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Global Fiducials Program Global Fiducials Program

Earl Wilson, Bev FriesenSpecial Application Science Center

Stan WildsParallel, IncorporatedMarch 13, 2014

U.S. Department of the Interior

Arctic Ice Buoy Studies

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Arctic Ice Buoy Studies – CRREL Ice Loss Calculations:

From 1980 TO 2012

ARCTIC ICE LOSS ESTIMATES IN RED

Graphic courtesy of Dr. Perovich (CRREL)

Graphic courtesy of Dr. Perovich (CRREL)

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Arctic Ice Buoy Studies – USGS Buoy History BACKGROUND:

• In 1999 – present, USGS started NTM collection over the 6 Static Sea Ice sites for monitoring Sea Ice change and study sea ice melt pond development in relation to climate change modeling and Arctic ice loss.

• In 2009 – present, MEDEA Scientists requested the USGS to try to track and image same ice floe over the entire summer, (April – September) and try capture that floe once every 7 – 10 days.

• Imagery datasets released as Image Derived Products (IDPs) provide the scientists with a better understanding of seasonal changes that occur on an ice floe.

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Arctic Ice Buoy Studies - Current Methodology

• The International Arctic Buoy Program (IABP) maintains the Arctic Buoy Network. They collaborate with U.S. and international partners to distribute and optimize buoy coverage in the Arctic

• USGS methodology uses the data buoys deployed by the IABP

• The goal for USGS is not to image the buoy – but to use its GPS positioning as a guide to reference and repeatedly capture the same ice floes.

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• Buoys are deployed in the ice so they drift with the ice floes.

• Identifiable ice features can be tracked for multiple months to monitor and detect changes i.e. onset of melt pond formation and ice floe melting

• Repeated imaging of the same ice floes is guided by the buoy GPS system - to estimate travel direction and speed of travel of the ice floes

Arctic Ice Buoy Studies – Why Track & Image Buoys?

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Arctic Ice Buoy Studies – IABP - Buoys being deployed

Photo Credits: (A) Christian Hass, York University, IABP; (B)Melinda Webster, University of Washington; (C) Dr. Ignatius Rigor, IABP

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Arctic Ice Buoy Studies - Methodology

Methodology:

• MEDEA Scientists and IABP managers collaborate and determine which Buoys the USGS will image for the season. For 2012 and 2013 USGS tracked 9 different buoys total over course of the season.

• IABP managers set up a FTP website where the selected Arctic Buoy GPS data are stored and updated, and can be downloaded by USGS personnel.

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Arctic Ice Buoy Study – Tracking & Imaging

Buoy GPS Text File

ARC GIS – Shapefiles of GPS Buoy Tracks

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Hourly GPS records farther apart indicate faster buoy and ice movement.

Tightly spaced GPS records indicate slower moving buoy and ice

Arctic Ice Buoy Studies – Tracking & Imaging Buoys

Shapefiles of GPS buoy track

Example of GPS records and how GPS point spacing relates to buoy speed

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Arctic Ice Buoy Studies – Tracking & Imaging Buoys

Arc Map – GPS track plot of 2012 Buoy 824000 - GPS track helps to estimate speed & direction of Buoy travel

Shapefiles of GPS buoy trackScale Approximately 1:240,000

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Arctic Ice Buoy Studies – Tracking & Imaging Buoys

Arc Map – 2012 Plot of GPS track with estimated tasking target for Buoy 824000 for June 13, 2012 (East Siberian Sea)

Shapefiles of GPS buoy trackScale 1:240,000

Buoy Position start of tasking June 13, 2012

10.9 nm

8.0 nm

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Arctic Ice Buoy Studies – Tracking & Imaging Buoys

ArcMap – 2012 GPS track of Buoy 824000 with Image June 15, 2012 – East Siberian Sea

Buoy Position start of tasking June 13, 2012

Buoy Position – successful collection June 15, 2012

Shapefiles of GPS buoy trackScale 1:240,000

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Arctic Ice Buoy Studies – Buoy 132070 – Beaufort Sea

July 23, 2012June 21, 2012

Imagery is reviewed to check that same ice floes are being captured for each separate project site.

