Environmental Measurements in the Beaufort Sea, Spring 1988

• Main Authors: Wen, T., Felton, W. J., Luby, J. C., Fox, W. L., Kientz, K. L.
• Other Authors: WASHINGTON UNIV SEATTLE APPLIED PHYSICS LAB
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 1989
• Subjects: Meteorology; Physical and Dynamic Oceanography; Snow; Ice and Permafrost; Acoustics; *SEA WATER; *SEA ICE; *UNDERWATER SOUND; DENSITY; TEMPERATURE; OCEAN WAVES; ENVIRONMENTS; WEATHER; CRACKS; ATMOSPHERIC TEMPERATURE; ELECTRICAL CONDUCTIVITY; METEOROLOGICAL DATA; OCEANOGRAPHIC DATA; DRIFT; ICE; SOUND TRANSMISSION; PRESSURE; WIND DIRECTION; ACOUSTIC MEASUREMENT; WIND VELOCITY; ROTATION; AMBIENT NOISE; UNDERWATER ACOUSTICS; ACOUSTIC DATA; NOISE(SOUND); MARINE BIOLOGICAL NOISE; RIDGES; BEAUFORT SEA; SOURCES; SPRING SEASON; TEST AND EVALUATION; THERMAL PROPERTIES; ICEX 1-88 PROJECT; ICE FLOES; Beaufort Sea; Ice; permafrost; Prudhoe Bay; Sea ice
• Online Access: http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA209675; http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA209675

This report presents environmental data taken in the spring of 1988: Ice camp APLIS was established and maintained by personnel from the Applied Physics Lab. Univ. of Washington, to support Navy sponsored research and test activities conducted in ICEX 1-88. The environmental data - weather, floe drift, CTD profiles, ice properties, and underwater noise - were gathered primarily to support the analysis of acoustic data obtained by ICEX 1-88 participants. The camp was established on a multiyear floe approximately 350 km north of Prudhoe Bay. The floe was occupied for seven weeks and evacuated on 25 April upon successful completion of test and research objectives. During the period, the floe drifted westward 155 km, driven mainly by the wind. A small amount of rotation accompanied the drift. The camp was established at the edge of a refrozen lead. Multiyear pressure ridges and rubble fields surrounded the lead and the camp. Weather information on air temperature and pressure and on wind direction and speed was recorded several times daily. Many of the research activities at the ice camp involved underwater acoustic propagation. Underwater ambient noise affected the quality of the acoustic data gathered. Sources of the noise included thermal cracking of the ice, ridging, wind-generated waves at open leads, and biological organisms.