New Delhi, August 3
Seeking to compliment their research in Antarctica with that in Arctic, a team of scientists from India today left for the icy region in the northern hemisphere.
Science and technology and earth sciences minister Kapil Sibal launched the first Indian Arctic expedition here by handing over the Tricolour to Rasik Ravindra, director of the National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research (NCAOR), Goa.
The team will initiate projects in collaboration with the Norwegian Polar Research Institute. The areas for research in the first phase include Arctic microbes as workhorses of biotechnology,
measurement of atmospheric aerosols and ions in the Arctic region and earth science studies at Svalbard.
The scientists will stay at Ny-Alesund for about four weeks working on these projects. In the second phase, starting February, 2008, four more projects will be initiated. These include snowpack production of carbon monoxide and its diurnal variability, sea ice microbial communities project, carbon-cycling in the near-shore environments of Kongsfjorden and understanding the link between the Arctic and tropical Indian Ocean climatic variations.
Sibal said the first Indian Arctic expedition marks a beginning of long-term scientific research by Indian scientists in another arena of global scientific collaborative endeavour in polar regions since the first Indian scientific expedition landed in Antarctica in 1981. Norway, Germany, France, Britain, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea and China already have their research stations in Ny-Alesund for Arctic research.
The minister said it has not yet been decided if India would set up a permanent station for Arctic research. “There are cost issues involved. It depends on the input and output ratio,” he said.
Dr S. Shivajai, who is a member of the team, said they would probe if the microorganisms in Arctic region were identical to those in
Antarctica. “This will tell us more about evolution of life and whether life evolved simultaneously in different parts of the earth,” he said.
Scientists said Arctic Ocean and the surrounding regions were vital for study of earth’s climate and carried record of climatic history. They said the region was also an excellent indicator of future changes, because the signals that signify climate change were much stronger in the Arctic than other places on the planet. The region is of special significance to the Indian subcontinent as studies have shown that there exists a “tele-connection” between the northern polar region and the intensity of Indian monsoon.
Sibal visited Norway in November last year and Arctic research was identified as a key area of cooperation in science research between the two countries. India is a signatory to the Svalbard Treaty of 1920, which permits it to operate in the Svalbard archipelago, which is under the sovereign control of Norway.
