Arctic Observatory FRAM

FRAM (FRontiers in Arctic Marine Monitoring) targets a modern vision of integrated underwater infrastructure. FRAM enhances sustainable knowledge for science, society and maritime economy as it enables truly year round observations from surface to depth in the remote and harsh arctic sea. Cutting edge technologies are being (further) developed and used to record essential ocean variables to improve our understanding of the Arctic and it’s ongoing processes. Data will be made freely available to the public via the AWI data portal

Arctic Observatory FRAM - a modern vision of integrated underwater infrastructure in the polar environment

The Arctic Observatory FRAM (FRontiers in Arctic Marine Monitoring) targets a modern vision of integrated underwater infrastructure in the polar environment. Since 2014 this modular observatory is being build up in Fram-Strait and the Central Arctic by the Alfred Wegner Institute for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) to become a major research infrastructure of the Earth and Environment research field of the Helmholtz Association. FRAM enhances sustainable knowledge of the remote and harsh Arctic environment for science, society and maritime economy as it enables truly year round multidisciplinary observations from sea ice to the deep sea. Cutting edge mobile and fixed sensor platforms and technologies like e.g. ROV’s, AUV’s, under water robotics, and moorings are being (further) developed and used in combination with ship based instruments to record various essential ocean variables to improve our understanding of the Arctic Ocean, it’s essential processes, and how they are being impacted by continued warming and decreasing sea ice extend. Field data are being cross validated by satellite observations and used to improve model simulations. Data will be made freely available to the public via the AWI data portal

A Subsea Winched Profiling System (SWIPS) for Long-Term High-Resolution Measurements in Ocean Surface Layers

To overcome the lack of year-long profiling data of upper ocean layers in remote areas, a Subsea Winched Profiling System (SWIPS) was developed at the Alfred Wegener Institute. As a top of a scientific mooring it is able to winch a profiling unit equipped with various sensors from depths up to 200 m to the surface. The whole construction was deliberately designed to be compact and lightweight in order to simplify handling and improve performance in the water. Profiler and winch unit are connected by an electro-mechanical cable, which is used for a communication link between these two components. This allows the position of the profiling unit to be controlled and the measured data to be stored in the winch unit as a safety backup. The cable also supplies the profiling unit with power. Several tests and demonstration deployments have shown the operational readiness of the system