NABOS Expedition

The Nansen and Amundsen Basins Observational Systems (NABOS) cruise is organized by The International Arctic Research Center at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

NARRATION TRANSCRIPT:

Every fall scientists from around the globe embark on a journey to the top of the world. The Nansen and Amundsen Basin Observation System, or NABOS, cruise, has taken place annually in the Russian high Arctic Ocean. The research conducted on this expedition is broadening the understanding of the Arctic as a system by providing vital observational data for international collaborative science.

Sailing from Kirkenes, Norway, the expedition travels along a route deep into the Laptev and East Siberian Seas. The route is strategically located in areas key to circulation patterns and along the deeper basins and shallow shelf boundaries to give a broad picture of ocean activity. Across their route, researchers investigate a wide variety of natural conditions by gathering information of the current conditions.

Measurements are taken regularly and first-hand data can be collected in a variety of ways ocean turbulence, carbon dioxide, methane, ph, alkalinity, salinity, currents, temperature, and biota. Atmospheric measurements are also taken daily. Standard techniques and apparatus such as the rosette are employed to retrieve water samples from various depths that multiple researchers can use for their experiments.

Moorings are anchored on the bottom of the ocean, below the active ice layer. They are important data collection devices that are retrieved each year. To find the moorings, a signal from the ship causes it to detach from the anchor and return to the surface. The mooring is then brought aboard ship where data is retrieved. The mooring is cleaned up and reconfigured for another season and then redeployed. It will remain in the ocean collecting a wide variety of valuable data for a full year.

Since the first expedition in 2002, the data from the NABOS cruise has been publicly available and analyzed by scientists around the world. This analysis has resulted in numerous scientific publications and has illuminated interesting results that help us understand the effect that our worlds changing climate has had on the arctic.

Studying the data collected on the NABOS cruises will give scientists around the world clues as to the effect the warming sea water and diminishing Arctic ice has on the arctic ecosystem.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• NABOS
• Nansen
• Amundsen
• Basins
• Observational
• System
• Arctic Ocean
• climate change
• icebreaker
• North
• Pole
• International
• Arctic
• Research
• Center
• IARC
• moorings