ST. PETERSBURG, November 21. /TASS/. The Akademik Fyodorov research vessel completed its participation in the MOSAiC (Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate) expedition to the Central Arctic. The Russian vessel escorted a German research icebreaker and assisted in placement of measuring systems, the expedition’s leader Vladimir Sokolov told TASS on Thursday.
"The Akademik Fyodorov was used to escort Germany’s Polarnstern research icebreaker. The vessel’s satellite information and results of helicopter reconnaissance of the ice conditions were used to pick an ice field to organize there the expedition’s camp. It also supplied fuel for the icebreaker and carried expedition cargoes," the expedition’s leader said. "All the tasks, which the Russian vessel had, were carried out brilliantly, and its participation in MOSAiC is over."
MOSAiC is a new year-round international expedition to the Central Arctic, which kicked off on board Germany’s Polarnstern research icebreaker from Norway’s Tromso on September 20. The icebreaker has moored an ice field and later on it will drift with the ice along the Transpolar Drift Stream, will pass the North Pole, and by autumn 2020 it will get free from the ice in the Fram Strait. This route repeats Fridtjof Nansen’s drifting onboard the Fram vessel in 1893-1896. Over 12 months, the expedition’s icebreaker will welcome about 400 researchers from 17 countries, including Russia. The key task is to study the Arctic’s climate. The budget is 140 million euros.
"For one week, specialists from helicopters studied the ice and using satellite data they found an ice field, which is about 2.5 by 3.5km," the scientist continued. "The Russian vessel was also used to place a net of measuring systems, which report the Arctic’s weather conditions to the Polarnstern."
"The international team was happy as only few had believed it would be possible to place that many measuring systems," he said. "The task is very complicated, and the people were to be very high-skilled. We were lucky the weather was favorable. We had high-class Arctic pilots. The result is - we have installed a net of 105 measuring systems, which register the weather conditions by a big number of parameters."
Two scientists of Russia’s Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute (AARI) continue working at the MOSAiC- they provide the expedition with updated ice forecasts. According to the expedition’s leader, the public may learn first scientific results in about three years.