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GONORTH-Utforske polhavet

GoNorth - Geosciences in the Northern Arctic - tokt til Nordmarginen av Svalbard i 2022

Awarded: NOK 11.6 mill.

Project Number:

338679

Project Period:

2022 - 2023

Funding received from:

GoNorth is a multi-scientific consortium consisting of 13 Norwegian research and education institutions, which are Akvaplan-niva, NERSC, NGU, NORCE, NORSAR, NP, NTNU, NUPI, SINTEF, UiB, UiO, UiT og UNIS. The purpose of GoNorth is to explore the extended Norwegian continental shelf into the Arctic Ocean, including the water column above. The mission of GoNorth is to organize and launch a series of scientific expeditions into the Arctic Ocean. It is the goal of the program to be scientifically excellent, economically feasible and useful for the future management of the Arctic Ocean. The program shall bring Norway to the forefront as a responsible manager of the environment and the natural resources. The first GoNorth cruise left Longyearbyen on 14 October 2022 onboard RV Kronprins Haakon. The research groups onboard pursued a wide-ranging and cross-disciplinary scientific program to acquire new and essential knowledge about the oceanic areas, from the sea floor and subsea geology, through the water column, to the surface sea ice. Education is an important part of the program. The Norwegian Government has defined the High North as its most important strategic foreign policy area. Presence and knowledge are key elements. The government's Ocean Strategy, Blue Opportunities, addressing knowledge building and sustainable development, adds a new dimension to the policy. The present government states in its policy document (Hurdalsplattformen) that it will contribute to more knowledge building and to the mapping of the high north continental shelf, in collaboration with other states.

Prosjektene ombord har dekket alle de målsatte aktivitetene: (1) Mapping of the new territories/extended Norwegian continental shelf, (2) Basic research and education, (3) Technology development, (4) Demonstrating Norwegian presence in the Arctic Ocean. NB: Som gjort rede for tidligere rapporterer hvert enkelt prosjekt til sine finansiører om resultatene av prosjektene.

The "GoNorth 2022" project will organise, launch and partly fund the infrastructure of a research expedition to the oceanic areas north and west of Svalbard in October-November 2022. The project will use the research vessel Kronprins Haakon as its platform. The expedition will be in two parts - one covering the oceanic areas north of Nordaustlandet and Kvitøya and into the Nansen basin, the other covering the oceanic spreading ridge west of Svalbard, the Knipovich Ridge. The cross-disciplinary program will be organised through ten different research projects, covering the sub-sea geology, the sea floor, the water column and the surface sea ice. These projects are funded by the Research Council, EU, private companies, NRC-funded Centres of Excellence and partner funding. The projects are listed in a separate attachment. Education is an important part of the program. Organising and funding such an expedition is a challenge, mainly because of the high logistics and infrastructure costs. While the total budget for the 2022 expedition adds up to approx. 70 MNOK, logistics and infrastructure amount to approx. 30 MNOK or almost half of the costs. The mission of the "GoNorth 2022" project, is to organise and fund the infrastructure needs, thereby serving the entire portfolio of research projects on board. It is the goal of GoNorth to be scientifically excellent, economically feasible and useful for the future management of the Arctic Ocean. The program shall bring Norway to the forefront as a responsible manager of the environment and the natural resources. As most projects onboard have received their funding though NRC/EU, they have also been evaluated by scientific panels and are required to report according to the requirements of their calls. Reporting on scientific issues from the projects is therefore outside the scope of "GoNorth 2022".

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Funding scheme:

GONORTH-Utforske polhavet

Funding Sources