Current Synopsis:
DRAFT!! DRAFT!! DRAFT!!
Posted November 12, 2012
By Elizabeth Dobbins, Research Scientist, UAF
Final Synopsis for 2012
Solid (red) and sparse (yellow) ice from the National Ice Center's daily polar Marginal Ice Zone products, Nov. 11, 2012, and the ice categories defined by NOAA's NWS for Nov. 9, 2012. Blue thumbtacks are our drifters' locations and green thumbtacks are the original deployment locations.
The sea ice is forming in the Chukchi Sea, and so the season for field-work is ending. The coverage of the High Frequency RADAR system has been diminishing as the ocean is covered with ice; we've also had some HFR equipment failure due to high storm surges. However, we are very excited by the data we've collected this summer, especially because the area over which we measure surface currents was increased by improvments to our system. There is an archive of surface current maps.
Of 123 drifter deployments, there are currently 12 active drifters, 9 of which are PacificGyre SVP drifters drogued at 10 m. As of today, 68 deployments ended when the drifter beached and 35 ended because of drifter failure, most due to limited battery life. Only 2 of the 36 iSPHERE deployments avoided beaching, but those 2 are still transmitting.
Many of the drifters that remain are in the ice now. There seems to be a qualitative change in a drifter's motion when it is surrounded by sea ice, and it will be interesting to investigate this.
Drifter tracks along the shelfbreak, Nov. 11, 2012, and ice categories defined by NOAA's NWS for Nov. 9, 2012. Blue thumbtacks are the drifters' locations and green thumbtacks are the original deployment locations. |
Drifter tracks in the Beaufort Sea, Nov. 11, 2012, and ice categories defined by NOAA's NWS for Nov. 9, 2012. Blue thumbtacks are the drifters' locations and green thumbtacks are the original deployment locations. |
Field Ops
- HFR site will be disassembled after Thanksgiving, and stored until spring.
- Drifters (12 active drifters remain out of 123 deployments), all but 1 or 2 are in sea ice.
- Current meter moorings
News
- Researchers are using sound recordings to investigate life under the sea ice - Acoustic Sensors Give Scientists A New Perspective In The Arctic
- Sea ice in the Chukchi is forming more slowly than in other areas of the Arctic - Arctic rapidly gaining winter ice
Barrow Sea Ice Web Cam snapshot, Nov. 12, 2012