Carry out field studies in hard-to-access regions of world oceans… Obtain unique data on Arctic environment… Check new instruments and methods… Collect new data on global climate variability…
These are lofty aspirations, but they are the goals of this expedition, and NABOS (Nansen and Amundsen Basins Observational Systems), an international collaborative project launched in 2002. Chief Scientist Vladimir Ivanov took some time to talk with students onboard about how NABOS continually monitors water properties in the Arctic Ocean. Of course it’s not possible for us to physically be in the Arctic to do research at all times. How NABOS does it is by deploying autonomous, anchored buoys and moorings, with instruments that continually measure things like temperature, salinity (salt content), oxygen levels, current, and pressure. (And that’s ALL the way to the bottom, over 2.5miles down). NABOS started as a collaboration between the International Arctic Research Center in the US and the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute in Russia, and is funded by the National Science Foundation. And it has now turned into a global effort with multiple countries working together – which is also helpful when you have to navigate politics and geographical boundaries in addition to the ocean. What’s new for NABOS 2013? Students! The NABOS Summer School was included to give graduate students a chance to get a firsthand look at the Arctic, and Arctic research. (What an opportunity!)
What has NABOS found over the years?
An abrupt warming (0.8°C) in Atlantic water layer, captured in the Laptev Sea in 2004 A distinct seasonal cycle of +/- 1°C, revealed deep in water under the pack ice A temporary disappearance for 1 month of an Atlantic water layer at the East Siberian Sea slope A continuous warming in Antarctic water layer …And more to come!