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Ice Island in Beaufort Sea

Photo Credit: Christian Haas, York University, IABP

Arctic Ice Buoy Studies – Buoy 132070 – Beaufort Sea

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Arctic Ice Buoy Studies – Buoy 13220 - Chukchi Sea

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Arctic Ice Buoy Studies – Buoy 132070 – Beaufort Sea

June 20, 2009June 21, 2009July 05, 2009July 10, 2009July 17, 2009July 20, 2009July 23, 2009

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Sea Ice Buoys – Successful Collection for Five SeasonsSea Ice Buoys – Successful Collection for Five Seasons

Image Derived Products – on USGS GFL website

Fully released:• 2009 – 4 buoys – 213 products• 2010 – 7 buoys – 163 products• 2011 – 3 buoys – 166 products• 2012 – 9 buoys – 251 products• 2013 - 9 buoys – 648 products

USGS GFL Website = http://gfl.usgs.gov

Arctic Ice Buoy Studies – Image Derived Products

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Arctic Ice Buoy Studies: Buoy Tracks from 2009 – 2012

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(U) National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) & GFLWebsite statistics

Sea Ice Data Downloads

YEAR 2009 201 0 2011 2012 2013

Unique Users 302 233 199 110 164

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Research & Publications:

• Fetter, F., Wilds, S., & Sloan,J. (2008) Arctic sea ice melt pond statistics and maps, 1999-2001, Boulder, Colorado USA: National Snow and Ice Data Center,

• Kwok, R. (2001). Deformation of the Arctic Ocean Sea ice cover: November 1996 through April 1997. In J. Dempsey, & H.H. Shen (Eds.) Scaling Laws in Ice Mechanics and Dynamics (pp.315-323), Kluwer Acaemic

• Kwok, R. (2006). Contrasts in Arctic Ocean sea ice deformations and production in the seasonal and perennial ice Zones. Journal of Geophysical Research, 111, C11S22 (C10), 8038.

• Kwok, R., Cunningham, G.F. (2002). Seasonal ice area and volume production of the Arctic Ocean: November 1996 through April 1997. Journal of Geophysical Research, 107 (C10), 8038.

• National Research Council (2009). Scientific value of Arctic sea ice imagery derived products, Panel report (48pp.).

Arctic Ice Buoy Studies: Buoy Tracks from 2009 – 2012

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• Kwok, R. (2014), Declassified high-resolution visible imagery for Arctic sea ice investigations: An overview, Remote Sens. Environ., 142, doi:10.1016/j.rse.2013.11.015.

• Kwok, R., and N.Untersteiner, (2011), New High-Resolution Images of Summer Arctic Sea Ice, Eos Trans. AGU, 92(7), 53.

• Lüpkes, C., V. M. Gryanik, J. Hartmann, and E. L. Andreas (2012), A parametrization, based on sea ice morphology, of the neutral atmospheric drag coefficients for weather prediction and climate models, J. Geophys. Res., 117, D13112, doi:10.1029/2012JD017630.

• National Research Council. Scientific Value of Arctic Sea Ice Imagery Derived Products . Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, 2009.

• Fetterer, F., S. Wilds, and J. Sloan. 2008. Arctic Sea Ice Melt Pond Statistics and Maps, 1999-2001. [indicate subset used]. Boulder, Colorado USA: National Snow and Ice Data Center. http://dx.doi.org/10.7265/N5PK0D32.

(U) Publications: Sea Ice/Buoys

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Arctic Ice Buoy Studies:

Dr. Ignatius Rigor – International Arctic Buoy Program – University of Washington :

“I think this data is a gold mine for research, and now that we have a few years of data, I think its use will increase dramatically, e.g. one of my graduate students has been looking at it right now for her PhD work. But because of the lag in data collection and academic analysis, i.e.it takes a few years to see publications”

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Earl Wilson USGS-SASC(303) 236-2900 emwilson@usgs.gov

Bev Friesen USGS-SASC(303) 236-2887 bafriesen@usgs.gov

Stan Wilds (Parallel) USGS-SASC(303) 236-2905 srwilds@usgs.gov

Tom Owens USGS-SASC, Director(303) 236-1464 tom_owens@usgs.gov

Arctic Ice Buoy Studies – Contact information