Environment Canada

Participant Report for IABP-18Toulouse, June 2008

Edward Hudson

Arctic Meteorologist: International Polar Year and Marine

EC Status 10 June 2008:

Ten project “627” buoys

All ICEX

Six project

“633” buoys

Four ICEX buoys have been made available for this year’s White Trident Exercise

Two ICEX buoys are being ordered for 2009.

Norwegian Meteorological Office continues to help with EC’s purchase of ICEX buoys. We appreciate it.

Making his 3rd appearance for EC, Jan Mostrum, Norwegian Meteorological Institute, certified delivery of the 4 MSC ICEX buoys at CMI 28 March 2008

Topic B – Deployments since IABP-17

Buoy deployments since June 2007 IABP-17 Washington meeting Buoy deployments since June 2007 IABP-17 Washington meeting

August 2006 White Trident – Seven of the ICEX-AIR buoysdeployed during the August 2007 White Trident exercise werefunded by MSC. Status – Six of the 7 are currently operational. The western-most

deployed buoy failed during the period mid November to mid

December 2007 in the area of 85.4 North 146 West.

Buoys-on-Ice 2008 a success: Deployment flight 4 April

Photos courtesy MSC Technician Rich DeVall

o Buoys provided by US National Ice Centre / University of Washington Polar Science Centero Flying hours funded by Polar Continental Shelf Project

Metocean Ice beaconMetocean SVP(two deployed)

Topic C: IABP Awareness and Business Activities

IABP Brochures and Posters IABP Brochures and Posters IABP poster presented at SAON Workshop, 9-11 April, Edmonton.

IABP Chairman’s – Coordinators Report for DBCPMeeting, La Jolia, California, October 2006 IABP Chairman’s – Coordinators Report for DBCPMeeting, La Jolia, California, October 2006 Submitted IABP “doc” report to DCBP. Contributed to PowerPoint for IABP Coordinator Ignatius Rigor for presentation at the DBCP meeting

White Trident letter White Trident letter Letter and deployment plan for WT 2008 sent to US Naval Oceanographic Command

Topic D – O-Buoy

Courtesy Jan Bottenheim, 11 June 2008.

O- Buoy - Buoy for measurement of some key atmospheric components: O3, BrO, and CO2.  

Funding and PI’s - Funding comes primarily from Environment Canada and the U.S. National Science Foundation. PI’s are:

Jan Bottenheim (Environment Canada)        Udo Friess (University of Heidelberg)    Patricia Matrai (Bigelow Laboratory, lead PI)    Don Perovich (CRREL)        Paul Shepson (Purdue University) and     Bill Simpson (University of Alaska Fairbanks)

Buoy top - Per figure: iridium transmitter, GPS, MAX-DOAS scan head,

temperature and wind measuring devices and air sampling intake.

Buoy bottom - in the ice / possibly extending into ocean houses chemical

sensors, data and control systems, and batteries.  Power will be available from a combination of Li batteries during dark period of year, and rechargeable batteries during the light part of year (solar power for recharging).  With all systems operating power consumption is well over 10 Watt, so a large effort is devoted towards designing an optimum operating schedule that will permit at least one year of operation.  Chemical instrumentation includes sensors for ozone (2B-technologies), bromine oxide (MAX-DOAS, home made by U Alaska/U Heidelberg), and carbon dioxide (MBARI).

Data feed - Data will be uploaded daily to a central server via Iridium (data files too large for other communication systems).

 

Schedule - Fully assembled O-buoy currently being tested in cold room at CRREL. EWill be field tested this winter at Barrow AK.  Barring major problems, first actual deployment (part of Canadian IPY program OASIS-CANADA) anticipated for sometime 2009. 

Topic E – History for our buoy future

Buoys such as those deployed 20 years ago give an indication of the practicality of designing buoys for use in the “expanding” SSIZ (Seasonal Sea Ice Zone) with the capability to survive and operate after freeze-up . Dr. Humfrey Melling, Institute of Ocean Sciences, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, launched 10 buoys in the Beaufort in August 1988: 4 came ashore before freeze-up, 2 continued to operate for only 3-4 days after freeze-up on October 16 (although a single transmission was received from one of these in late January), and 4 continued to operate for many months after freeze-up. Two were in fast ice and 2 in pack ice. One failed in March (low battery) and the other three continued until battery depletion in mid summer.

-150 -146 -142 -138 -134 -130 -126 -122 -118

Longitude

69

70

71

72

73

Lat

itude

B uoys S urv iv ing F reeze-up 1988-893 8 5 9 in o p e n wa te r

3 8 6 0 in o p e n wa te r

Drift a fte r fre e ze -u p

12-Aug-88

20-Sep-88

28-Sep-88

4-O ct-88

20-Nov-88

31-O ct-88

21-O ct-88

13-Jan-89

11-Jul-89

28-Jul-897-Aug-89

20-Sep-88

28-Sep-88

11-O ct-88

2-Nov-88

5-Jan-89

28-Feb-89

18-Apr-89

26-Jul-89

Buoyant fiberglass hull is flattened ellipsoid

Courtesy Humfrey Melling, email, 12 June 2008

Melling:Beaufort 1988 Program

The drifting buoy is a flattened ellipsoid constructed of fibreglass, 0.6m in diameter; the net buoyancy is about 43kg; the water line coincides roughly with the equator of the buoy, where the two hemispheres comprising it are joined; manufacture was by Hermes Electronics, Ltd., of Dartmouth, N.S. The drifter was equipped with an aluminum stand/frame to facilitate deck handling before deployment, a 10m floating recovery line, and an Novatech RF200 beacon (operating at 130 MHz) to facilitate recovery. The drogue was Dacron, 5m in length, tapering from 0.6m diameter at the top to 0.3m diameter at the bottom, weighted and perforated with 0.3m diameter holes in several places (manufacture by Oceanetic Limited)

The drogues of drifters 1291, 1293, 1296, 3859, 3860, 3861, 3862 were attachedto the buoy stand, and spanned the range 0-5m. The drogues of drifters 1290, 1292, 1294, 1295 were attached at the end of a tether line 15m in length, and spanned the range 15-20m.

Buoyant fiberglass hull is flattened ellipsoid

Topic F – Plans

Meteorological Service of Canada action plan : Meteorological Service of Canada action plan :

Participate in the annual White Trident Exercise by funding two ICEX AIR buoys as long as WT continues. Additional buoys past 2 years - and this year - were an IPY contribution

Continue annual late March or early April Twin Otter landing-on-ice deployment out of Eureka contingent on Polar Continental Shelf Project contributing Twin Otter flying hours and the U.S. or other IABP Participants providing buoys to deploy

Work with IABP Coordinator to prepare IABP Chairman / Coordinators report and PowerPoint for annual DBCP meeting.

Consider buoys that float and can survive the freeze thaw cycle

Maintain focus on buoys for operational meteorological purposes: surface air pressure and surface air temperature

Deploy SVP with wind in Canadian Beaufort from icebreaker Wilfrid Laurier end September

Yellowknife

I’ve run out of slides !