Greenland growlers attract NTNU ice researchers

The northwest coast of Greenland is coming under increased scrutiny by the world’s oil and gas companies as a possible new area for petroleum exploration. But sea ice and icebergs make the area difficult to explore – which is exactly why researchers from NTNU’s newest Centre for Research Based Innovation, Sustainable Arctic Marine and Coastal Technology (SAMCoT) travelled there in September. Researchers aboard the Oden icebreaker, operated by the Swedish Polar Research Secretariat, deployed several new research tools, including satellite sensors, microdrones and laser scanners, which are able to scan the form and the size of icebergs. Researchers also set out buoys that will remain underwater for a year, to help understand the kinds of stresses that sea ice might put on a marine structure.