Dispatch 10: Beaufort Gyre Freshwater Observing System Is In Place

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Mooring and buoy slideshow

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Andrey Proshutinsky

August 24-27, 2003

The Beaufort Gyre Freshwater Observing System has been successfully established.

On August 24th, we prepared two surface buoys and the third mooring for deployment. Our second buoy was deployed in the afternoon of August 25th. Later that evening, we found an appropriate ice floe for the third buoy installation, but could not begin the deployment due to fog and low visibility.

The following day, August 26th, was the busiest of our expedition. At 6:00 a.m. we installed our second buoy. From 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. we completed a sea ice reconnaissance flight on the helicopter to search for multiyear thick ice and prepared another buoy. From 3 to 7 p.m. we deployed our third mooring system, and from 8 to 10 PM we installed the fourth (and last) surface buoy.

The three moorings and four buoys will acquire data in the Beaufort Gyre for one year, and the moorings will be recovered or re-deployed in summer/fall of 2004.

All WHOI deployments are completed, but our expedition is not finished. Our colleagues from IOS and JAMSTEC will continue to measure water properties along several sections of the Beaufort Gyre. This information will allow us to assess the fresh water content in the Beaufort Sea in August 2003 and compare it with climatological data.

Last updated: October 7, 2019