United States Arctic Research Vessels PAPER
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United States Arctic Research Vessels PAPER ABSTRACT may adversely affect the environment and Jonathan M. Berkson human health. The Arctic plays a key role in US Coast Guard Recent concerns with poUution and climate global climate change. Simulations of global cli- Washington, DC change in the Arctic have led to new monitor- mate models show greater effect of global warm- ing and research programs that require the sup- George W. DuPree port of arctic research vessels. This paper ing in the Arctic. During the past decade there US Coast Guard reviews the status of U.s. surface and submers- have been reductions in the thickness and extent Washinton, DC ible research platforms with a focus on surface of sea ice, and large changes in the upper and ships. During the Science Ice Expedition (SCI- intermediate layers of the Arctic Ocean CEX) program in the 1990s, u.s. Navy subma- (National Research Council, 1995; Aagaard et rines were successfuUy used as research vessels al, 1999). The advent of global warming would and extensive oceanographic data were col- likely give rise to large increases in shipping lected during under-ice transits. With the and commercial activity along the routes of an decommissioning of the Sturgeon-class subma- Arctic marine transportation system, particu- rines, future under-ice research cruises are larly through the Northern Sea Route along the uncertain and wiU depend on the availability of other ice-capable submarines or the develop- north Russian coast (Mulherin, Sodhi, and ment of high-endurance automous underwa- Smallidge, 1994) and through the Northwest Pas- ter vehicles. For scientific work on surface sage. research vessels the U.S. has two multi-mis- sion polar icebreakers and a new icebreaking research vessel. In addition, University of SCIENCE INTEREST Alaska has begun concept designs for replacing fter the end of the Cold War, military inter- the R/V Alpha Helix with an intermediate- A est in the Arctic waned along with military sized, ice-strengthened ship for oceanographic funding for Arctic scientific activities. However, and fisheries research around the coast of changing political and climatic regimes have Alaska. Two multi-mission Polar-class Coast recently led to increased interest and funding. Guard cutters, USCGC Polar Star and USCGC Polar Sea, are equipped to serve as oceano- With its changing political situation, Russia graphic research vessels and have made became interested in cooperative efforts and is important contributions to both Arctic and Ant- beginning to open up areas of the Arctic that arctic science programs during the last were previously inaccessible. Meanwhile, the twenty-five years. USCGC Healy, which was United States promoted dual use of military designed from the keel up as a research vessel assets-including submarines-and began to and heavy icebreaker, is capable of supporting declassify large amounts of Arctic bathymetry large multi-disciplinary studies. The ship, and under-ice profiles. Concern about the envi- which wiU be operated as a dedicated Arctic ronment led eight Arctic Nations-United research vessel, was delivered in November States, Canada, Russia, Norway, Sweden, Den- 1999, completed ice and science trials in July 2000, and conducted its first dedicated science mark, Iceland, and Finland-to form the Arctic cruise in the Eastern Arctic in the summer of Council in 1996 to discuss environmental and 2001. The advent of Healy adds significantly other non-military issues. Arctic Council envi- to the U.S. science-support capability in the ronmental subgroups have called for more scien- Arctic. tific measurements. Finally there have been increases in funding for Arctic research and logistical support by the National Science Foun- INTRODUCTION dation (NSF), the National Oceanic and Atmo- ue to its location and natural resources, the spheric Administration (NOAA), and the DArctic plays an important role in the global National Institutes of Health. The recent interest environment and economy. International bound- in health is particularly noteworthy because aries of the United States, Russia, Canada, and historically, health has been a major driver of several Nordic countries lie within the Arctic. U.S. research funding. Large programs that may The region contains twenty-five percent of the require use of arctic research vessels include: world's continental shelf and receives ten per- • International Bathymetric Chart of the cent of the world's fresh-water runoff. Because Arctic Ocean the Arctic Ocean and adjacent ice-covered seas • Nansen Arctic Drilling Program are the prime source of food for many of the • Shelf Basin Interaction (S8I) Program native inhabitants, there are concerns that • Ground truth measurements for satellite organic, inorganic, and radioactive pollutants sensors (e.g. synthetic aperture radar on from river discharges and atmospheric transport ENVISAT and RadarSat II) MTS Journal • Vol. 35, No.3. 