b'INTERNATIONAL WATERSAdvancing Science, History The high quality of the Nord Stream data, which theLuode\'s network picked up a pulse during the baseline pipeline company made freely available for research,monitoring phase of the Nord Stream 2 project and was has proved to be a benefit to the scientific community,able to document the movement of the oxygenated and Granskog says plans call for data from the Nordwater almost minute by minute, providing a detailed Stream 2 project to also be shared with researchers.account of this remarkable phenomenon. After all, few projects afford scientists the opportunityThe pipeline company\'s detailed surveys of 55,000 to deploy 50 continuous, multi-parameter sondes inlinear kilometers (34,000 miles) of sea floor along the a study area, let alone back them up with extensiveconstruction routeconducted with state-of-the-art sea floor surveys and other data gathering tools. Thetowed-array sonar and remotely operated vehicles scale and scope of the Nord Stream and Nord Streamlaunched from large research vessels that most nautical 2 monitoring programs have turned out to be greathistorians could only dream ofhave also contributed to not only for scrutinizing the pipeline project, but alsothe understanding of the history of the Baltic region.for providing a rich trove of data on water quality in the Baltic. "We found a number of previously unknown cultural heritage objects such as an 18th century merchantman That has been especially helpful in understandingand a late-18th/early-19th century cannon barge oxygen dynamics in the hypoxia-prone Gulf of Finlandlocated in the Finnish Exclusive Economic Zone," says system, Lindfors notes. Granskog. "Two inspected World War II targetsa Havoc bomber and the anti-submarine net installationwere "As the Baltic Sea is very sheltered, we have limitedalso listed of historical interest."access to the Atlantic Ocean via the shallow North Sea," he explains. "In order to get oxygen into theEurope is hungry for natural gas, and the Nord Stream Gulf of Finland, we are dependent on saltwaterand Nord Stream 2 pipelines are creating an important pulsesa huge amount of Atlantic water entering conduit for new supplies. But through their extensive the Baltic."water quality monitoring programs, the projects are also delivering something moredeeper understanding of Just a couple of times per decade, all the factorsa challenging and fragile environment, and a thorough align to create a pulse, Lindfors says. Water levels indocumentation of the real-world impacts ofthe Baltic must be down, a zone of low atmosphericundersea construction.pressure has to form over the Gulf of Finland, and winds need to be oriented in the right direction. Only then can a massive flow of high-oxygen, high-salinity Atlantic water push into the isolated gulf. ROVs are attached to the real time survey vessel by an electrical and fibre-optic cable that allows the crew to navigate close to the seabed. The cable transports the data and images collected by the ROV along the sea floor back to the vessel, where technicians can review it in real time. Nord Stream 2 / Axel SchmidtLEARN MORE: STORY SURVEY:For more on the Nord Stream 2Tell us how you felt about this project, visit: nord-stream2.com story: YSI.com/MW-SurveyWhos Minding the Planet? 43'