Soviet and Russian manned drifting ice stations

Soviet and Russian manned drifting ice stations are important contributors to exploration of the Arctic. An idea to use the drift ice for the exploration of nature in the high latitudes of the Arctic Ocean belongs to Fridtjof Nansen, who fulfilled it on "Fram" between 1893 and 1896. The first stations to use drift ice as means of scientific exploration of the Arctic, so-called drift ice stations, originated in the Soviet Union in 1937, when the first such station in the world, North Pole-1, started operations.

Overview

Soviet and now Russian drifting ice stations are named "Severnyy polyus" ( _ru. «Северный полюс»; _en. "North Pole") and are abbreviated SP ( _ru. «СП»; _en. "NP"). Each station is assigned an ordinal number.

"NP" stations carry out the program of complex year-round research in the fields of oceanology, ice studies, meteorology, aerology, geophysics, hydrochemistry, hydrophysics, as well as in the field of marine biology. On average, an "NP" station is the host for 600 to 650 ocean depth measurements, 3500 to 3900 complex meteorology measurements, 1200 to 1300 temperature measurements and sea water probes for chemical analysis, 600 to 650 research balloon launches. Magnetic, ionosphere, ice and other observations are also carried out there. Regular measurements of the ice floe coordinates provide the data on the direction and speed of its drift.

The modern "NP" drifting ice station resembles a small settlement with housing for polar explorers and special buildings for the scientific equipment. Usually an "NP" station begins operations in April and continues for two or three years until the ice floe reaches the Greenland Sea. Polar explorers are substituted yearly. Since 1937 some 800 people were drifting at "NP" stations.

There are two groups of "NP" stations:
*stations, drifting on the pack ice (i.e. relatively thin and short-lived ice):"NP-1" through "NP-5", "NP-7" through "NP-17", "NP-20", "NP-21"
*stations, drifting on ice islands (glacier fragments, that were split from the shore): "NP-6", "NP-18", "NP-19", "NP-22".

All "NP" stations are organized by the Russian (former Soviet) Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute (AARI).

History

The first scientific drifting ice station in the world, North Pole-1 was established on May 21, 1937 some 20 km from the North Pole by the expedition into the high latitudes Sever-1, led by Otto Schmidt. "NP-1" operated for 9 months, during which the ice floe passed 2,850 kilometers. On February 19, 1938, Soviet ice breakers "Taimyr" and "Murman" took off four polar explorers from the station, who immediately became famous in the USSR and were awarded titles Hero of the Soviet Union: hydrobiologist Pyotr Shirshov, geophysicist Evgeny Fedorov, radioman Ernst Krenkel and their leader Ivan Papanin.

Since 1954 Soviet "NP" stations worked continuously, with one to three such stations operating simultaneously each year. Total distance drifted between 1937 and 1973 was more than 80,000 kilometers. North Pole-22 is particularly notable for its record drift, lasting nine years. The ice floe carrying North Pole-19 passed through the North Pole for the first time ever on June 28, 1972.

During such long-term observations by "NP" stations, a lot of important discoveries in physical geography were made, valuable conclusions on regularities and the connection between processes in the polar region of the Earth's hydrosphere and atmosphere were obtained. Some of the most important discoveries were finding the deep-water Lomonosov Ridge, which crosses the Arctic Ocean, other large features of the ocean bottom's relief, the discovery of two systems of the drift (circular and "wash-out"), the fact of cyclones' active penetration into the Central Arctic.

The last Soviet "NP" station, North Pole-31, was closed in July 1991.

In the post-Soviet era, Russian exploration of the Arctic by drifting ice stations was suspended for twelve years. The year 2003 was notable for Russia's return into the Arctic. As of|2006, three "NP" stations had carried out scientific measurements and research since then: "NP-32" through "NP-34". The latter was closed on May 25, 2006.

"NP-35" started operations on September 21, 2007 at the point coord|81|26|N|103|30|E, when flags of Russia and Saint Petersburg were raised there. 22 scientists, lead by A.A.Visnevsky are working on the ice floe. Establishment of the station was the third stage of the Arktika 2007 expedition. An appropriate ice floe was searched for from "Akademik Fedorov" research vessel, accompanied by nuclear icebreaker "Russia", using MI-8 helicopters, for a week, until an ice floe with an area of 16 square kilometers was found. [ [http://www.aari.nw.ru/docs/press_release/20070921_sp35.html September 21, 2007 Press-Release] by AARI] The ice has since shrunk significantly, however, and the station is now being abandoned ahead of schedule. [ [http://green.yahoo.com/news/ap/20080714/ap_on_re_as/russia_polar_station.html 14 July 2008 news story] by the Associated Press]

Past stations

ee also

*Soviet Antarctic Expedition
*Icebreaker Sedov
*Konstantin Badygin

References

*Great Soviet Encyclopedia - for some information in the text and in the table
*ru icon [http://www.aari.nw.ru/clgmi/np33/sp.asp "North Pole" scientific research stations drift characteristics] at the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute - for some information in the table
*ru icon [http://www.gazeta.ru/2004/03/04/oa_113859.shtml History of "North Pole" stations] - for some milestones in the exploration
*I.P. Romanov, Yu. B. Konstantinov, N.A. Kornilov. "North Pole" Drifting Stations (1937-1991)", Saint Petersburg:Gidrometeoizdat, 1997, [http://www.aari.nw.ru/projects/Atlas/Meteorology/HTML/HISTORY/COLLECTION/NPhistory.htm condensed English translation] - for heads of "North Pole-23" through "North Pole-31" stations

External links

* [http://nsidc.org/data/nsidc-0060.html Daily Arctic Ocean Rawinsonde Data from Soviet Drifting Ice Stations (1954-1990)] at NSIDC
* [http://www.aari.nw.ru/google/np.kmz "NP-2" to "NP-34" drift trajectories] a Google Earth file from the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute, presenting trajectories of the drift of "NP-2" through "NP-34"