About NABOS

Climate change in the Siberian Arctic Ocean, where NABOS operates, is among the most intense in the northern high latitude basins. Furthermore, this location is uniquely positioned in the Arctic, integrating large-scale abyssal and shallow-water responses to remote and local forcing. Observations, on the other hand, are scarce and insufficient to resolve and quantify these complicated multidisciplinary responses.

In order to track these remarkable changes within the Arctic Ocean, scientists at the University of Alaska Fairbanks conceived an innovative and collaborative observational project, called the Nansen and Amundsen Basins Observational System (NABOS).

Established in 2002, NABOS focuses on the Siberian Arctic and exploits a diverse range of observational methods, such as mooring buoys and oceanographic surveys. NABOS researchers collaborate with scientists from several different countries, collecting vital information to document and understand climatic changes in the Arctic Ocean. The program also encompasses outreach and education through the support of multiple graduate students and shipboard summer schools.

What is NABOS doing?

The overarching goal of the NABOS project is to build a cohesive picture of climatic changes in the Siberian Arctic Ocean placing these regional changes in a broad spatiotemporal context.

In response to the observed dramatic reduction of sea ice, one focus of the NABOS team has been an investigation into the mechanisms behind recent sea-ice reduction.

In order to achieve this goal, the NABOS team investigates multiple oceanographic research areas, including:

• circulation patterns
• changes in thermodynamic state
• mixing rates
• chemical composition
• sea ice

The success of the NABOS program relies primarily upon the effective collaboration of scientists from a wide range of countries, institutions and scientific disciplines.