Expressions of Intent for International Polar Year 2007-2008 Activities

Expression of Interest Details

PROPOSAL INFORMATION

Circulation and heat, salt, and oxygen budgets in the polar marginal sea-ice zone  (Under-Sea-Ice Floats USIF)

Outline
In recent years there has been a great increase in both the quality and quantity of real-time observations of the large-scale ocean circulation. The information derived from satellites and basin-scale arrays of drifters, moored buoys, and floats, used in conjunction with modern data assimilation techniques, offers the promise of significant improvement in models of the global ocean circulation, with reliable forecasts of the general circulation eventually becoming possible. But even with such advancements in our observational capabilities, there are significant expanses of the global ocean that remain very poorly explored. One of the most important of these is the seasonal ice zone, for example around Greenland and the Antarctic continent, a region where physical, chemical and biological properties of the water column are strongly altered, producing potentially global-scale effects. Ice cover has been examined extensively in recent years from satellites, but the evolution of the water masses near and under the seasonal ice, the heat and freshwater fluxes to and from lower latitudes, and the physical and chemical nature of ocean/atmosphere/sea ice interactions in the region remain poorly understood. In this document we outline our proposal to carry out a program of observations and data analysis using specially-equipped profiling floats in the seasonal sea-ice region of the Polar Oceans, a project that we believe will help to develop the capabilities of profiling float technology in ice-covered domains and will lead to major improvements in our understanding of wintertime processes occurring near and under the seasonal ice.

What significant advance(s) in relation to the IPY themes and targets can be anticipated from this project?
A new program of measurements in a poorly known part of the polar system

What international collaboration is involved in this project?
A strong collaboration is anticipated with AWI, which has already begun a preliminary deployment of floats under ice.

FIELD ACTIVITY DETAILS

Geographical location(s) for the proposed field activities:
Initial proposals have been constructed for the region of the Ross Gyre, and work in the Weddell Sea in conjunction with AWI is anticipated; however, other areas including off Greenland have been recognized as important locations for study.

Approximate timeframe(s) for proposed field activities:
Arctic: 07-08            
Antarctic: 07-08            

Significant facilities will be required for this project:
Normally float deployments are made from ships of opportunity; so numerous international cruises can be utilized for this effort.

Will the project leave a legacy of infrastructure?
Yes, in the form of a maintained system of under-ice floats, at some level appropriate to the region and impact of the measurements.

How is it envisaged that the required logistic support will be secured?
Consortium
Own national polar operator
Another national polar operator
National agency
Commercial operator

Has the project been "endorsed" at a national or international level?
The importance of sea-ice zone observations has been noted in numerous documents including IPY themes. They are fundamental elements of the International CASO and SASSI programs

PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND STRUCTURE

Is the project a short-term expansion (over the IPY 2007-2008 timeframe) of an existing plan, programme or initiative or is it a new autonomous proposal?
New

CASO and SASSI include this element but it has initially been proposed independently.

How will the project be organised and managed?
Oversight of sustained coverage would be through the CLIVAR/CliC/SCAR Southern Ocean Panel and related organizations for the Arctic.

What are the initial plans of the project for addressing the education, outreach and communication issues outlined in the Framework document?

What are the initial plans of the project to address data management issues (as outlined in the Framework document?
Anticipated to follow the ARGO pattern once past initial trials

How is it proposed to fund the project?
National agencies

Is there additional information you wish to provide?
Our float array will be capable of collecting thousands of high quality profiles over a wide geographical region and over the course of multiple complete annual cycles and is a cost effective method of sampling space-time variability of the water properties and circulation of polar oceanic gyres. Since 2001 the float group at UW (S. Riser, PI) has had an Office of Naval Research grant through the National Ocean Partnership Program (NOPP) to carry out a series of technical improvements and additions to profiling float technology, including oxygen sensors and Iridium technology.

PROPOSER DETAILS

Kevin Speer
Florida State University
Call St.
Tallahassee, Florida, USA
32306
USA

Tel: 850-644-6700
Mobile: no
Fax: no
Email:

Other project members and their affiliation