The nervous system of the Arctic

The Norwegian sector of this region has made Norway the largest “ocean state” in Europe, and gives us both rights and administrative responsibility for an area that is six times as large as mainland Norway itself. Experts believe that the remaining twenty-five percent of the world’s petroleum resources lie in the Arctic, which is also the home of important marine resources.

SINTEF/NTNU, the Institute of Marine Research, Kongsberge Marine and the Norwegian Defence Research Agency are now joining forces to set up an arctic monitoring network for oil and gas, fisheries, environmental and defence purposes. The plan is based on utilising pipelines, installations, cables, research vessels and ships of opportunity as sensor platforms. Once a joint infrastructure has been established, the data can be made available in an open information system.