Coordination, Data Management and Enhancement of the International Arctic Buoy Programme

University Of Washington, Seattle WA

Investigators

Abstract

Dramatic changes in Arctic climate have occurred during the past two decades. Many of these changes were first observed and studied using data from the International Arctic Buoy Program (IABP), which maintains at least 100 buoys in the Arctic Ocean that collect data on surface water temperature, air temperature, atmospheric pressure, and ice motion. These data are analyzed and made available to the research community by the United States IABP. IABP data were fundamental in demonstrating that atmospheric pressure has decreased, air temperature has increased, and the clockwise circulation of current and ice in the Arctic Ocean has weakened in recent decades. The integrated effect of all these changes contributed to the precipitous decrease in the average age (thickness) of sea ice observed during this period. The data help us understand the recent record low summer sea ice extents. The project will continue the United States interagency Arctic buoy program which began collecting data in 1979 and provide critical atmospheric, ice, and surface ocean measurements that cannot be obtained by other means. The project also has a multifaceted outreach program to share science with the public that includes the principal investigator participating in programs such as the Polar Science Weekend, public presentations, K-12 school visits, and public communication through interactions with journalists. The observations from the IABP have been essential for: 1) monitoring Arctic and global climate change, 2) forecasting weather and sea ice conditions, 3) forcing, assimilation, and validation of global weather and climate models and, 4) validation of satellite derived estimates of sea ice motion, surface temperature, sea ice thickness, etc. Our ability to predict weather and sea ice conditions requires in situ observations of surface meteorology and ice motion. These observations are assimilated into Numerical Weather Prediction models that are used to forecast weather on synoptic time scales, e.g. by the National Weather Service; and into the many long-term atmospheric re-analyses (e.g. National Centers for Environmental Prediction/National Center for Atmospheric Research re-analysis) that are used for innumerable climate studies. Based on a recommendation by the National Academy of Sciences in 1974, the Arctic Ocean Buoy Program was established by the Pacific Science Center/Applied Physics laboratory, University of Washington, in 1978 to support the Global Weather Experiment. The program continued through 1990 under funding from various agencies. In 1991, the IABP succeeded the Arctic Ocean Buoy Program, but the basic objective remains unchanged: maintaining a network of drifting buoys on the Arctic Ocean to provide meteorological and oceanographic data for real-time operational requirements and research purposes including support to the World Climate Research Program, the World Weather Watch Program, and the Arctic Observing Network. The project will collect data from all Arctic buoys, analyze, disseminate, and archive all IABP data, and maintain historical data bases.