

The major facilities supporting research in the Arctic are labelled
on the map below. Click on a site name for the ALIAS page on
that site, click on a region name for greater detail in that
region. Scroll down below the map for a text description
and links. Or you may choose a site from the Sites list menu:
|
|
Canada:

The Polar Continental Shelf Project (PCSP)
maintains two base camps in the Canadian Arctic,
Resolute
and Tuktoyaktuk.
PCSP supports approximately 200 scientific projects each year
through these camps, including accommodations, equipment loans,
establishment of remote field camps, air transport through
long-term chartering, and a radio communications system that
maintains contact with remote field camps and aircraft. U.S.
scientists can use PCSP facilities and services on a space-available
basis for nominal fees.
Greenland: 
The
U.S. currently supports, or U.S. researchers can access, logistical
capabilities for research at Thule,
Kangerlussuaq,
Summit, and
Zackenberg. The U.S. presence in Greenland is supported
through an international agreement with Denmark. The logistical
support system is based on open access to and use of a combination
of Danish government-sponsored research programs, Danish and
Greenlandic governmental and civilian transportation system
infrastructure, the U.S. Department of Defense presence at
Thule Air Base, the U.S. Air National Guard LC-130 air support
capability, and U.S. federal agencies investments in research
facilities and support services at coastal and ice sheet locations.
For a thorough online guide to planning research
in Greenland, see the
"Project Planner" on the website of the Danish
Polar Center.
Fennoscandia: 
The research stations in the Fennoscandian
countries are supported directly by their governments and
are of high quality and capability. Excellent research facilities
exist on Svalbard near Longyear-byen and at Ny-Ålesund,
a year-round international arctic environmental research and
monitoring station in a more remote area (at 79°N) that
can accommodate up to 150 persons. On the Norwegian mainland,
the University
of Tromsø has extensive research facilities and
a medical school. The NSF OPP has recently signed a Statement
of Cooperation with the
Norsk Polarinstitutt to promote increased interactions
among U.S. and Norwegian scientists in arctic and antarctic
research efforts. In arctic Sweden, Abisko
Scientific Research Station is a year-round research facility
that can house up to 80 workers.The
Kevo Subarctic Research Institute and Kilpisjärvi
Biological Station in arctic Finland are both year-round facilities,
and each can accommodate around 40 researchers.
Russia: 
Much of the vast Russian Arctic is inhabited,
and large parts of the region potentially can be reached by
commercial air and rail systems. In addition, several research
stations and sites with a rich heritage of environmental research
and observations exist in the Russian tundra regions. For
example, the year-round Northeast
Science Station at Cherskii in Sakha can accommodate
15 to 20 people and affords access to an experimental wildlife
preserve. Due to the recent transitions in Russia, accurate
information on the status of and access to other research
facilities can be difficult to obtain. In response to these
and other practical obstacles, NSF has recently announced
establishment of a science liaison office in Moscow to assist
U.S. arctic researchers interested in conducting field work
in the Russian Arctic.
United
States: 
The
U.S. Arctic (northern Alaska) has two research facilities
that include laboratory space and tracts of land reserved
for research use and that act as logistics hubs for adjacent
areas: Barrow
on the Arctic Coast andToolik
Field Station (TFS) in the northern foothills of the Brooks
Range. . The TFS, established in 1975, is accessible from
the Dalton Highway and has had a steadily growing user base.
TFS currently supports over 3,000 user days each year. While
facilities at TFS are still marginally adequate for current
use, facilities upgrades funded by NSF since 1994 have improved
laboratory facilities and now allow winter use of the station.
|
|