Aerial Hydrographic Surveys for IPY and Beyond: Tracking Change and Understanding Seasonal Variability

• Main Author: James Morison
• Format: Dataset
• Language: unknown
• Published: Arctic Data Center 2009
• Subjects: AON; Arctic; Arctic Ocean; Collier; North Pole; Pacific; Beaufort Sea; International Polar Year; IPY; Sea ice
• Online Access: https://search.dataone.org/view/urn:uuid:b35f5a68-662c-49f7-bef2-bc913be517dc

This collaborative project is composed of the following: 0634226 (Morison, UW, LEAD), 0634122 (Collier, Oregon State), 0634097 (McPhee, McPhee Research Company), 0633979 (Proshutinsky, Woods Hole) and 0634167 (Guay, Pacific Marine Sciences and Technology). The investigators propose to take annual springtime, large-scale airborne surveys of the Arctic Ocean. These surveys will be in two regions: the central Arctic Ocean (annual surveys), and the southern Beaufort Sea (biannual surveys). They will thus sample the two main circulation features of the Arctic Ocean, the Transpolar Drift Stream and the Beaufort Gyre. In both cases, the researchers will leverage existing operational capabilities when possible, such as the North Pole Environmental Observatory (NPEO) in the central Arctic and US Navy Ice Camps in the Beaufort Sea. The total number of stations will reach a maximum of about 25 at each location during International Polar Year (IPY), decreasing to a lower level after IPY as part of a long-term Arctic Observing Network (AON). The proposed surveys have two main goals: (a) observe Arctic Ocean change by taking sea ice and ocean sections across frontal features, and (b) advance the understanding of seasonal variability in the sea ice - upper ocean system to map the growth and melt of ice and to reduce seasonal bias in comparisons of past and future hydrographic records. The field team will complete up to five meridional sections during IPY from the North Pole south to 85N, with possible extensions. Pairs of sections will be done annually after IPY. In the Beaufort Sea, they will complete two meridional sections extending to 78N and two nearly zonal sections that will pre-sample summertime icebreaker cruise tracks. After IPY, the researchers will do a subset of sections biannually. To resolve seasonal change, station locations will be chosen to provide winters-end comparisons with summers-end measurements made by Ice Tethered Platforms (ITPs) and icebreakers. At each station, researchers will collect a variety of physical and chemical ocean data, including temperature, salinity, and dissolved oxygen using proven methods. They will expand the high-resolution chemical profiling through inclusion of a new nitrate sensing system. The researchers will also take bottle samples of tracers such as dissolved oxygen, barium, phosphate, silicate, nitrate, nitrite, ammonium, alkalinity, and oxygen isotopes. In collaboration with US and European sea-ice scientists, project scientists will acquire snow and sea ice thickness data both along the flight tracks using remote sensing and in situ observations while on station. In collaboration with US, European, and Canadian scientists, the researchers will extend their section data from the central Arctic toward the coastlines. This project, together with information from the ITPs, will give the most comprehensive, synoptic view of springtime, Arctic Ocean sea ice - ocean conditions since the Soviet airborne survey programs in the 1970s. Information from the project will effectively track Arctic Ocean change, and with corresponding summer measurements, will provide seasonal coverage with which to test system models and their ability to capture system variability. Two graduate students will receive hands-on training via this project and the public will be engaged in polar discovery through a range of activities including public lectures, K-12 presentations and various IPY activities.