with the Special Coordination Fund for Science and Technology Promotion (SCP) in 1990-95. This is the first general Arctic study in Japan fifteen governmental research institutes and universities participated in this program in oceanographic, glaciological, atmospheric, instrumentational, agricultural and other Arctic sciences. Each subprogram was conducted in collaboration with foreign laboratories of four countries. JAMSTEC conducted extensive oceanographic, glaciological, meteorological, and biogeochemical observations in eternal ice areas in the mid-Arctic Ocean extensively with fully automated ice-ocean environmental buoys in collaboration with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. The purpose of this program was to observe the correlation of variabilities among oceanic, atmospheric and ice environments JAMSTEC followed this program in 1991 in initiating her own Arctic science in an international collaborative effort with the University of Alaska, The University of Washington, NOAA/PMEL, the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute of Russia, and others. The purpose of this program is to develop an integrated Arctic system model consisting of four elementary models; ocean, ice, atmosphere and surrounding land. These models are based on observation, however, theoretical analysis on ice field deformation processes also being conducted. The current target area is the Chukchi Sea, but the East Siberian and other wesern more marginal seas will also be target area in future. Ship observations have been conducted over the Chukchi Sea, In addition subsurface moorings and bottom-mounted systems have been deployed in Barrow Canyon to observe the current reversal between deep basin and continental shelf all year round.
2. Current status on the development of observational technologies
2.1. Acoustic Tomography
JAMSTEC has been developing an ocean acoustic tomography system for realtime observation of the global ocean in 1000 km X 1000 km areas to monitor large scale ocean phenomena. Two sets of 200 Hz tomography transceiver systems were completed in March 1995. Each system consists of a 200 Hz tomography source, an array of five hydrophones, a satellite data communication system, and a mooring system. Also observations are conducted with three sets of acoustic transponder systems. An open-sea evaluation test for the systems was conducted off Shikoku for four months (April to July 1995). Realtime tomography observation was conducted and proved to be very effective in monitoring the temporal variation of the ocean structure. Acoustic characteristics of our newly developed 200 Hz tomography source were measured in collaboration with the University of Washington at the Lake Seneca facility in New York State.
2.2 Laser Technology
JAMSTEC has developed a shipboard ocean LIDAR (LIght raDAR) to monitor the spatial distribution of phytoplankton in the water. The ocean LIDAR emits a green pulse laser to in the water and measures the intensity of the laser-excited fluorescence from phytoplankton and the
