Innovative Technologies for Arctic Exploration: Successful partnerships to advance ocean research

The Arctic is experiencing increased human activity amidst rapid physical change, directly impacting Arctic ecosystems. In a region where ice rules, monitoring this change as it occurs is a challenge. Traditional ship, satellite and mooring based data collection techniques are the backbone of oceanographic research, but are limited and there is a paucity of data from under the ice, from the marginal ice-edge zone, and during seasonal transitions.

Novel autonomous vehicles and sensors are being developed to supplement traditional observation infrastructures. NOAA’s Innovative Technology for Arctic Exploration program focuses on the development of specialized tools tailored to the challenging environmental and logistical conditions found in the Arctic.

ITAE relies on scientific programs that have extensive experience monitoring and understanding these critical changes. This includes NOAA’s Ecosystems and Fisheries Oceanography Coordinated Investigations program, who maintains an Arctic Ecosystem Observing System. EcoFOCI has collected a decade of measurements from traditional moorings and shipboard expeditions in the Chukchi Sea. These time series provide important temporal context for more recent complementary measurements. Together, the programs are integrating observations from traditional platforms with measurements collected from novel technologies, such as: the profiling crawler, providing high resolution water column measurements; Oculus, a shallow-water glider with increased speed and payload capability; Pop-up buoy, a timed-release under-ice tracking buoy; and a re-floatable mooring designed to reduce ship dependency and avoid ice.

Here, we provide examples of how tools enhance our current observing systems to cost-effectively monitor and predict change while also providing the foundational knowledge required for informing policy and encouraging collaboration across disciplines. We will also briefly share integration of a STEM activity that highlights the extensive collaboration and creative thinking required to tackle issues like a rapidly changing arctic.