First operation of AWI HEM-bird for sea-ice thickness sounding

A new, extremely small helicopter-borne frequency-domain electromagnetic induction sensor (HEM bird) has been developed by Alfred-Wegener-Institute (AWI), Aerodata Systems GmbH, Ferra Dynamics Inc., and K.-P. Sengpiel for extensive surveys of sea-ice thickness. In the summer of 2001 it has been successfully operated for the first time from the German research icebreaker Polarstern over sea ice in the central Arctic. This paper describes the system and shows some results of the first deployment.