To contribute to a modern operational observing system for the Arctic, with particular emphasis on meeting society's needs for knowledge and information about, and safety in, the high Arctic.

Sub-goals

• To close the loop: to monitor the upstream and downstream conditions of the Arctic Ocean:
  To employ new technology that enables us to monitor the state and variability of warm Atlantic water as it approaches the Arctic.
  To employ new technology that enables us to monitor the output of fresh water from the Arctic towards the North Atlantic.
• To work towards an international operational monitoring system for the Arctic; to optimize the usage of new technology, upgraded monitoring sites and remote sensing data in combination with numerical models to produce, on a daily basis, dynamically consistent estimates of the Arctic Ocean and sea ice during the IPY years.
  
• To employ new technology, and to extend and/or upgrade existing monitoring systems in order to deliver a range of highly important in situ measurements to the general benefit of the IPY community.
  
• To deliver new quantitative results regarding physical processes unique to high latitudes yet of global importance in the climate system.