India to set up first Arctic research base

The first expedition will try to uncover the link between Arctic & Indian Ocean climatic variations

NEW DELHI: India launched its first arctic expedition on Friday in its endeavour to join the elite group of countries that have research stations in the polar region. 

India has collaborated with the Norwegian Polar Research Institute to take up research activities on measurement of atmospheric aerosols and ions in the Arctic region; earth science studies at Svalbard and to find out if Arctic microbes can be workhorses of biotechnology.

The country has joined a group of nations including Norway, Germany, France, Britain, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea and China which already have their research stations in Ny-Alesund. India is a signatory to the Svalbard Treaty of 1920, which permits it to operate in the Svalbard archipelago, which is under the control of Norway. Many nations are already using the Ny-Alesund research facilities operated by Norway at Spitsbergen Island and some have developed their own set up as well, including Japan, South Korea and China.

Led by Rasik Ravindra, director of the National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research (NCAOR), Goa, the team comprises SM Singh, NCAOR scientist, S Shivaji, deputy director from CCMB, Hyderabad, CG Deshpande, scientist from IIT-Mumbai (Pune) and Dhruv Sen Singh, lecturer, University of Lucknow.

During the first phase in August-September, Indian scientists will initiate work on these projects at Ny-Alesund, while in the second phase, starting February 2008, four projects will be initiated: snowpack production of carbon monoxide and its diurnal variability; sea ice microbial communities project; carbon-cycling in the near-shore environments of Kongsfjorden; understanding the link between the Arctic and tropical Indian Ocean climatic variations.

"The first Indian Arctic expedition marks the beginning of long-term scientific research by Indian scientists in yet another arena of global scientific collaborative research in the difficult polar regions. This is the biggest such step since the first Indian scientific expedition landed in Antarctica in 1981," said minister for science and technology and earth sciences Kapil Sibal.

At the Sverdup station, continuous measurements of radiation, air pollution, ozone, seismic activity, etc. are carried out.