The objective of the Transarctic Acoustic Propagation (TAP) Experiment was to test the feasibility of using long-range, lowfrequency acoustics as a “thermometer” for climate research in the Arctic.

The experiment was successful and produced intriguing results. In particular, propagation speeds were observed to be faster than those predicted using historical climate data. This discrepancy may have resulted from warmer water in the Arctic, as reported during recent icebreaker measurements. Global warming has been one of the important issues of this ongoing research.