Satellite-Tracked Surface Drifter Measurements off Barrow and Wainwright, Alaska
| Principal Investigators | Leandra de Sousa, Ph.D., Billy Adams |
| Collaborators | Thomas Weingartner, Ph.D.(UAF) |
| Funding | NSB Shell Baseline Studies Program |
Summary:
The purpose of this project is to assess the variability of near shore surface circulation (upper 1 meter) off the coast of Barrow and Wainwright. The North Slope Borough has jurisdiction over waters within 3 miles from its coast. With increased industrial activity in the Arctic, there is a need to understand where spilled oil might go and how quickly it will get there. Direct surface flow measurements are taken by CODE (1 meter drogue) drifters which were deployed within 3 and 10 nautical miles from shore in August 2011 during the open water season in the Arctic. These measurements will help us to better understand the flow, shear and dispersion of near shore surface currents in the Chukchi Sea.
The NSB-DWM collaborates with the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) using satellite-tracked surface drifters to better understand the nearshore surface flow of the Chukchi Sea. The data collected will help improve oil spill trajectory models and our understanding of why certain areas are important for marine mammals. Dr. Thomas Weingartner (UAF) is the consulting Physical Oceanographer on this study. Seth Danielson (UAF) is the programmer/analyst who is responsible for data processing and analyses. Drifters are manufactured in Florida by Technocean, Inc., Cape Coral, FL.
- See the map showing the location of the drifters. The two NSB-DWM drifters released from near Wainwright are numbered 471 and 474. There are many more drifters on this map, which are part of a larger study by Thomas Weingartner of the Institute of Marine Sciences, School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, UAF.
- Click here for an animation (by Seth Danielson) fo the movement of the drifters from when they were deployed until the 7th of November in 2011.
Summer of 2014 Update:
Plans for the 2014 season include the deployment of 104 Microstar 1-meter drogue drifters along the North Slope coast of Alaska. Deployments will be made within 15 miles from the coast of Point Hope, Point Lay, Wainwright and Kaktovik/Camden Bay. For individual drifter tracks please visit: http://dm.sfos.uaf.edu/chukchi-beaufort/data/drifters/.
Summer of 2013 Update:
In 2012 and 2013 we deployed a total of 110 drifters near Icy Cape, Wainwright and Point Lay with the help of several hunters. The drifters behaved differently between 2012 and 2013 because of varying wind and ocean current conditions. In 2012 drifters moved north and east towards Barrow Canyon and then east towards the Beaufort Sea shelf/slope or northwest towards the Chukchi Sea slope. In 2013 drifter trajectory was predominantly westward and south drifting around Herald Shoal and finally beaching along the Siberian coast. The information from the NSB-DWM nearshore drifters, and the offshore drifters deployed by UAF near the Hanna Shoal area, has already provided us with an improved understanding of the movements of surface ocean water.
Below are maps of drifter tracks deployed off Icy Cape in 2012 (left) and off Point Lay in 2013 (right).
Summer of 2012 Update:
The drifter project will help us better understand the near shore surface flow of ocean currents and the spatial and temporal variability in their speed, direction and temperature. This information will help improve oil spill trajectory models in the arctic. Fifty two satellite-tracked drifters were deployed at approximately 7 miles off the coast of Icy Cape in August 2012 by Leandra de Sousa and Billy Adams.
The deployments were made from boats owned by local hunters (John Hopson Jr. and Billy Sielak) and local corporations (Olgoonik). Two types of drifters were deployed: 1 meter drogue surface drifter called Microstar and a surface drifter called iSphere.
A 1-m drogue Microstar satellite-tracked drifter being deployed by Leandra de Sousa
Billy Adams with an iSphere satellite-tracked drifter
Microstar drifters follow the surface currents while the iSphere drifters may respond to a combination of factors such as wind, surface current and wave action. These drifters collect data on position and water temperature which is transmitted via satellite every hour.
Temperature front detected by satellite tracked drifters
The information the drifters collect is transmitted for approximately two months, after which the battery dies. During September, many drifters were found ashore and returned to the DWM by community members in Barrow and Wainwright. The drifters that were returned were re-deployed off Point Barrow. Here’s an animation of where the drifters went during the summer, and here’s the individual drifter tracks. This project is conducted in cooperation with the University of Alaska Fairbanks which deployed satellite-tracked drifters off Hanna Shoal in August 2012.
Publications:
- Danielson, S.L., L. Eisner L., C. Ladd, C. Mordy, L. Sousa, T.J. Weingartner. 2017. Comparison between late summer 2012 and 2013 water masses, macronutrients, and phytoplankton standing crops in the northern Bering and Chukchi Seas. Deep Sea Research II 135: 7-26, doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr2.2016.05.024.
- Weingartner, T. J., Y.C. Fang, P. Winsor, E. Dobbins, R. Potter, H. Statscewich, T. Mudge, L. Sousa, K. Borg. 2017. The summer hydrographic structure of the Hanna Shoal region on the northeastern Chukchi Sea shelf: 2011-2013. Deep-Sea Research Part II 144:6-20. doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr2.2017.08.006.
- Weingartner, T. J., S.L. Danielson, R.A. Potter, J.H. Trefry, A. Mahoney, M. Savoie, C. Irvine, L. Sousa. 2017. Circulation and water properties in the landfast ice zone of the Alaskan Beaufort Sea. Continental Shelf Research 148:185-198. doi.org/10.1016/j.csr.2017.09.001.
