ST. PETERSBURG, September 7 (RIA Novosti) - A new Russian manned drifting weather station started operating in the Arctic Ocean on Monday, a spokesman for the hydrometeorology service's Arctic and Antarctic research institute said.

The North Pole-37 (SP-37) station officially began work at 14:30 GMT, two hours after it had made its first weather report. The station has a crew of 16.

The previous station, which had a crew of 18 specialists, was established last September and travelled 1,200 km (746 miles) across the Arctic Ocean before being dismantled in late August.

Russian floating stations, which are usually in operation for around a year, are designed to conduct meteorological, ice and oceanographic observations, as well as environmental monitoring.

The stations also research the effects of climatic change on the Arctic and the impact on the region's ecosystems.