Following the Fram drift of Fridtjof Nansen (Nansen, 1906), Arctic ice drifting stations have been performed since the 1930s (e.g. Morison et al., 2002; Frolov et al., 2005). In the framework of DAMOCLES, energy balance measurements will be performed on the ice drifting station Tara. The Tara drift station is constructed around a sailing ship which is drifting with the ice in Fram style, with scientific instrumentation maintained by the crew. It started its drift with the Arctic transpolar drift across the Arctic Basin in September 2006 (for further information see http://www.taraexpeditions.org/site/index.php?page=accueil. Task 1.4 of DAMOCLES (leader S. Gerland) includes the installation of spectral radiometers for high resolution monitoring of evolution of spectral surface albedo and spectral transmittance of the snow and ice layer, and regular observation of relevant snow parameters. Corresponding monitoring is planned for the Russian Arctic Ice Drifting Station NP-35 during IPY, as a continuation of a Norwegian-Russian collaborative project on NP-33/2005.

Under IAOOS-Norway, additional spectral albedo surveys are planned at Tara and NP-35 during stays when installing the monitoring equipment. Those non-automatic measurements will give a broader wavelength range, and many different surfaces can be investigated by moving the spectroradiometer (ASD Fieldspec Pro, 350-2500 nm wavelength range, see e.g. Gerland et al., 1999). Furthermore, about 2 km each of ice thickness profiles using a portable electromagnetic induction device (Geonics EM31, see Haas et al., 1997) are planned at both sites for mapping the snow and ice thickness distribution. Stays of about 1-2 weeks duration per station are planned.