Collaborative Research: The WArming and irRadiance Measurement (WARM) buoy: Assessing the role of solar energy in heating, photosynthesis, and photo-oxidation in the upper Arctic

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The WARM buoy collects measurements of light, temperature, salinity and phytoplankton abundance under the Arctic sea ice. The Arctic ice pack has suffered continued thinning and reduction in seasonal extent, resulting in changes to the amount of sunlight penetrating through the ice and into the ocean beneath, having consequences for the physical and biological environment. Sunlight absorbed by the ocean under the ice causes warming, which can lead to accelerated ice melt resulting in even more sunlight reaching the ocean. In addition, warmer water also affects living organisms, influencing the ability of Arctic adapted species to survive, and possibly promoting the northward advancement of sub-Arctic species. Thinner ice also increases light available for photosynthesis, affecting the timing of phytoplankton blooms. If phytoplankton growth occurs early in the season then zooplankton, the organisms that feed on them can miss the bloom with consequences for the entire food web of the Arctic. This project aims to provide observations to help determine how the under-ice environment is changing by using autonomous buoys which overcome the limitations of ship-based observations. The buoys have proven to be very robust and can survive for approximately one year, providing hourly observations which will be available in near-real time to the research community and interested public parties. The buoys will be deployed in early spring in the western Beaufort Sea, with anticipated drift west over the Chukchi Shelf. This project will continue the WARM buoy initiative by improving the existing design to include increased vertical resolution of temperature and light measurements, the addition of salinity measurement to enable water mass identification, and a second fluorometer to identify sinking phytoplankton biomass. The data collected will provide a time series of important physical and biogeochemical properties over a complete seasonal cycle. It will enable us to address questions related to the effects of a thinner and more open ice pack on the absorption of solar radiation, ocean heating, the phenology of pelagic primary production, and carbon cycling. The buoys have proven to be very robust and can survive for approximately one year, providing hourly observations which will be available in near real time to the research community and interested public parties. The buoys will be deployed in early spring in the western Beaufort Sea, with anticipated drift west over the Chukchi Shelf. The Arctic ice pack acts as a barrier controlling the availability of UV and visible light to the water column. Continued thinning and reduction of seasonal Arctic ice has resulted in alterations in the timing and magnitude of solar radiation penetrating the upper Arctic Ocean. Amplification of solar radiation absorption into the ocean acts to warm and stratify the surface layer, which can induce further ice retreat and delay fall freeze-up. Resulting thermal stratification affects the ecosystem by limiting vertical replenishment of nutrients with a direct consequence on the magnitude of primary production. A warmer water column can also play a fundamental role in setting thresholds for the abundance and distribution of plankton communities, affecting trophic efficiency and promoting the northward advancement of sub-Arctic species. Thinner ice increases the light available for photosynthesis and net primary production, affecting the timing of primary production. Small timing mis-match between phytoplankton blooms and zooplankton reproductive cycles can have consequences for the entire lipid-driven Arctic marine ecosystem. Changes in the duration of UV exposure through longer open water periods has the potential to increase photochemical remineralization of terrestrial and marine organic matter and production of labile organic material that can be used by microbes. Determining the impact of solar radiation changes on warming, primary production, and photochemistry are all critical in assessing and predicting the effects of climate change on the marine carbon cycle. The measurement of these variables within and beneath the seasonal ice pack is challenging due to the limitations of ship based observations, but this can be resolved by using the autonomous WARM buoys deployed within the ice and designed to survive ice melt.