The Oliktok Point Arctic Research Facility (OPARF)

For the past year, the US Department of Energy, through Sandia National Laboratories, has operated a Designated User Facility at Oliktok Point Alaska, on the Arctic Ocean coast near the western end of the Prudhoe Bay oil fields. The primary purpose of this user facility is to accommodate and support manned and unmanned airborne measurement platforms over the Arctic Ocean and adjacent coastline as the arctic sea ice recedes. The speed at which the sea ice is receding exceeds model-projected speeds considerably for reasons that are not fully understood. The ultimate objective is to incorporate improved understanding of the radiative and other processes impacting sea ice recession into the relevant climate models. OPARF is based at a USAF Long Range Radar Station, an old Distant Early Warning (DEW) radar station built during the height of the Cold War, but continuing to be operated to track air traffic over the pole. The USAF has graciously granted Sandia and DOE use of selected facilities at Oliktok on a non-interference basis. DOE also maintains FAA-granted Restricted Airspace over Oliktok Point and adjacent ocean. In addition, DOE has also requested that the FAA establish a Warning Area over international waters 30 miles wide and 700 miles long stretching from near Oliktok towards the North Pole. That request is currently being processed by the FAA, with the public comment period now closed. This paper will update OPARF developments for potential users of the Oliktok user facility and other interested researchers.