A network of multipurpose moorings will be deployed for two years in the deep Nansen and Amundsen Basin. The network will provide measurements of ocean and sea ice and active and passive acoustic data for several applications including acoustic thermometry, geo-positioning of underwater floats, detection of marine mammals, geohazards, and human generated noise.
The mooring system will build on the successful basin wide Coordinated Arctic Acoustic Thermometry Experiment (CAATEX) and extend the existing Mooring Observations from the Atlantic Water Inflow Experiment (A-TWAIN).
A new generation of moorings will be developed where data can be transferred to the surface using ROV or winch technology.
Preparation of HiAOOS multipurpose moorings
In September 2023 the Nansen Center team visited Longyearbyen to check up equipment that has been stored in containers for three years. All equipment was found in good shape. Some of this equipment will be used in HiAOOS moorings to be deployed in 2024 and some of the equipment are prepared for moorings that will be deployed as part of the SFI Smart Ocean in 2025.
The HiAOOS moorings are under development and construction. The moorings will be placed at selected positions in the Nansen and Amundsen Basins. The water depth at the deployment sites will be between 4000 to 5000 m, and the upper element of the mooring will be at 45 meters. Around 40 oceanographic and acoustic instruments will be hosted by each moorings. The instruments will be programmed to be operational for 2 years. The mooring network is developed, equipped, and established in a collaboration between NERSC, NPI, UiB Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO) and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI). The US institutions are funded through the High Arctic Acoustic Thermometry and Soundscape HiAATS project by Office of Naval Research.
More updates and details will come soon.