USCG deploys drifting buoy in Arctic

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As an initial exercise in a program to deploy a network of buoys for scientific research data collection in the Arctic, a U.S. Coast Guard C-130 aircraft based in Kodiak has dropped an ocean drifting buoy in the Arctic Ocean north of the Bering Sea, the Coast Guard said Aug. 19. Personnel from the Coast Guard International Ice Patrol, headquartered in New London, Conn, assisted with the buoy drop.

“This effort signals the beginning of airborne deployments by Coast Guard C-130 Hercules Arctic Domain Awareness flights in support of the buoy network,” said Pablo Clemente-Colón, chief scientist of the National Ice Center and an oceanographer with the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration.

Ocean drifting buoys have been used for data collection in the north Atlantic for a number of years and the International Ice Patrol deploys 12 to 15 buoys each year in the Labrador Sea and North Atlantic region, the Coast Guard said.

The new Arctic Ocean buoy suspends a drogue system at a depth of 50 or 150 feet below the ocean surface, to track deep water currents that affect the movement of icebergs. The buoy also measures the temperature at the sea surface. Ground stations pick up the buoy data via satellite.

The deployment of the buoy constitutes a contribution by the U.S. Interagency Arctic Buoy Program, a collaborative research program involving several U.S. government agencies and research programs, to the Arctic Observing Network and the International Arctic Buoy Program, the Coast Guard said.

“We are leaning forward to gain a thorough understanding of the cultural, environmental and operational challenges the Coast Guard faces in northern Alaska and the Arctic domain. As such, we need to project a persistent presence in these remote regions to expand our knowledge of the environment and protect U.S. sovereignty,” said Capt. Robert Phillips, chief of the Incident Management Branch, 17th Coast Guard District. “In order to accomplish these goals we are partnering with the scientific community and other federal agencies, such as NOAA, to join us in collecting data for future operations and a successful road ahead in the Arctic.”

—Alan Bailey