Webinar Archive: Observing the changing Arctic Ocean with acoustics
Observing the changing Arctic Ocean with acoustics Overview
Please join us for a discussion about the role acoustics is playing in the long-term observation of the changing Arctic Ocean.
Observing the changing Arctic Ocean with acoustics – April 29, 2026
Hanne Sagen, Research Director, Nansen Environmental and Remote Sensing Center
Hanne Sagen is the Research Director at the Nansen Environmental and Remote Sensing Center, where she leads work on Arctic Ocean observation. With a background in applied mathematics and ocean acoustics, she has long focused on using sound to monitor the changing Arctic Ocean.
Since 2005, Hanne has collaborated with Peter Worcester on Arctic acoustic observing, helping develop advanced systems for long‑range ocean temperature measurements, passive acoustics, and underwater positioning beneath sea ice. She has led 16 cruises to the Arctic. She has led the development of a growing network of acoustic moorings in the Fram Strait and central Arctic, progressing from early two‑mooring systems to today’s multipurpose observing platforms. Hanne co‑coordinated the CAATEX experiment in 2019, the first year‑long, pan‑Arctic acoustic thermometry project. CAATEX provided unique datasets used to evaluate climate models and compare with earlier Arctic measurements.
Her current work continues through the EU‑funded HiAOOS projects contributing to a future pan‑Arctic multipurpose mooring network.
Dr. Peter Worcester, Professor Emeritus, Scripps Institution of Oceanography
Peter F. Worcester received a B.S. in engineering physics from the University of Illinois, Urbana, in 1968, an M.S. in physics from Stanford University, Stanford, CA, in 1969, and the Ph.D. degree in oceanography from Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, in 1977.
Dr. Worcester’s primary research interests are in acoustical oceanography and underwater acoustics. His work has focused on the application of acoustic remote sensing techniques to the study of ocean structure and circulation. He has been engaged in the development of the technique of ocean acoustic tomography since its inception, including the development and deployment of the required instrumentation. He conceptualized the DOSITS website in 2000 and was the lead member of the DOSITS Advisory Panel until 2018.
Dr. Worcester received the 2006 Walter Munk Award for Distinguished Research in Oceanography Related to Sound and the Sea, which was granted jointly by the United States Navy and The Oceanography Society. He was awarded the Pioneers of Underwater Acoustics Medal by the Acoustical Society of America in 2025. He is a Fellow of the Acoustical Society of America and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. He is a member of the engineering honor society Tau Beta Pi, the American Geophysical Union, and The Oceanography Society.