This project aims to integrate innovative technologies such as remote sensing from satellites and ocean floor observatories, as well as develop solutions for future legal framework that will protect retrieval of data from integrated technologies. Arctic Ocean and Law of the Sea Research involves K.G. Jebsen Centre for the Law of the Sea (JCLOS), Centre for integrated remote sensing and forecasting for Arctic operations (CIRFA),Centre for Arctic Gas Hydrate, Environment and Climate (CAGE) and the Department of Arctic and Marine Biology (AMB). Combined, these four groups from three faculties at UiT The Arctic University of Norway bring together a strong team of lawyers, marine researchers and physicists to develop scenarios and regulative actions for rapid anthropogenic driven climate change that impacts the Arctic Ocean environment and what the impacts mean to our future.
Rapid warming of the Arctic Ocean reduces the area covered by sea ice. This decrease in sea ice leads to an increase in potential areas for industrialization and shipping activity in the Arctic, possibly increasing the impact on the marine environment and ecosystems. High-resolution and long-term mapping and monitoring are necessary to distinguish human- from natural-driven impact. The gained knowledge may drive future sustainable management and decision-making in the High North. In the Arctic, environmental studies have typically been based on short-term measurements from single locations, which do not necessarily give representative inferences over larger areas. We aim to develop high-resolution space- and air-borne remote sensing systems, in combination with advanced marine technology that will allow for integrated long-term environmental monitoring. Such an approach provides an improved understanding of processes taking place on larger spatial scales. It will allow determining causal relations between local phenomena and processes of regional and global relevance.
There are four PhD positions connected to the project, covering the following topics:
- Arctic oceanography/ocean observatory technology
- Remote sensing
- Arctic marine biology/technology
- Technology and Law of the Sea
