TÜBİTAK's work in polar research continues unabated. The second National Arctic Science Expedition, the first of which was organized in 2019, will be organized in the Arctic Ocean, starting from Norway and taking place in the Arctic Circle between July 4 - 25, 2022.
The team, which arrived in Norway under the leadership of Prof. Dr. Burcu Özsoy, the expedition coordinator and Director of the TÜBİTAK MAM Polar Research Institute, first visited Norwegian Ambassador Fazlı Çorman and then joined the Norwegian flagged 42-meter-long research vessel PolarXplorer in Tromso.
A team of 8 people is on board the ship, which sailed from Norway to the Arctic Ocean this week. The TASE II team will carry out atmospheric measurements, marine organisms, sea ice observations, meteorological data collection and many researches within the scope of marine sciences for about a month in the Arctic Ocean.
In addition to the research to be conducted, the expedition team will also sail around the Svalbard Archipelago, once again emphasizing the importance of Turkey being a party to the Svalbard Treaty. The Treaty also provides the states that are party to it with the opportunity to conduct scientific research.
Within the scope of the project, Prof. Dr. Ersan Başar from Karadeniz Technical University, Captain Özgün Oktar, Captain Doğaç Baybars Işıler, Dr. Atilla Yılmaz from TÜBİTAK MAM Polar Research Institute, Prof. Dr. Mustafa Sözen from Zonguldak Bülent Ecevit University, Assoc. Prof. Fatma Öztürk from Bolu Abant İzzet Baysal University, Elif Özge Kızıl and Şebnem Coşkun from Anadolu Agency are on board. While Prof. Dr. Burcu Özsoy is the expedition coordinator, dozens of researchers from many institutions and organizations are taking part in the expedition within the scope of the monitoring projects to be carried out.
The expedition will carry out 14 projects. The projects to be carried out are based on the realization of many scientific data and observations, from the study of climate change, which is highly felt in the Arctic Ocean, to the measurement of different parameters in the seas.
Carrying out many scientific researches in the Antarctic Continent, Turkey has successfully completed a total of 6 expeditions to Antarctica and with this second expedition to the Arctic, increasing its scientific capability in the Arctic is among the goals. The Polar Research Institute, which operates under the umbrella of TÜBİTAK, offers many scientists and researchers the opportunity to work at the poles and carries out studies aimed at increasing scientific capacity and reaching a visible position among other world countries.
