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A hovercraft proves invaluable when it comes to access and be mobile
in the remote parts of the sea ice-covered Arctic. SABVABAA is moving
swiftly along the ice edge and the advanced instrumentation on board allow
collecting various type of data.
Research done from ice stations is expensive, takes
long time and the data can be gathered from areas where the ocean currents
take the floe. Researchers involved in geomarine sciences found a solution.
In 2007 a hovercraft SABVABAA was used for a test data collection run. The
hovercrafts have been in use in other places before: Antarctica, Canadian
Arctic and Baltic Sea. Now the time was ripe to introduce them to Svalbard.
The hovercraft has been equipped with a range of instruments to make marine
geophysical, geological, and oceanographic measurements.
The main base for SABVABAA is UNIS in
Longyearbyen. in the first summer the hovercraft made 5 one-week-long trips
to the ice edge north of Svalbard. Each trip consisted of two scientists and
two Norwegian high school students who were chosen in a country-wide
competition to select 10 young students interested in a career in polar
geophysics. This program, the IPY Classroom on the Ice, introduces this
entirely new operational paradigm to future scientists. During these forays,
the students participated in geophysical, geological, and oceanographic
studies carried out from the drifting ice. In total, the Sabvabaa completed
more than 3300 nautical miles during the first season, with a total of 318
hours on the engine. The craft performs at least as well as expected in pack
ice. Sabvabaa moves with the same ease whether the ice is thick or thin, and
the craft has proved to be useful for a variety of scientific tasks. It
appears more efficient than any other platform for ice-thickness
measurements and oceanographic work, i.e., ice melting/freezing processes in
general. However, it is a small vessel and requires relatively good weather
conditions for unsheltered open ocean passages. Future use of the craft
jointly with an icebreaker expedition is expected to significantly increase
the scientific efficiency of the total operation.
The project leadership is in contact with groups using
icebreakers to study the Arctic in the hope that it will be possible for
icebreakers or even fishing vessels to either accompany them or carry the
craft back and forth from the pack. They would also leave
GPS/Iridium-tracked caches with diesel fuel in rubber bladders, food,
spares, and special purpose equipment. The hovercraft would then move around
as needed while adapting to the ice conditions and the scientific plan.
Farther into the future, there would be a need for a platform like the
Sabvabaa to perform site surveys for the planned European icebreaking
drillship Aurora Borealis, which would act as a mother ship.
Other opportunities lie in proper recognition of the
advantage the sea-ice cover may represent relative to open ocean conditions
for deployment of arrays of geophysical instruments. Array geometry can be
maintained for days to weeks and even months due to coherent drift of large
ice fields. An array of microearthquake instruments deployed on the ice
drifting slightly oblique to the Gakkel spreading center is one application
already tested. Another example would be a 3D seismic reflection/refraction
survey using Reftek-type recorders or modified sonobuoys. As we have
acquired a track record and fully checked out the new equipment over the
northern reaches of the Yermak Plateau in 2009, it is hoped that 2010 will
see an opportunity to reach the craft's full potential over the Alpha Ridge.
Source: The R/H Sabvabaa—A
research hovercraft for marine geophysical work in the most inaccessible
area of the Arctic Ocean by John K. Hall and Yngve Kristoffersen
(in: Special Edition: Geophysics of the Northern Frontiers);
Read more: Luftputebåten henter opp de nordligste
bergartsprøvene fra norsk sokkel (SvalbardPosten, nr. 38, 25.september 2009;
in Norwegian); A Warmer Arctic
Ocean:Some Observations from a Hovercraft (poster)
Project website:
http://www.polarhovercraft.no/
Contact: Yngve Krstoffersen, University of Bergen (yngve.kristoffersen@geo.uib.no)
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