Technologies in Arctic Research –
(1) Recent Activities Conducted at AWI
The Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) has
focused on Arctic research for many years.
Four recent research approaches using advanced
technologies are presented here as an example.
1) Combining the institute’s icebreaking vessel
R/V “Polarstern” with the French remotely operated vehicle (ROV)
“Victor6000”, a powerful polar research facility was created. Besides
visual and acoustic imaging of Arctic deep-sea environments, a variety of
in situ experiments and micro sensor measurements have been conducted on
the scientific maiden voyage of Victor6000 in order to investigate
biological, geochemical, and physical gradients at the sediment-water
interface. For example, benthic respiration and interfacial solute
exchange is quantified under consideration of bottom current profiles
using special devices designed for ROV manipulation.
2) ROV-based investigations are complemented by
benthic lander technology. The latter is used for in situ flux
measurements as well as for long term observations of benthic responses to
large food falls and temporal variabilities of fluid discharge at an
arctic mud volcano, respectively. A module concept allows to implement
different payload modules onto the lander’s base frame.
3) Ice and bad weather conditions hamper shipborne
oceanographic observations in arctic regions especially during the winter
period. Oceanographic moorings provide a solution as they are able to
record physical parameters throughout all seasons of the year. However,
since the number of instruments is limited, observations can only be
carried out at some distinct depth levels of the water column. To monitor
temporal dynamics of descending water masses over the entire water column
of the central Greenland Sea, a profiling CTD mooring has been developed.
This “yo-yo” system monitors the water column of 4000 m once per day
throughout a period of up to 400 days. The system complements
oceanographic investigations annually conducted along 75°N and 79°N.
4) Evidences from submarine sonar measurements as
well as from satellite observations suggest a considerable thinning and
waning of the Arctic sea ice cover during the last decades. However, the
limited time and space coverage of submarine sea-ice thickness data
requires additional measurements which allow for more systematic thickness
surveys. Therefore, we applied and operationalised electromagnetic (EM)
induction sounding for ice thickness measurements. This geophysical
technique, classically used on land to map ore or groundwater deposits,
was implemented initially onto a sled towed over the ice. In a second
step, the system was transferred into a helicopter-borne EM sensor ("EM-Bird").
First deployments in the Arctic yielded high resolution thickness data of
good quality. With the EM-Bird, we will now be able to perform systematic
large-scale studies of the ice thickness distribution, improving our
ability to better judge observations and predictions of possible climate