Warming and irradiance Measurement (WARM) buoys deployed in Canada Basin and Chukchi Shelf, Arctic Ocean, 2019

• Main Authors: Hill, Victoria, Steele, Mike, Light, Bonnie
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: NSF Arctic Data Center 2020
• Subjects: photosynthetically available radiation; sea ice; irradiance; ocean temperature; Arctic; Arctic Ocean; Canada; Chukchi Shelf; Beaufort Sea; canada basin; Chukchi; ice pack; Phytoplankton; Sea ice; Zooplankton
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.18739/a2h70817c; https://arcticdata.io/catalog/view/doi:10.18739/A2H70817C

The Warming and irradiance Measurement (WARM) buoy collects measurements of light, temperature, salinity and phytoplankton abundance under the Arctic sea ice. The Arctic ice pack has suffered continued thinning and reduction in seasonal extent, resulting in changes to the amount of sunlight penetrating through the ice and into the ocean beneath, having consequences for the physical and biological environment. Sunlight absorbed by the ocean under the ice causes warming, which can lead to accelerated ice melt resulting in even more sunlight reaching the ocean. In addition, warmer water also affects living organisms, influencing the ability of Arctic adapted species to survive, and possibly promoting the northward advancement of sub-Arctic species. Thinner ice also increases light available for photosynthesis, affecting the timing of phytoplankton blooms. If phytoplankton growth occurs early in the season then zooplankton, the organisms that feed on them can miss the bloom with consequences for the entire food web of the Arctic. This project aims to provide observations to help determine how the under-ice environment is changing by using autonomous buoys which overcome the limitations of ship-based observations. The buoys have proven to be very robust and can survive for approximately one year, providing hourly observations which will be available in near-real time to the research community and interested public parties. The buoys will be deployed in early spring in the western Beaufort Sea, with anticipated drift west over the Chukchi Shelf. This dataset includes data from an ice-tethered buoy deployed on Arctic sea ice in March 2019. Data measured include, Photosynthetically available radiation, temperature, and chlorophyll. A sidekick was deployed coincidently with the buoy and measured surface Photosynthetically available radiation