airborne surveys to collect measurements of sea ice thickness in the Arctic conducted by the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research (AWI). Airborne surveys provide insight into composition [...] Aircraft Polar 5 with an EM-Bird under its belly on its way to the surveying area. (Photo: Alfred-Wegener-Institut) Much of AWI’s research is conducted in the inaccessible, ice-covered regions of the Arctic [...] Polar 6 research aircraft includes an EM-Bird, a laser scanner, and a snow radar. (Graphic: Alfred-Wegener-Institut) The EM-Bird The purpose-built EM-Bird is a towed sensor that measures the combined thickness