#ARCTIC. #SIBERIA. THIS IS TAIMYR. A new expedition of the Arctic Floating University (AFU) has started. Employees of the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT) and the Institute of Oceanology (IO) of the Russian Academy of Sciences set off from Arhangelsk on the research vessel Professor Molchanov.
The vessel belongs to Sevhydromet. As its head, Roman Ershov, quoted by TASS, noted, the work will be carried out based on the ice conditions.
It is planned that for 41 days six scientific teams will study water masses on the shelf and continental slope of the Arctic seas. Among the expedition participants there are 19 scientists and 26 students from different regions of the country, participants of the All-Russian program Floating University, who were trained at its winter school this year. In the process of training, they became acquainted with various areas of oceanology and found their scientific supervisors, with whom they went on the expedition.
“The expedition geography this year will expand significantly to the East. We plan to work on the continental slope in the Kara sea and in the Laptev sea. This will make it possible to carry out measurements in the region where climate change is particularly pronounced, and expeditions are very rare due to almost year-round ice cover”, said the head of the expedition’s scientific work, doctor of physical and mathematical sciences, head of the Arctic oceanology laboratory at MIPT, leading researcher at the Physics and Technology Institute RAS Alexander Osadchiyev.
Last year’s the MIPT – IO RAS floating university’s expedition provided a lot of new information about the structure and circulation of water masses that affect ice characteristics along the Northern Sea Route.
This is the second of five APU expeditions this season. This year, more than a hundred students from all over Russia will be able to join the research.
“Many areas are now experiencing a shortage of personnel – the scientific community has long been faced with this problem, and it is programs like these that help build a professional track and go from student to scientist”, noted Natalya Stepanova-Chubarenko, head of the MIPT-IO RAS expedition, director of the coordination center based at MIPT.
Specialists from the Marine Hydrometeorology Department of the Northern Hydrometeorological Service will also help students with their research. They planned work to measure vertical profiles of temperature, salinity and bio-optical characteristics from the surface to the bottom. During the research, water and bottom sediment samples will be collected.
The finale of the expedition is scheduled for the end of August, the final point will be Tiksi.
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Text: Victor Borodin, Photo: Severny Gorod MC