The University Centre of the Westfjords is awaiting the arrival during the next weeks of a team of US researchers and crew members conducting research on ice and climate. The team will carry out low-level flights over the shelf ice out on Greenland Sound (Denmark Strait) to collect weather-related data which will help to enhance flight safety, as well as give a deeper understanding of climate change.

The team comprises six members, among them researchers, pilots and an aircraft mechanic. During their stay in Ísafjörður, until mid-May, the American plane will be visible in Skutulsfjörður almost daily. The pilots on the team have received some local information from the local pilot Hálfdán Ingólfsson who has extensive experience and knowledge of flying in the northern hemisphere.

Leading the team is Hafliði Jónsson, a research professor at the climate department of the Naval Postgraduate School in California. Professor Jónsson held a position at the Icelandic Met Office for years where he was a pioneer in avalanche research. He completed nearly all his studies in New York, at the University of New York at Albany (SUNYA), and has worked at the Naval Postgraduate School since 1996. With the help of Björn Erlingsson, a Met Office tidal and sea ice research specialist, the American team discovered Ísafjörður as a base, which is much nearer to the research area than Keflavík, that might otherwise have been the most obvious base for the research flights.

The location at Ísafjörður plays a significant role in the implementation of the research project as the research area is between the Westfjords peninsula and Greenland. As a large part of this expedition is to fly low over the sea ice and pack ice it will save a lot of flying time to be based so close to the research area and presumably this will result in more data collection than otherwise would have been possible.

The American team will be based both at Ísafjörður airport and at the University Centre of the Westfjords, close to the local research community and the Met Office / Avalanche Research Centre. The University Centre is supporting the expedition in any way it can; in an advisory role, and especially by helping with practical matters that need addressing. The contact person is Björn Erlingsson at the Icelandic Met Office.