UpTempO: Measuring the Upper Layer Temperature of the Arctic Ocean

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This project will continue the development and deployment of UpTempO buoys in the Arctic Ocean. UpTempO buoys float at the ocean surface, equipped with (i) a sea level pressure sensor, (ii) a 60 m long string of 12 thermistors, and (iii) two ocean pressure sensors at 20 m and 60 m depth. In this next phase of the project, the research team will improve the buoy by adding a high precision conductivity/temperature pair near the surface on some buoys, which will provide calibration data as well as the first-ever Lagrangian near-surface salinity data in the rapidly freshening Arctic Ocean. They will also make several technical improvements, including the use of inductive modem technology which provides for a more flexible architecture. Two ?short? buoys will be built per year, for deployment in the Chukchi Sea. Data are recorded hourly, uploaded in near real time to the Iridium satellite communications network and then downloaded to the Global Telecommunications System (GTS) and to the investigators' local web site which is linked to national data centers. Buoy deployment uses existing assets such ship cruises planned as part of other projects. This project addresses several major targeted questions such as, ?What is the impact of warming and reduced sea ice cover on the physical marine system?? And ?Is the sea ice/ocean system undergoing an ?unprecedented transition into a different regime??, observing priorities such as to ?observe the energy balance of the atmospheric and oceanic boundary layers?, and high-priority regions (e.g, the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas) identified in the ?Observing Ocean and Sea Ice? 2005 SEARCH Implementation Workshop. The team will plan a major new exhibit about polar buoys to be shown at (i) the annual Polar Science Weekend at Seattle?s Pacific Science Center and (ii) a new Portal to Current Research season-long exhibit to be developed as part of this project, in collaboration with the PacSciCenter.