Arctic Reflections

Preparation Phase Complete: Ready for the Ice! ❄️🚜 After a busy week, we’ve officially wrapped up the preparation phase for our sea ice thickening field test in Newfoundland, Canada. This year, we’re continuing to test and refine our approach. To cover a larger area, we’ve upgraded to pumps with more than 3x the flow rate of last year’s smaller models. One of our key objectives? Figuring out how much ice we can thicken from a single pumping site before relocating. Bigger pumps mean bigger challenges, so we teamed up with skilled local mechanics to: 🔹 Mount the pumps and augers onto a trailer system 🔹 Assemble a lifting & sliding system for smooth operations 🔹 Train on the amphibious vehicle that will tow the pumping platform to the ice Driving these vehicles through town definitely turned some heads! It’s been great to see how engaged and supportive the local community is. Of course, not everything went according to plan (because fieldwork never does!), but after some quick fixes and final testing today, we’re ready for the next phase. Stay with us as we take the next step: onto the ice! #Sustainability #ClimateInnovation #ArcticPreservation #FieldTest #IceThickening #OnToTheNextPhase #ArcticReflections

Installing Our Floating Measurement Platforms: Tracking Ice Until the Last Melt ❄️📡 Yesterday, we installed our self-designed, floatable measurement platforms, critical tools in our mission to track and understand Arctic ice loss. These platforms are equipped with: 🔹 Thermistor chains – Measuring the temperature profile and ice thickness 🔹 Weather station – Capturing atmospheric conditions 🔹 Net radiometer – Recording incoming and outgoing radiation 🔹 Timelapse camera – Providing visual confirmation of the data By monitoring the ice throughout the melting season, we can compare thickened ice with reference ice and analyze its behavior. Learning from past field tests, we’ve made these platforms fully floatable, ensuring everything stays upright we collect valuable data right up until the final melting days. With every measurement, we get closer to understanding how to preserve Arctic ice for the future. Stay connected for updates as the data comes in! SAMS Enterprise #Sustainability #ClimateResearch #IceThickening #ArcticScience #DataForChange #FieldTest #ArcticReflections

Keeping warm while we work to keep the Arctic cold 🔥❄️ we have new jackets! While January warmer than expected yet again, we decided to escape… to the freezing north of Canada. Parkas on, research gear packed; we’re heading into the cold to keep it around a little longer. Because someone has to fight global warming at -30. #Sustainability #TooHotToHandle #SaveTheArctic #IceThickening #ArcticReflections

🚀 Field Test Launch: Arctic Reflections Heads to Newfoundland! ❄️ The wait is over: our next field test starts now! This time, we’re taking our research to Newfoundland, Canada, a sub-Arctic region that mirrors conditions of what the Arctic could be like in the future and gives us the perfect environment to test and refine our ice-thickening technology. Over the next weeks, we’ll be pumping seawater onto ice, studying its thickening effects, and gathering critical data on how we can help slow ice loss. This is a major step forward in our mission to preserve Arctic ice and stabilize global climate systems. Stay connected for field updates! #ClimateAction #ClimateInnovation #FieldTest #NewfoundlandAndLabrador #ArcticPreservation #IceThickening #ArcticReflections

📰 Arctic Reflections in the Spotlight! ❄️ Our mission to preserve Arctic ice and tackle climate change was featured across national media outlets. The attention highlights just how urgent Arctic preservation is for the future of our planet. 🌍 Check out the coverage featuring Tom Meijeraan and Fonger Ypma: 🎙️ Humberto on NPO Radio 1: Discussing our latest field tests and why protecting sea ice matters. 📰 NRC: A deep dive into our work and how we’re developing solutions to slow Arctic ice loss. 📺 RTL Nieuws: Bringing our story to a national audience ahead of our field test. Find the coverage in the comment below. More eyes on the Arctic means more conversations about climate action, and that’s exactly what we need. #ClimateAction #Sustainability #ArcticPreservation #MediaCoverage #ArcticReflections

In the newspaper tomorrow! (IN DUTCH) Laura Wismans, a journalist at NRC, a Dutch national newspaper, interviewed us for an article about our mission to preserve Arctic sea ice, what we have done so far, and what the objectives of our upcoming field test are. Also featuring our friends Jacob Pantling and Andrea Ceccolini from the UK who also work on ice thickening. The article is already available online, see link in the first comment (in Dutch).

In the newspaper tomorrow! (IN DUTCH) Laura Wismans, a journalist at NRC, a Dutch national newspaper, interviewed us for an article about our mission to preserve Arctic sea ice, what we have done so far, and what the objectives of our upcoming field test are. Also featuring our friends Jacob Pantling and Andrea Ceccolini from the UK who also work on ice thickening. The article is already available online, see link in the first comment (in Dutch).

What We Learned in Svalbard, And What Comes Next ❄️🔬 In our last Arctic field test, we made an interesting observation: during melting, thickened ice stayed visibly whiter than the surrounding ice for about a week. The real question is: can this effect be repeated under different circumstances, or was this just a coincidence? This matters because whiter ice reflects more sunlight (higher albedo), helping to slow ice melt and reduce warming. If this effect holds true in different conditions, it could have positive implications for Arctic preservation efforts. That’s why, in our upcoming field test, we’re taking a closer look at this phenomenon, doing various measurements and also using aerial images, timelapse cameras and satellite data. Our work is about more than just testing technology; it’s about understanding how small interventions can make a measurable impact in the fight against Arctic ice loss. #Sustainability #ClimateInnovation #ArcticScience #FieldResearch #IceThickening #AlbedoEffect #ArcticReflections

📢 Meet the Team Behind Our Next Ice Thickening Field Test! ❄️💙 The countdown to our next field test is on, and behind every expedition is a team making it happen, swipe to meet all the members! From engineering and science to logistics and field operations, there are a lot of different roles we need to fill to turn climate innovation into action. Stay tuned as we will inform you further about our field test! ❄️ #ClimateInnovation #Sustainability #FieldTest #MeetTheTeam #ArcticPreservation #ArcticReflections The Team: Fonger Ypma, Tom Meijeraan, Cody C. Owen, Soroosh Afzali, Willem Schellingerhout, and Marco Lubbers

Measuring the Impact of Arctic Ice Thickening on Albedo ❄️ At Arctic Reflections, we take science to the ice. One key question we’re researching: How does thickening Arctic ice affect its ability to reflect sunlight? This matters because brighter ice reflects more sunlight, helping keep the planet cool. But as ice melts into darker water, it absorbs heat, accelerating warming. Our goal is to preserve and restore reflective ice—and we need solid data to prove it works. That’s where the Apogee SN500 Net Radiometer comes in! 🎛️ This instrument helps us measure how much sunlight is reflected by thickened ice versus untreated ice by tracking: ✅ Incoming solar radiation (sunlight hitting the ice) ✅ Reflected solar radiation (sunlight bouncing back into space) ✅ Longwave radiation (heat energy coming from the ice and sky) The instrument includes a pyrgeometer and a pyranometer, measuring longwave infrared radiation (thermal energy) and shortwave solar radiation (sunlight). With this data, we can scientifically validate how much our ice-thickening process enhances reflectivity (albedo) and contributes to Arctic cooling. One small instrument, one big climate question. Stay connected as we head to the field! 🌎❄️ 📸 credit: Aleksey Shestov, UNIS Arctic Engineering department #ClimateAction #ClimateInnovation #ClimateTech #ArcticPreservation #IceThickening #AlbedoEffect #ArcticReflections