31 • Ocean-Atmosphere-Ice Interactions underwater vehicles (National Research Coun- (OAIl) Component of Arctic System Sci- cil, 1995). ence (ARCSS) Program • Global Ocean Observation System SUBMARINES (GOOS)-Long-term international envi- ronmental monitoring nited States nuclear submarines have been • Ocean Exploration Initiative (Presiden- Uoperating in the Arctic Ocean on strategic tial Directive of June 2000) missions since 1957. In 1999, extensive bathyme- • Work arising from the Arctic Council's try and under-ice profiles from cruises from Working Groups, e.g. Arctic Monitoring 1957-82 were released. Currently, data from and Assessment Program (AMAP) and cruises during the period 1983-1988 are being Emergency Prevention, Preparedness, processed for release (IOC/IASC/IHO Editorial and Response Working Group (EPPR) Board, 1999). • Follow-on studies from previous or con- The Science Ice Expedition (SCICEX) tinuing programs such as Surface Heat program, which evolved from a test cruise on Budget of the Arctic (SHEBA), Joint the USS Par go in 1993, provided dedicated sub- Global Ocean Flux Study (JGOFS), marine time for scientists riding on Sturgeon- World Ocean Circulation Project class nuclear-powered U.S. Navy attack subma- (WQCE), and Acoustic Thermometry of rines. During this program, almost 100,000 km Ocean Climate (ATOC) of geophysical, biological, chemical, and ocean- • Biocomplexity in the Environment (BE) ographic data in U.S. and international waters • Life in Extreme Environments (LexEn) were collected during five unclassified science • North Pole Environmental Observatory cruises aboard USS CavaUa (1995), USS Pogy • Autonomous Polar Geophysical (1996), USS Arche?jish (1997), and USS Hawk- Explorer (APOGEE) biU (1998 and 1999) (Newton, 1995j Pyle et al, • Study of Environmental Arctic Change 1997; SCICEX 2000 Workshop, 1999). Ofparticu- (SEARCH) lar note are extensive swath bathymetry and subbottom profiler data that were collected (Newton, 2000). However, two developments ARCTIC RESEARCH PLATFORMS may affect the future of this program. First, the submarine fleet has been reduced to half the n addition to ice camps and shore stations, size of the fleet at the beginning of the SCICEX platforms used to support sensors, sampling I program. Second, all cruises were made on the devices, and/or deploy tethered, moored, or drif- fully ice-capable 637-class submarines, the last ting equipment include surface vessels, subma- of which was decommissioned in early 2001. rines, autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), Tests are being conducted to determine the aircraft, and satellites. In this paper we discuss capabilities of vessels of the 21, 688, and 688-1 ocean vessels-surface and submarine-used in classes and the future of the program rests with the United States Arctic research program with these results, plus funding and the availability a focus on polar icebreakers. of submarines. It is likely that future science Quiet, stable, fast, long-endurance cruises will be "accommodation missions" con- nuclear submarines operating under ice have ducted by Navy personnel rather than dedicated proven to be effective platforms for certain sci- missions with scientists riding the submarine entific measurements. They are particularly (SCICEX 2000 Workshop, 1999; Newton, 2001). suited for mapping bathymetry and the shallow The last 637-class science cruise was an acco- subbottom, measuring magnetic and gravity modation mission conducted in 2000 by the USS fields, and making measurements of fluores- L. Mendel Rivers, which was enroute to its cence and turbidity in the upper water-column. decommissioning. When AUVs with endurances On the other hand, the space constraints on of weeks and ranges of thousands of kilometers board submarines limit their role in some geo- become operational, "AUVs may replace subma- logical, chemical and biologic work. Polar ice- rines for many applications" (National breakers-with large spaces for laboratories, Research Council, 1995). Replacement of sub- equipment, storage, and with the ability to oper- marines as under-ice platforms for extensive ate in shallower waters-are well-suited for seafloor mapping would require significant operations requiring substantial support facili- advances in AUV technology, including suffi- ties. Icebreakers are particularly effective plat- cient power to operate a swath sonar and endur- forms for dredging, coring, heat-flow measure- ances on the order of 10,000 Ion (Newton, 2000). ments, seismic refraction, multi-channel seis- mic profiling, sampling for chemical and biological studies,