The Arctic Ocean circulation and the flowing of waters from the Arctic into the Greenland Sea affect the deep overturning circulation of the Atlantic Ocean and play an important role in regulating the Earth's climate.
To better understand these changes and their implications for global climate, the National Science Foundation (NSF) is supporting a five-year, $3.9 million project, called the North Pole Environmental Observatory (NPEO). At the Pole, the observatory is placed at a strategic location to study the interplay of ocean currents as well as other factors related to climate change.
For the third straight year, an international scientific team, including researchers from the University of Washington, established a temporary camp on the sea ice near the North Pole last month to retrieve a mile-long mooring containing scientific instruments, to insert buoys into the ice and to otherwise sample the waters of the Arctic Ocean.
In addition to the logistical challenges of establishing a world-class observatory in such harsh conditions, the scientific and logistical teams had to contend with scuba diving in the icy Arctic ocean, dealing with shifting sea ice that was frozen solid one day and open water the next and keeping an ever-watchful eye for polar bears in order to successfully complete their tasks.
The NPEO research team includes researchers from Oregon State University, the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration's Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory in Seattle, the U.S. Army's Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory in Hanover, New Hampshire, and the Japanese Marine Science and Technology Center in Yokosuka City.
NSF Science Expert: Neil Swanberg, 703-292-8029, nswanber@nsf.gov
Principal Investigator: James Morison, 206-543-1394, morison@apl.washington.edu
Media contacts:
Peter West 703-292-7761 / pwest@nsf.gov
Sandra Hines, University of Washington, 206-543-2580 / shines@u.washington.edu
John Sanders, Naval Postgraduate School, 831-656-3346 / jfsander@nps.navy.mil
Stephen Swanson, Oregon State University, 541-737-0789 Stephen.swanson@orst.edu
For more information about the North Pole Environmental Observatory, see: http://psc.apl.washington.edu/northpole/