Collaborative Research: A Modular Approach to Building an Arctic Observing System for the IPY and Beyond in the Switchyard Region of the Arctic Ocean

Funds are provided for the design, development, and implementation of a component of an Arctic Ocean Observing System in the Switchyard region of the Arctic Ocean (north of Greenland and Nares Strait) that will serve the scientific studies developed for the IPY (International Polar Year), SEARCH (Study of Environmental ARctic Change), and related programs. The defining elements of the System are: (1) a multi-platform design, (2) combination of proven technology with adaptation of innovative, highly promising, new tools for operation under sea ice cover that are considered to be future backbones of a quasi-permanent, pan-Arctic Ocean System, (3) a modular approach that allows expansion of the system to a pan-Arctic scale, and (4) ongoing refinement of the design through evaluation of combined data and modeling results.

Specifically, the project will continue and expand two aircraft-based sections between Alert and the North Pole for long-term observation of hydrographic properties and a set of tracers aimed at resolving relative age structure (CFC's, tritium/3He) and freshwater components (18O and Ba) in the upper water column, utilizing the Arctic CTD/rosette system. This modular system is deployed through a 12" hole drilled through the sea ice and traces temperature, salinity, and dissolved oxygen, while at the same time allowing the collection of up to 12 water samples. The study also will continue one helicopter section across the shelf slope just west of Nares Strait to capture the structure and transport of the water masses coming around the Canadian Basin on their way to Nares and Fram Straits. To complete the quantitative assessment of the transport of the water masses from the Canadian Basin towards Nares Strait and Fram Strait, a set of 7 new, low-cost, lightweight moorings will be deployed across the shelf just west of Nares Strait to separate the individual transports through these straits. Finally, the planned in situ observations will be augmented by satellite-derived observations of the sea ice motion and mass budget.