POLARQUEST – A sailing expedition to measure cosmic rays, and not only, beyond the Arctic Circle
The scientific motivation of the Polarquest expedition performed in 2018 onboard the eco-friendly sailboat Nanuq around the Svalbard Archipelago will be illustrated. This spans from the measurement of cosmic rays at unprecedented northern latitudes where no systematic and accurate sea-level measurements have ever been performed to the investigation of the Arctic environment threatened nowadays by many factors, such as macro/microplastic pollution or temperature growth, to the air (with drone) and water (with multibeam sonar) exploration of unknown Arctic areas. The complexity of the expedition and its scientific and technological challenges, together with a sense of adventure, will be briefly described. Emphasis will be given to new high-precision measurements of cosmic ray intensity vs. latitude, performed in 2018-2019 onboard Nanuq, then "on the road" to cover almost 50° of northern latitude. The permanent installation in 2019 of cosmic ray detectors at the Ny-Ålesund International Research Station on Svalbard and their current performance will also be presented.