratory and during a campaign at Weissfluhjoch, the field measurement site of the SLF located just above Davos. A third cavity ring down spectrometer was also used during the calibration as an additional reference for comparison and to support its analyzer colleagues before their adventure.
Now that we have introduced our main characters, let’s turn to the one-month calibration experiment they have been part of.
First, the raw water vapor mixing ratio and isotopic compositions given by the instruments do not perfectly correspond to their actual values. They must therefore be calibrated against well defined reference values. Second, previous studies have shown that the isotopic composition measured depends on the water vapor mixing ratio and deviates considerably from the actual composition at low humidities. Therefore, a correction for this dependency must be applied before analyzing the measurements. The low humidity correction is particularly relevant for our fieldwork in Antarctica, as it is the largest desert on Earth and therefore experiences extremely dry conditions. We are looking forward to putting all the skills developed during this calibration procedure in the lab to use in the field at Neumayer III, starting from this austral summer and continuing until early 2029, hopefully without any major instrument failures.
When the next hardware store is more than 3000 km away from where you conduct fieldwork in Antarctica (the closest hardware store from the Neumayer Station III seems to be in Ushuaia, Argentina), you cannot just quickly head over to buy missing material.
Instead, our freight will embark on a six week-long journey aboard the AWI-operated Polarstern research vessel which will transport our material from its homeport in Bremerhaven to the Neumayer Station III. Hence, we have spent the past months on thorough planning of experimental set-ups and careful packing of any potentially needed materials to deliver our cargo on time when the Polarstern departs from Bremerhaven. A couple of busy weeks of packing and writing long lists for customs later, numerous aluminum boxes full of measurement devices, tubings, cables, and precipitation sampling material have started their journey last week, departing from the Hallerstrasse in Bern.
Now, our cargo has arrived at its first stop in Bremerhaven. We wish the Polarstern safe travels through more or less calm waters and are looking forward to the reunion with our field work equipment in Antarctica in early January!
Several members of DOMINO attended last week’s 12th Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) Open Science Conference (OSC) in Oslo. We discussed lots of exciting science plans for DOMINO’s Antarctica InSync contribution.
At the SCAR OSC conference in Oslo, several DOMINO members contributed through poster presentations on the overall DOMINO plans and the Atmospheric Processes Cluster (see poster links below), by representing DOMINO at InSync-related meetings (InSync Townhall and InSync Surface Mass Balance working group), and by convening sessions. Intensive networking allowed us to connect our activities for the upcoming field seasons with international efforts and to lay the groundwork for scientific investigations based on the data to be collected. SCAR OSC also provided DOMINO with an excellent platform for internal exchange and updates on planned proposals. We warmly thank the Norwegian organisers for hosting this fantastic meeting! Inspiring views from the Town Hall and the Fram Museum provided a wonderful backdrop to our evening discussions and networking.
Some impressions from the conference:
PDF of poster DOMINO:
PDF of poster Atmospheric Processes research cluster:
As part of its 10th Anniversary celebrations in 2026, the Swiss Polar Institute is organising an event about Switzerland, the poles, high-altitude regions, and ambitions for 2035.
This even will also serve as the launch of the two new Flagship Initiatives, ARKTIS and DOMINO.
Practical information:
18 March 2026 | 12:30-15:30
Burgerratssaal, Casino, Casinoplatz 1, Bern
Event in French and German
More information can be found on the website of the Swiss Polar Institute: https://swisspolar.ch/event/suisse-poles-regions-de-haute-altitude-quelles-ambitions-horizon-2035/
