The gist of this project it so repackage a conventional CTD to fit through a hole drilled sea ice (in the Arctic) and take water samples and collect real-time water column data. The first order problem is that a typical CTD and bottle rosette is 8 feet in diameter and we are working with a one foot hole.....

We use a Twin Otter fixed wing aircraft flying out of  Alert (the northern most permanently occupied site on Earth) to land on the sea ice, drill a hole and lower the gear from a small winch mounted inside the plane.

The first step is to land on the sea ice. An experienced pilot is an enormous asset.

Once on the ice, we drill a hole.

This isn't the OSHA approved method, but with some care it works and saves breaking down the drill flights. This site is about 100 miles north of Alert and the ice is about a meter and a half thick.

Once we are through the ice, we put up a small tent around the hole and the cargo door, rig a tripod and run out the winch wire.

Richard Perry of LDEO (left) and Paul our pilot lower the first (CTD) module into the hole.