ST. PETERSBURG, June 14. /TASS/. Russian scientists in September will leave for the Arctic on the North Pole new ice-resistant self-propelled platform to conduct the region’s complex studies. The station offers new technical opportunities for polar expeditions, the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute’s Director Alexander Makarov told TASS.
The North Pole ice-resistant self-propelled platform is a unique research vessel, which can be used as a research center, and which is designed for year-round expeditions in the Arctic Ocean’s high latitudes. The platform does not require an icebreaker; it is equipped for receiving on board heavy helicopters of the Mil Mi-8 AMT (Mi-17) type. The vessel will offer comfortable and safe working and accommodation conditions for 14 crew members and 34 scientific personnel at the polar station, at the air temperatures of up to minus 50 degrees and humidity of 85%. The vessel’s length is 83.1 meters, width - 22.5 meters, displacement - more than 10,000 tonnes, speed - at least ten knots, fuel reserve - for the term of about two years, and its service life is at least 25 years.
"When we were working off the ice, we could not use big heavy winches to take samples," the institute’s director said. "On the new vessel we will use the equipment with pre-installed numerous oceanographic devices. We will multiply the sampling and the samples’ volumes, this is only one aspect. The second aspect is that the scientists will no longer need to spend much time on life support, and will be able to focus on research only."
In the past, during the previous North Pole expeditions, scientists in the Arctic had to work on drifting ice floes. Every time, they had to build from scratch the research bases on ice - this work took must time and effort. On the new platform, they will be using a well-equipped base, which will be frozen into the Arctic ice to drift in the Arctic Ocean with the scientists onboard. Around the platform, on the drifting ice, would be scientific pavilions for separate studies, and this time the work to make and maintain the pavilions anyway will be much easier. On the new platform, during the expedition, experts will be able to collect an ongoing flow of initial data on the Arctic Region.
Expedition’s research program
The ice-resistant platform will head for the Arctic during the North Pole-41 scientific expedition due in autumn. In late August, the platform will sail from St. Petersburg to Murmansk. From there, in mid-September, the platform will sail eastbound along the Russian Arctic coast, crossing the Kara Sea, the Laptev Sea towards the New Siberian Islands.
There, the platform will be frozen into the most suitable big ice floe, and together with it the platform will be drifting from the east to the west. It is impossible to estimate absolutely accurately the ice floe’s route. The scientists have analyzed previous expeditions to forecast the future route and, they will plan the work respectively.
The scientists will have about two-three weeks to freeze the platform into a big ice floe. At that particular time, the ice gets formed in that area. When the platform is frozen into the ice, the institute’s experts will be watching the ice over its entire life cycle. They will monitor the ice deformation by using special sensors on the platform’s hull. By studying those processes, the scientists will understand better how the sea ice behaves when crashing into vessels or natural objects.
The North Pole-41 expedition’s key objective is to study the "atmosphere - ice cover - ocean" system in the Arctic Ocean’s high latitudes. The scientists face the task to give an exhaustive explanation to the climate changes in the Arctic and to describe tendencies of future transformations over coming decades.
The expedition participants will also conduct a series of atmosphere, biology, geo-physics and oceanographic studies, where they will use unmanned aerial vehicles and various subsea devices. They will make some experiments with the use of satellites. As a result, the scientists will make high-quality mathematic models to forecast changes in the ice situations.
All the information collected during the North Pole-41 expedition will be stored permanently on a special server onboard the platform. The platform is equipped so that the scientists could receive test results right on the spot, without leaving the vessel.