This year, scientists will continue monitoring the Barents Sea polar bear population, conducting fundamental research in the fields of geology, geophysics, seismology, permafrost science, biology, and hydrometeorology.
A scientific laboratory for year-round research of the Franz Josef Land archipelago will open at the "Omega" field base of the "Russian Arctic" national park. Meteorological stations, snow gauges, centrifuges, and microscopes have already been purchased for the new facility.
This was reported by the Center for the Protection of Wild Animals on its website. "The creation of a permanent scientific station and laboratory on the territory of the national park is a priority task this year.This will allow scientists to conduct systematic observations on the archipelago and expand the range of research being conducted," the message quotes the words of the park's director Alexander Kirilov. As noted in the Center for the Protection of Wild Animals, a large amount of scientific work is carried out annually in the "Russian Arctic".
This year,specialists from the A. N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution will continue monitoring the Barents Sea polar bear population to assess its state, begin studying the spatial and seasonal distribution of animals, the dynamics of the bear population, and their health status. Scientific groups plan to map the locations of the so-called "maternity wards" of polar bears and analyze the timing of females emerging from their dens.
"In addition, scientists aim to assess the size of broods on Alexandra Land and study satellite images of ice cover and data on animals that have come out onto the ice," the message says. And scientists from the O. Yu. Schmidt Institute of Physics of the Earth of the Russian Academy of Sciences will continue fundamental scientific research in the fields of geology, geophysics, seismology, permafrost science, biology, including marine biology, as well as hydrometeorology.
According to Kirilov, the scientific station being created will not only allow professional scientists to work in the high-latitude Arctic, but will also help develop the concept of citizen science. Its essence lies in the fact that any caring person can help scientists by doing work that does not require special training, but is important for collecting data. You can join the study of Alexandra Land already in August as part of the expedition of the Russian Geographical Society, the Center for the Protection of Wild Animals noted.
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