2021 Volume 30 Issue 5 Pages 159-178
Future research challenges in polar oceanography for Japanese oceanographic community are discussed. For both the Arctic and Southern Oceans, the key issues identified are transport of heat and materials from lower latitude ocean regions, the role of sea ice in material transport and biological production, and processes in coastal areas. These topics must be understood quantitatively to better predict future changes in the polar regions. In addition, we propose a novel field campaign to observe ocean-sea ice-air fluxes in early spring, and a comprehensive study of ocean-sea ice-icesheet coupling for the Arctic Ocean and the Southern Ocean, respectively. For the future development of polar oceanography, we also propose new research infrastructures such as submersible research vessels, submarine observation bases, and coastal observation towers, as well as the use of the Sea of Okhotsk and Lake Saroma as a nearby model polar ocean.
