Snow and surface scattering layer density, salinity and grain size measurements during RV POLARSTERN cruise PS149

During the Polarstern cruise PS149 from July 2025 to August 2025 in the Atlantic part of the Arctic Ocean snowpit measurements were performed during 29 ice stations. A density cutter of fixed volume (100 cm³) and weight was used to measure the density profile of the snow and surface scattering layer (SSL). The height of the sampled volume was recorded with a rulen given from the bottom height (H rel ice/snow interf [cm] (from snow height)) to the top height (H rel ice/snow interf [cm] (to snow height)). 0 cm is the snow-ice interface, negative values denote the surface scattering layer. The combined weight of the density cutter and the snow inside it was measured with a digital scale. The resulting density is the weight of snow/volume. Snow or SSL was collected in plastic containers and used for subsequent salinity and conductivity measurements onboard (with a Greisinger G1410 salinometer). An intercomparison of the salinometer with two others revealed a bias, which is described in the attached PDF and corrected for in the columns Salinity corrected [PSU] and Sea Conductivity corrected [mS/m].