The deployment and operation of the ice stations for the FRAM program

From 1979 to 1982 the Arctic Program Office of the Office of Naval Research sponsored a series of experiments known as the Fram program in the eastern Arctic Ocean. They constitute the most extensive basic research program conducted to date in that region. Each of these experiments took place in the spring and centered around one or more drifting ice stations occupied by thirty to forty scientists and support personnel. The successful deployment and operation of these camps required creative use of equipment, fixed wing aircraft, helicopters and personnel. All the experiments were staged from Station Nord in northern Greenland with Thule Air Base serving as the transfer point for transportation to and from the continental United States. Smaller subsidiary camps were established away from the main camp for several long baseline experiments requiring the deployment of very heavy equipment (low frequency acoustic sources). The experiments survived several ice breakups and numerous intense storms which provided some stressful tests of logistical support. The logistics techniques developed during the Fram program are still used in support of Arctic experiments.