| Summary: | The Pacific sector of the Arctic Ocean is experiencing major reductions in seasonal sea ice extent and increases in sea surface temperatures. One of the key uncertainties in this region is how the marine ecosystem will respond to seasonal shifts in the timing of spring sea ice retreat and/or delays in fall sea ice formation. Variations in upper ocean water hydrography, planktonic production, pelagic-benthic coupling and sediment carbon cycling are all influenced by sea ice and temperature change. To more systematically track the broad biological response to sea ice retreat and associated environmental change, an international consortium of scientists have developed a coordinated âDistributed Biological Observatoryâ (DBO) that includes selected biological measurements at multiple trophic levels, along with satellite and mooring measurements. The DBO currently focuses on five regional biological âhotspotâ locations along a latitudinal gradient that allows for consistent sampling and monitoring at five biologically productive locations across a latitudinal gradient: DBO 1 (SLIP)-south of St. Lawrence Island (SLI), DBO2 (Chirikov)-north of SLI, DBO3 (southern Chukchi Sea), DBO4-NE Chukchi Sea,and DBO5-Barrow Canyon. This data has been collected and submitted as part of the Distributed Biological Observatory (DBO) program. Data were originally collected as part of the Chukshi Sea Environmental Studies Program (CSESP), headed by Tom Weingartner (tjweingartner @alaska.edu). Conductivity-Temperature-Depth (CTD) data were taken aboard the Westward Wind. During this cruise, data were taken along the established repeat hydrography transect, DBO4. Throughout the duration of this cruise, the DBO4 section was sampled three times. There are 16 cnv data files in total, containing the following parameters: pressure, depth, temperature, conductivity, oxygen, fluorescence, practical salinity, density, and potential temperature.
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