Soviet and Russian manned drifting ice stations

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A Soviet badge commemorating a Drifting Polar Station
A Soviet badge commemorating a Drifting Polar Station

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.

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[edit] Overview

Soviet and now Russian drifting ice stations are named "Severnyy polyus" (Russian: «Северный полюс»; English: "North Pole") and are abbreviated SP (Russian: «СП»; English: "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).

[edit] 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 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. [1]

[edit] Past stations

Station name Head of the first shift Drift dates Drift coordinates Distance (km)
Began Ended Start Finish
North Pole-1 I.D.Papanin May 21, 1937 February 19, 1938 89°25′N, 78°40′W 70°40′N, 19°16′W 2,850
North Pole-2 M.M.Somov April 2, 1950 April 11, 1951 76°03′N, 166°36′W 81°44′N, 163°48′W 2,600
North Pole-3 A.F.Trioshnikov April 4, 1954 April 20, 1955 85°58′N, 175°00′W 86°00′N, 24°00′W 1,865
North Pole-4 E.I.Tolstikov April 8, 1954 April 19, 1957 75°48′N, 178°25′W 85°52′N, 00°00′W 6,970
North Pole-5 N.A.Volkov April 21, 1955 October 8, 1956 82°10′N, 156°51′E 84°18′N, 63°20′E 3,630
North Pole-6 K.A.Sychev April 19, 1956 September 14, 1959 74°24′N, 177°04′W 82°06′N, 03°56′E 8,650
North Pole-7 V.A.Vedernikov April 23, 1957 April 11, 1959 82°06′N, 164°11′W 85°14′N, 33°03′W 3,520
North Pole-8 V.M.Rogachyov April 27, 1959 March 19, 1962 76°11′N, 164°24′W 83°15′N, 132°30′W 6,090
North Pole-9 V.A.Shamontyev April 26, 1960 March 28, 1961 77°23′N, 163°00′E 86°36′N, 76°00′W 2,660
North Pole-10 N.A.Kornilov October 17, 1961 April 29, 1964 75°27′N, 177°10′E 88°32′N, 90°30′E 3,960
North Pole-11 N.N.Bryazgin April 16, 1962 April 20, 1963 77°10′N, 165°58′W 81°10′N, 139°34′W 2,400
North Pole-12 L.N.Belyakov April 30, 1963 April 25, 1965 76°50′N, 165°34′W 81°06′N, 145°47′W 1,595
North Pole-13 A.Ya. Buzuyev April 22, 1964 April 20, 1967 73°55′N, 161°19′W 87°55′N, 03°32′E 3,545
North Pole-14 Yu. B.Konstantinov May 1, 1965 February 12, 1966 72°42′N, 175°25′W 76°59′N, 154°49′E 1,040
North Pole-15 V.V.Panov April 15, 1966 March 25, 1968 78°49′N, 168°08′E 85°45′N, 10°30′W 2,330
North Pole-16 Yu. B.Konstantinov April 10, 1968 March 22, 1972 75°31′N, 172°00′W 86°00′N, 85°27′W 5,850
North Pole-17 N.I.Blinov April 18, 1968 October 16, 1969 80°30′N, 165°26′E 86°48′N, 25°20′E 1,750
North Pole-18 N.N.Ovchinnikov October 9, 1969 October 24, 1971 75°10′N, 165°02′W 86°06′N, 153°51′E 5,240
North Pole-19 A.N.Chilingarov November 7, 1969 April 16, 1973 74°54′N, 160°13′E 83°08′N, 16°17′E 6,705
North Pole-20 Yu. P.Tikhonov April 22, 1970 May 17, 1972 75°56′N, 175°22′E 81°44′N, 166°47′W 3,780
North Pole-21 G.I.Kizino April 30, 1972 May 17, 1974 74°06′N, 178°15′E 86°16′N, 143°35′E 3,605
North Pole-22 V.G.Moroz September 13, 1973 April 08, 1982 76°16′N, 168°31′W 86°10′N, 00°00′W 17,069
North Pole-23 V.M.Piguzov December 5, 1975 November 1, 1978 73°51′N, 178°25′W 87°40′N, 22°31′W 5,786
North Pole-24 I.K.Popov June 23, 1978 November 19, 1980 76°45′N, 163°00′E 86°03′N, 29°40′E 5,652
North Pole-25 V.S.Sidorov May 16, 1981 April 20, 1984 75°01′N, 168°35′E 85°50′N, 122°15′W 5,754
North Pole-26 V.S.Sidorov May 21, 1983 April 9, 1986 78°30′N, 174°46′E 82°46′N, 170°31′W 5,380
North Pole-27 Yu. P.Tikhonov June 2, 1984 May 20, 1987 78°31′N, 160°30′E 86°28′N, 09°02′W 5,655
North Pole-28 A.F.Chernyshov May 21, 1986 January 23, 1989 80°40′N, 168°29′E 79°40′N, 03°09′E 7,634
North Pole-29 V.V.Lukin June 10, 1987 August 19, 1988 80°22.8′N, 112°59′E 84°42.8′N, 56°34.3′W 2,686
North Pole-30 V.M.Piguzov October 9, 1987 April 4, 1991 74°18′N, 171°24′W 82°31′N, 126°26′W 7,675
North Pole-31 V.S.Sidorov October 22, 1988 July 25, 1991 76°35′N, 153°10′W 73°33′N, 161°04′W 5,475
North Pole-32 V.S.Koshelev April 25, 2003 March 6, 2004 87°52.5′N, 148°03′E 84°41′N, 03°33′W 2,418
North Pole-33 A.A.Visnevsky September 9, 2004 October 5, 2005 85°05′N, 156°31′E 86°14′N, 95°54′E 3,156
North Pole-34 T.V.Petrovsky September 19, 2005 May 25, 2006 85°39′N, 115°19′E 87°26′N, 07°39′E 2,032

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ September 21, 2007 Press-Release by AARI

[edit] External links