This web cam was deployed on an ice floe at the North Pole in spring of 2013.

Web cam images track the snow cover, weather conditions, and the instruments that are seen in the camera images.

The web cams normally operate during the Arctic summer warmth and daylight (from April to October).

Due to the wide angle lenses used in the camera,

objects such as the ocean-atmosphere buoy are closer to the camera than they appear.

The lens may be covered by fog and rain in the spring.

Melt ponds are a normal part of the seasonal cycle of Arctic sea ice.

In summer, solar heating melts the snow cover

and 4 to 20 inches of the upper surface of the sea ice,

forming fresh water melt ponds that lie on top of the sea ice

with their surfaces slightly above sea level.

This web cam was located in a relatively low spot in the ice,

with a greater than average snow thickness,

both of which contribute to the formation of the melt pond.

From the location of the small ridge beyond the far edge of the melt pond,

scientists estimate that the far shore of the melt pond is 65 to 165 feet from the web cam.

At the buoy, the melt pond is about 15 inches deep.

On July 27, the melt pond was full.

The next day, it was completely drained.

When the surface of the melt pond rises above the freeboard of the ice floe,

melting will often penetrate the bottom of the melt pond at the thinnest point,

causing the pond above the ocean line to drain,

often quite abruptly.

The lens may be covered by snow and ice as winter approaches.

The ship in the background is the KV Svalbard.

Scientists aboard the ship recovered the webcams and instrumentation on September 20.