SIZRS Collaboration Team: Next-Generation UpTempO buoys for Persistent Sampling of the Arctic s Seasonal Ice Zone
Abstract
SIZRS (Seasonal Ice Zone ie SIZ Reconnaissance Surveys) is an integrated observation, analysis, and modeling program to better und erstand and predict the evolution of the Arctics SIZ, using monthly Coast Guard flights over the Alaskan Beaufort Sea during June - October. This proposal is a renewal of the ocean surface drifting buoy component of SIZRS. This component has the objective to prov ide the only between-flight persistent observations, focusing on providing real time (via the Global Telecommunications Service) upp er ocean temperature and salinity. Our UpTempO (Upper Temperature of the Arctic Ocean) buoys provide a unique resource to understand the research problems of air-sea heat fluxes and upper ocean mixing in the SIZ, and to validate and improve global gridded sea surf ace temperature and salinity (SST and SSS) data sets in the Arctic Seas. Our technical approach is to continue improve this technolo gy, with smaller, cheaper components that last longer than ever before. Over the next three years, we will also add new thrusts in o bserving early summer upper ocean heat content and stratification and their roles in sea ice retreat, partly in collaboration with o ther SIZRS PIs. To that end, we will continue to deploy our buoys with the USCG, but will also (for the first time) deploy buoys in areas with early ice retreat (e.g., eastern Beaufort Sea, Chukchi Sea) in collaboration with the ICE-PPR and Arctic Heat projects. T hese areas remain warm through the fall, so that our data will also be used to better understand fall ice advance. These activities will be enhanced by the deployment of additional buoys that focus on the ocean surface, i.e., (i) simplified versions of existing SV P-S buoys that measure SST and SSS, and (ii) new microbuoys that we will develop that will be very small (1 liter volume), low-pow er, and inexpensive, for measuring SST, SSS, and ocean surface waves. We will also initiate a new collaboration with Navy and NOAA n umerical modelers, in collaboration with other SIZRS PIs, to quantify the value of our observations in sea ice forecasting at daily to seasonal time scales. The anticipated outcomes of this research will be (i) new technologies to measure ocean surface properties, (ii) a deeper understanding of upper ocean evolution in the SIZ, and (iii) a quantitative estimate of the value of our observations in sea ice prediction.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Sep 07, 2021
- Source ID
- N000142112868
Entities
People
- Michael A. Steele
Organizations
- Office of Naval Research
- United States Navy
- University of Washington