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Sea ice drift tracks from autonomous buoys in the MOSAiC Distributed Network
Angela C Bliss1, Jennifer K Hutchings2, Daniel M Watkins3
1NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Cryospheric Sciences Laboratory, Greenbelt, Maryland, 20771, USA. angela.c.bliss@nasa.gov.
Scientific Data
|June 23, 2023
Summary
Autonomous buoys tracked Arctic sea ice motion for a year during the Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate (MOSAiC) experiment. This dataset provides valuable insights into sea ice dynamics at various scales.
Area of Science:
- * Arctic Oceanography
- * Sea Ice Physics
- * Climate Science
Background:
- * The Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate (MOSAiC) aimed to study the Arctic climate system.
- * A distributed network (DN) of instruments, including buoys, was crucial for comprehensive data collection.
- * Understanding sea ice drift is vital for climate modeling and predicting Arctic environmental changes.
Purpose of the Study:
- * To deploy and maintain a network of autonomous, ice-tethered GPS buoys around the MOSAiC experiment.
- * To collect year-long sea ice drift data covering a full growth and melt cycle.
- * To provide a quality-controlled dataset of buoy drift tracks for scientific analysis.
Main Methods:
- * Deployment of 116 GPS buoys within a 40 km radius of the MOSAiC Central Observatory in September 2019.
- * Continuous data collection and additional buoy deployments to ensure year-round coverage.
- * Assembly and processing of GPS position data into 216 quality-controlled buoy drift tracks.
Main Results:
- * Successful year-long operation of the buoy network, capturing sea ice motion.
- * Collection of 216 processed buoy drift tracks from September 2019 to May 2021.
- * Data covers a full sea ice growth and melt cycle within the Arctic Transpolar Drift Stream.
Conclusions:
- * The dataset provides a comprehensive record of sea ice drift around the MOSAiC experiment.
- * The drift tracks are suitable for studying sea ice dynamics at scales from meters to hundreds of kilometers.
- * This data will enhance research on Arctic sea ice behavior and its role in the climate system.
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