Current meter moorings in Fugloya-Bear Island

Since 1997 current meter moorings have been deployed in the Fugløya-Bear Island section in western entrance to the Barents Sea (Figure 1). The measurement program is carried out by Institute of Marine Research, and is for the period 2008-2011 funded by the Norwegian oil company Statoil. The number of moorings and instruments on each mooring has varied between years since 1997. At present the moorings are recovered and re-deployed once a year, and the next recovery will be in April-May 2012. There will be applied for funding for continuing the deployments after spring 2011. The mooring program is designed to cover mainly the inflow of Atlantic Water to the Barents Sea (Figure 2). They do not cover the coastal current in the southern parts, and only partly the outflow (westward flow) in the northern parts of the section.