"High North" (2017-2019): presentation and future developments of MM's multi-year arctic research program

(To Marina Militare)
29/01/20

It was held in the library of Palazzo Marina on January 28, in the presence of the chief of staff of the Navy amm. Giuseppe Cavo Dragone and the ambassador of the Kingdom of Norway Margit Fredrikke Tveiten, the press conference for the presentation of the three-year "High North" activity (2017-2019), Arctic research program of the Navy.

The High North research program was proposed in the 2017-2019 three-year period as a support tool to the national and international scientific community in the study of the marine sector of the Svalbard Islands and the Arctic Ocean in relation to global changes. This is an activity made possible thanks to the active role played by the Navy through the Hydrographic Institute of the Navy as "National marine focal point for the Arctic research activities", which saw the Navy, present on many international specialist technical tables .

The Arctic polar area represents, at a time of severe climate change, a crucial node for the global economy. And it is with the presence in scientific research that Italy intends to be ready, with its Navy, to guarantee security, free trade and free use.

The words of the Navy Chief of Staff opened the conference by underlining the crucial importance of knowledge of the Arctic and the results obtained during the three years of activity.

Among the interventions also that of professor Roberta Ivaldi, professor of marine geology and scientific coordinator of High North, who took part in the three "High North" Campaigns. among which, the synergy developed between the participants and their dedication and professionalism. Factors that have allowed Nave Alliance to take home the numbers of the mission: 189 measurement stations carried out; 21 Sediment Sampling Sites; 234 Samples for the characterization of the mass of water; 120 radar and visible satellite images; 12 Missions of autonomous aerial vehicles and 10 divers and finally 6427 square kilometers of seabed explored.

All results that constitute today a starting point for the next three-year period 2020-2022 for High North.