A new research programme begins – High Arctic Ocean Observing System
The HIAOOS project officially launched, on January 1st, 2023. To celebrate this occasion, the kick-off meeting was held from 11-12 January, in Bergen, Norway.
The main objectives of HIAOOS are to improve ocean observations at the highest latitudes by cooperating with existing and emerging research infrastructure in the Arctic; to unlock new observing capacity to RIs and researchers through methods, tools and training; to advance observing systems in the Arctic building on subsea technology; to reduce environmental impact of Arctic observing systems; and to comply with the FAIR principles and contribute to Open Science.
The meeting brought together more than 25 participants from research and industry from the HIAOOS consortium: Nansen Environmental and Remote Sensing Center (NERSC), Norwegian Polar Institute (NPI), University of Bergen (UiB), Havforskningsinstituttet (IMR), Instytut Oceanologii Polskiej Akademii Nauk (IO PAN), the Foundation for Research and Technology – Hellas (FORTH), EurOcean, University of Bath (UBAH), Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI), Kongsberg Maritime (KM), Naxys, Mundal Subsea, and Stinger, as well as invited guests from the EU Polar Cluster and the funding agency, REA, and more.
HiAOOS will develop, implement, and validate several ocean observing technologies to improve data collection in the ice-covered high Arctic Ocean. A network of multipurpose moorings will be deployed for two years in the deep Nansen and Amundsen Basins, during field experiments conducted every summer from 2024 to 2026.
Stay tuned to the HIAOOS website and social media for all the latest news from the project.