The Arctic Environmental Drifting Buoy (AEDB) Report of Field Operations and Results: August 1987 - April 1988

• Main Authors: Honjo, Susumu, Krishfield, Richard, Plueddemann, Albert
• Other Authors: WOODS HOLE OCEANOGRAPHIC INSTITUTION MA
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 1990
• Subjects: Physical and Dynamic Oceanography; Snow; Ice and Permafrost; *OCEANOGRAPHIC DATA; *SEA ICE; TEMPERATURE; OCEAN CURRENTS; DATA TRANSMISSION SYSTEMS; SPHERES; ICE FORMATION; SURFACES; DRIFT; PROFILES; THERMISTORS; ICE; COVERINGS; DOPPLER SYSTEMS; HEAT FLUX; SEA WATER; FLOWMETERS; INTERNAL WAVES; ARCTIC REGIONS; ACOUSTIC DETECTORS; BUOYS; MOORING; OCEANOGRAPHIC EQUIPMENT; UNDERICE; VELOCITY; POSITION(LOCATION); AEDB(ARCTIC ENVIRONMENTAL DRIFTING BUOYS); ADCP(ACOUSTIC DOPPLER CURRENT PROFILERS); Arctic; Greenland; Yermak Plateau; Fram Strait; Ice; permafrost; Sea ice; Yermak plateau
• Online Access: http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA223243; http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA223243

We deployed an AEDB on 4 August 1987 at 86 deg 7' N, 22 deg 3' E on a large 3.7 m thick ice island. Major components were a 147 cm diameter surface float housing ARGOS transmitters and a data logger for ice-profiling thermistors, and a 125 m long mooring line attached to the sphere and fed through a 1 m diameter ice hole. Along the mooring were deployed 2 fluorometers, conductivity and temperature loggers, an Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP), a current meter, and a time-series sediment trap/micro-filter pump/ transmissometer unit. The AEDB proceeded southwesterly with the Transpolar Drift at an average speed of 15.3 km/day, with a maximum speed of 88.8 km/day. On 2 Jan 1988, the AEDB dropped into the water while passing through the Fram Strait and for the remaining drift period was either free-floating on the water surface or underneath sea ice. Throughout this period, the transmitters onboard successfully transmitted position, temperature, and strain caused by ice on the sphere. Although the sediment trap package was lost, valuable data was collected by the other instruments throughout the experiment. The ice thermistor data was used to determine oceanic heat flux, while continuous ADCP observations over the Yermak Plateau provided a wealth of information for understanding internal waves in the ice-covered ocean. The buoy was recovered on 15 April 1988 at 65 deg 17' N, 31 deg 38' w, off southeastern Greenland, completing 3,900 km of drift in 255 days. (EDC)