Regions: Inuvialuit Settlement Region
Tags: physical sciences, sea ice, ocean physics, ice thickness, topography, sonar survey
| Principal Investigator: | Melling, Humfrey (16) |
| Licence Number: | 12847 |
| Organization: | Fisheries and Oceans Canada |
| Licensed Year(s): |
1996
1995
1994
1993
1992
1991
1990
|
| Issued: | Apr 03, 1996 |
| Project Team: | Paul Johnston, Darren Tuele and Peter Gamble |
Objective(s): One objective is to recover from the seafloor of the Beaufort Sea sonar instruments which have been measuring the motion, thickness and ridging of sea ice as it drifted overhead throughout the preceding year. The second objective is to repeat a survey of the temperature and salinity properties of seawater in the Beaufort Sea in late winter, and to study the relationship of these properties to the thickness, drift and growth of sea during the preceding freezing season. The observations contribute to a better description of the ice and ocean environments in the northern ocean. This can be applied to the safer design of ships and structures for offshore operation, and to understanding the process of climate change in the arctic.
Project Description: The base for operations is the PCSP Base at Tuktoyaktuk. The ice measurements are made by untended instruments operating beneath the sea throughout the year. The instruments to be retrieved in March 1996 were positioned in April 1995. They will be recovered through the ice using aircraft-based logistics. The survey of water properties will be conducted at about 15 selected sites in the offshore, using ski-equipped Twin Otter as a flying laboratory. Observations will be made by lowering a probe to 1500 m depth or to the seafloor, whichever is shallower.
