On September 12 2021, CNRS Paris deployed an Ice Atmosphere Arctic Ocean Observing System (IAOOS) platform and a basic ice mass balance buoy in the Amundsen Basin at 86.5N - -16.7E from the Norwegian research vessel R/Kronprins Haakon. Zoé Koenig, a Postdoc in Physical oceanography at the Norwegian Polar Institute (NPI), was leading the deployment.

The NPI cruise was part of the Nansen Legacy project,  a collaborative project between ten Norwegian research institutions, with an aim to improve our understanding of a changing marine Arctic climate and ecosystem, and will provide an observation-based scientific knowledge needed for future sustainable resource management in the transitional Barents Sea and the adjacent Arctic Basin. The aim of this cruise was to compare what is observed in the Barents Sea and North of Svalbard with what can be observed in the deep Arctic basins. 

The IAOOS platforms (Ice Atmosphere Ocean Observing System) from LOCEAN/CNRS allows  study of the coupled ice/ocean system in the Arctic and monitors the temperature and salinity of the ocean down to 300m depth, and the sea ice thickness and temperature. The data are transmitted through iridium on a daily basis.

The data from these monitoring instruments will appear in Arctic PASSION's 'Arctic Window', to be released in the Spring of 2022, and are part of the project's effort to establish an adaptive and more complete Arctic Observing System. 

Photos: Erik Hellerud