The Polar Retrospective – Eventful times in the Arctic

The Polar Retrospective looks at stories of the past week that are related to the Arctic and Antarctic and focuses on one or more aspects. The last few weeks have been particularly eventful in the Arctic, ranging from politics and society to research and technology.

The Arctic region, with its population of around four million, is currently illuminated by the midnight sun, which will reach its zenith in just a few weeks. And the news from the far north also continues to rise almost continuously, with a variety of headlines last week that are likely to attract interest even beyond the Arctic Circle: the death of a well-known but controversial polar researcher, a planned research and education center on Svalbard, and a drone that could become a game changer for research in the Arctic.

On June 1, 2024, Russian polar researcher and politician Artur Chilingarov died in Moscow at the age of 84. Born in what is now St. Petersburg, the son of a Russian mother and an Armenian father was instrumental in the development of the Soviet and later Russian polar program from the late 1960s. Originally an engineer and oceanographer, Chilingarov had worked in both the Antarctic and the Arctic, developing new methods of navigation support for the Northern Sea Route. He had led several expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctic, including the drift ice station North Pole-19. In 2007, he gained particular fame when he and other expedition members reached the seabed at the North Pole. The Russian flag that was planted at this location provided material for numerous reports and articles in the media about Russian claims to the North Pole region.

Artur Chilingarov was also active as a politician and from 1993 to 2011 was a member of the Russian parliament, first as a deputy for the autonomous Nenets region and later as a senator for the Tula oblast. He was also an important representative of the international community in polar issues as a special envoy for Arctic and Antarctic cooperation and as a member of the Russian Polar Institute AARI, and was honored several times for his work during his lifetime. However, Artur Chilingarov was also a controversial figure. He had openly stated on several occasions that the North Pole should be Russian territory and was placed on the sanctions list by Western countries after he had voted in favor of the Russian attack on Ukraine. He leaves behind a wife and two children.

Svalbard also made the headlines several times last week. In addition to the four key aspects of the Norwegian government’s recently published Svalbard report, the report also addresses Russia’s plans to establish its own research and educational facility in Barentsburg. This announcement from Moscow last summer and the corresponding request to the BRICS states to join in the construction, or to promote it and use it for scientific research, prompted the government in Oslo to take a stand in the Svalbard report. The report states that the only higher education institution on Svalbard is the UNIS (University Center in Svalbard). In addition, scientific work and its administration are to be facilitated and promoted by the establishment of a so-called “Svalbard Science Office”. With this, Oslo wants to establish a “Norwegian contact point for the (international, editor’s note) research community” and thus create more clarity about the research work on Svalbard.

But likely, it was not only establishing a new research and educational institution in Barentsburg or the invitation to countries such as North Korea or Venezuela that prompted Oslo to take this step, but also the research activities planned by Moscow. These include not only the usual natural science subjects, but also ethnographic, cultural-historical and paleographic studies. Since Moscow has always based its claim to Svalbard on the fact that ethnic groups from Russian territory were the first inhabitants of Svalbard, and since Russia is cut off from the rest of the international research community due to the sanctions, there is a fear that the Kremlin could use work in the above-mentioned fields without genuine international controls, such as peer-reviewed articles in reputable research journals and presentations at meetings and symposia, to its own advantage.

Research was also at the heart of the third event that took place in the Arctic skies of Alaska last week. From Deadhorse on the North Coast, the US company Platform Aerospace launched its unmanned aerial vehicle with the melodious name “Vanilla” into the sky. Equipped with various sensor modules for sea ice and weather research, the UAV first flew 17 hours over 900 kilometers towards the North Pole and back again, followed by several 370-kilometer laps during 22 hours, all without refueling, as the company announced in a press release. Sensors on the aircraft relayed information about icing, clouds and other potential problem factors to the drone pilots in Deadhorse.

Even poor visibility at the take-off and landing point in the small Alaskan community was no problem for “Vanilla”. “Vanilla’s performance is ideal for environmental monitoring missions, such as this demonstration of flying multiple sensors to the polar ice cap,” explained Platform Aerospace’s lead engineer, Dr. Dan Edwards. If further tests are successful, “Vanilla” should be an interesting tool for research groups who want to find out more about the state of the Arctic sea ice. But Platform Aerospace has also shown itself to be a potential partner for flights within the US National Airspace System (NAS) in the Arctic part of its operational area with “Vanilla”.

Dr. Michael Wenger, Polar Journal AG

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