Environmental Measurements in the Beaufort Sea, Spring 1986

• Main Authors: Garrison, G. R., Wen, T., Francois, R. E., Felton, W. J., Welch, M. L.
• Other Authors: WASHINGTON UNIV SEATTLE APPLIED PHYSICS LAB
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 1987
• Subjects: Meteorology; Physical and Dynamic Oceanography; Acoustics; *OCEANOGRAPHIC DATA; *UNDERWATER ACOUSTICS; *ACOUSTIC DATA; *METEOROLOGICAL DATA; WEATHER; ATMOSPHERIC TEMPERATURE; ELECTRICAL CONDUCTIVITY; VARIATIONS; ICE; PULSES; ACOUSTIC MEASUREMENT; LEVEL(QUANTITY); WIND VELOCITY; ACOUSTIC SIGNALS; ACOUSTIC SCATTERING; SEA WATER; OCEAN ENVIRONMENTS; UNDERWATER SOUND; BACKGROUND NOISE; ARCTIC REGIONS; NOISE(SOUND); MARINE BIOLOGICAL NOISE; BEAUFORT SEA; STABILITY; TEMPERATURE; SPRING SEASON; SOURCES; DENSITY; SEA WATER TEMPERATURE; ELECTRICAL DENSITY; PE62435N; Arctic; Beaufort Sea
• Online Access: http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA229173; http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA229173

This report presents environmental data taken in the spring of 1986 at ice camp APLIS in the Beaufort Sea, where research and test activities were conducted by many research organizations as part of ICEX 1-86. The environmental measurements were as part of the APL arctic environmental acoustics program. Weather data (air temperature and pressure, wind velocity and direction) were recorded hourly. The weather records show the high variability of arctic weather, with temperatures from -40 F to +10 F. During setup of the camp, before formal weather recording was begun, overnight temperatures as low as -45 F were observed. To study water properties, CTD casts were taken from the camp to a depth of 300 m once or twice each day. To detect biological scattering layers, acoustic pulses were transmitted downward through the water column. The underwater noise level during camp operations was monitored every day or so. The general background noise was difficult to relate to specific noise sources. The general stability of the floe and surroundings led to a decrease in the noise level compared with the fall of 1984.