SP-38 Station Deployed in the Arctic
October 13, 2010
Polar researchers are finally deploying the new “North Pole 38” (SP-38) drifting station on an ice floe in the Chukchi Sea, where it had been delivered onboard the nuclear-powered icebreaker Rossiya.
The floe, which has been selected after an intensive survey of the Arctic sea ice, has an approximate area of 12 by 8 kilometres. Currently, members of the expedition are setting up their camp, unshipping cabins, gear, equipment, barrels with fuel, and other things that they will use over the year that the station will be drifting in the Arctic ice. The work is going on day and night in the bright light of powerful projectors, installed on the icebreaker.
Senior specialist of the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute Tomash Petrovsky, 53, will head the expedition. A seasoned ocean engineer and polar explorer, he will lead a team of 14, made up of specialists in oceanology, meteorology, aerology, engineering, and hydrography.
The ice floe will be equipped with prefabricated cabins with electricity and heating, a number of tractors, a power station and a steam bath.
The expedition agenda embraces an extensive study of the atmosphere, ice and ocean. In particular, scientists will measure ocean depths, currents and water salinity at different depths. Hydrological and meteorological data will help the scientists understand environmental changes happening above the Arctic Circle.
The SP-38 drifting station will continue the study of the Arctic Ocean depths and floor relief, started by the crew of the research expedition aboard the Akademik Fyodorov. A state-of-the-art digital echo-depth sounder Bati-200, produced in America, will be installed on the floe. This echo-depth sounder is more compact in comparison with the one installed onboard the Akademik Fyodorov icebreaker –its total weight, together with the receiving module, is 120 kilograms. As small as the Bati-200 is, it can reach as far as 6,000 metres deep. The scientists will also use software which will enable them to get acoustic data on the oceanic water column, and distinguish between the sedimentary rock and the rock base. Similar research has been carried out in the area for the last two years.
Based on RIA Novosti materials
Information
The first drifting station “North Pole 1” (SP-1), headed by an honorary member of the Russian Geographical Society I.D. Papanin, was launched in 1937. Hydrobiologist P.P. Shirshov, geophysicist E.K. Fyodorov and radio operator E.T. Krenkel also made part of the research team.
Every operational drifting station bears the name of “North Pole” (SP) and has a serial number. SP stations have been designed for multi-purpose year-round research in oceanography, ice studies (ice physics and dynamics), meteorology, aerology, geophysics, hydrochemistry, hydrophysics, and sea biology. Part of the works is commissioned by the Russian Navy, specifically in the fields of navigation and communications with nuclear-powered submarines.
Throughout the history of the “North Pole” drifting stations, more than 800 researchers have taken part in expeditions on ice floes. A drifting station can accommodate an average of 15 people at a time. All “North Pole” stations have been deployed by the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute
