HR: 0800h
AN: OS41A-0464    [Abstracts]
TI: The North Pole Environmental Observatory: A Community Resource for Tracking Change in the Arctic Marine Environment
AU: * Morison, J
EM: morison@apl.washington.edu
AF: Polar Science Center APL-UW, 1013 NE 40th St, Seattle, WA 98105 United States
AU: Aagaard, K
EM: aagaard@apl.washington.edu
AF: Polar Science Center APL-UW, 1013 NE 40th St, Seattle, WA 98105 United States
AU: Falkner, K
EM: kfalkner@coas.oregonstate.edu
AF: Oregon State University, 104 Ocean Admin Bldg, Corvallis, OR 97331-5503 United States
AU: Kikuchi, T
EM: takashik@jamstec.go.jp
AF: Japan Marine Science and Technology Center (JAMSTEC), 2-15 Natsushima-Cho, Yokosuka, 237-0061 Japan
AU: McPhee, M
EM: mmcphee@starband.net
AF: McPhee Research Co., 450 Clover Springs Road, Naches, WA 98937 United States
AU: Moritz, D
EM: dickm@apl.washington.edu
AF: Polar Science Center APL-UW, 1013 NE 40th St, Seattle, WA 98105 United States
AU: Overland, J
EM: james.e.overland@noaa.gov
AF: NOAA/PMEL, 7600 Sand Point Way, Seattle, WA 98115-0070 United States
AU: Stanton, T
EM: stanton@nps.edu
AF: Naval Postgraduate School, 1 University Circle, Monterey, CA 93943 United States
AU: Steele, M
EM: mas@apl.washington.edu
AF: Polar Science Center APL-UW, 1013 NE 40th St, Seattle, WA 98105 United States
AB: The North Pole Environmental Observatory (NPEO) was first established in 2000 as means of long-term tracking of change in the central Arctic Basin. The multiple investigators of NPEO intend the site to provide information and field research opportunities to a broad range of investigators. It is not limited to a single location, but is a distributed observatory consisting of three parts: an automated drifting station installed near the Pole that samples air-ice-ocean conditions as it drifts across the Amundsen and Nansen basins to Fram Strait, a deep ocean mooring approximately 25 km from the Pole; and repeated airborne hydrographic surveys that track changes along key sections radiating from the Pole. The North Pole region is sensitive to a changing Arctic climate. In the 1990's hydrographic data gathered in the area showed a strong increase in upper ocean salinity associated with a more cyclonic Arctic Ocean circulation. They also showed a large increase in Atlantic Water temperatures at depth. The decrease in sea ice thickness up through the `90s has also been apparent at the Pole. Hydrographic measurements made by the NPEO have shown that the conditions since 2000 have tended to relax toward pre-1990 climatology but that the changes still partly persist, particularly at deeper depths. The moored records from the first three years show both multi-year trends and rapid changes. These suggest a close connection of the interior ocean that overlies the abyssal plain with the boundary current that rings the Eurasian Basin. Atmospheric and ice measurements show a mix of 1990s like conditions and a return to climatology. For example, while 2003 shows a minimum ice extent in the Beaufort Sea, the North Pole region had a particularly cold summer. NPEO is scheduled to continue through 2008 and we hope this presentation will encourage other investigators to take advantage of the opportunities it provides. The automated drifting station and its installation provide opportunities for others to test new instrument designs and automated platforms in the presence of a wealth of background observations at minimal incremental logistics cost. The North Pole mooring provides a unique view of the Arctic Ocean from the surface to the sea floor. The array is well suited for additional instrumentation that will broaden that view, including measurements from other disciplines. The hydrographic sections provide opportunities for added sampling and drifting buoy deployments. We make data from NPEO available to the research community available as rapidly as possible.
UR: http://psc.apl.washington.edu/northpole/index.html
DE: 4207 Arctic and Antarctic oceanography
DE: 4540 Ice mechanics and air/sea/ice exchange processes
DE: 4572 Upper ocean processes
DE: 1610 Atmosphere (0315, 0325)
DE: 1635 Oceans (4203)
SC: Ocean Sciences [OS]
MN: 2004 AGU Fall Meeting