Author(s): Chris Polashenski; Don Perovich; Jackie Richter-Menge; Bruce Elder
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Abstract: The Arctic sea ice cover has undergone dramatic changes over the past several decades, decreasing in extent, thickness and perennial ice fraction. Autonomous ice mass balance buoys have provided insight into the causes of these decreases, but current buoys were designed for deployment in perennial ice. The shift to seasonal ice in large portions of the Arctic has limited the deployment opportunities for these buoys. We have responded to the need for an autonomous ice mass balance buoy capable of operating in thin ice or open water by creating a new system based on a spar buoy type design. The buoy hull is designed to float upright with a strong righting moment, enabling it to operate without the support of a surrounding ice cover. The design features acoustic sensors above and below the ice which measure surface and bottom position, providing a means to ca lculate snow depth, ice thickness, ice growth, surface melt, and bottom melt. The buoy also includes a thermistor string which measures the vertical profile of air-snow-ice-ocean temperature, a barometer, a GPS, and an Iridium transmitter to send data back from the field. Additional sensors can be added for specialized studies. Results from deployments in the seasonal ice zone of the Beaufort Sea are presented.
Year: 2010