NOAA Ship Maps Uncharted Arctic Waters

Using state-of-the-art echo sounding technology, NOAA Ship Fairweather is detecting navigational dangers in critical Arctic waterways.

As Arctic ice caps recede new waters become available for navigation, but these waters have not been charted for at least 50 years, and so their hazards are very little known.

The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) recently dispatched one of its ships, the Fairweather, to image the bottom of Arctic waters.

The recession of ices represent a new source of income for various countries and corporations. Nations are very interested in finding new channels of communications between various regions of the world through the North Pole. If navigational routes can be established, then travel times between the corners of the world could be reduced, which would mean lower transport costs, and lower overall prices. But ships cannot be sent in uncharted waters, and the Fairweather will ensure that the maps of the bottom are the most accurate possible.

For two months, it will analyze seafloor features, produce seafloor depth charts, and update nautical charts for an area of about 350 square miles. As Arctic sea ice recedes, economic activity in the region is going to expand dramatically.