Planned Research Vessel Movements: 2022 Research Season
Each spring, summer, and fall, numerous research vessels travel through Alaska and Arctic waters. , federal agencies, and the Alaska Ocean Observing System () compile planned research expedition dates, planned routes, and research goals. Our hope is that researchers can use this information to coordinate activities, and that communities can use it to understand what vessels are in their waters and how to contact them if necessary.
On this page you will find a spreadsheet with all planned expeditions, and brief descriptions of their activities.
The spreadsheet will also be available on the website, and the spreadsheet and descriptions will be periodically updated and emailed out to stakeholders. If you would like to receive updates, sign up for the email distribution list. Please contact Cynthia Garcia-Eidell (/ GOMO Arctic Research Program), cynthia.garcia@noaa.gov, and Jill Prewitt (), prewitt@aoos.org, with any questions.
Download the spreadsheet of research expeditions
Excel / PDF
Updated July 12, 2022
Post-field-season meeting
On January 19, 9-11am AKT / 1-3pm ET, the Field Operations, Marine Ecosystem, Sea Ice, and Observing Communities of Practice hosted the Post-Field Season Meeting for 2022. This virtual meeting, attended by ~50 Arctic researchers, local community leaders, academics, and program managers, featured discussions with Principal Investigators who led expeditions in 2022 about their early results, challenges they faced in the field, and their outreach efforts before, during, and after the expedition, particularly to coastal communities.
Highlights
- Unique observations and significant early findings: More leads and thinner ice were observed. The emergence of harmful algal blooms and late autumn blooms. Warming bottom water at the Central Arctic Ocean and some other sites. Saw slight reduction in freshwater content for last two years. Sustained increases in heat content. Significant decline in small copepod species, a decline in juvenile chum, and a poor abundance of juvenile chinook.
- The extremely windy year and challenges brought by typhoon Merbok hampered some of the activities. There were still some Covid-related challenges, but not as severe as in previous years. Other challenges include mechanical failure (e.g., Dyson) that led to the loss of science days, a few moorings, and important data. When asked what would be helpful, PIs shared that they need support getting imagery of the latest sea ice maps and other products from -2 (support from ). Sentinel is a good source, but there are gaps/missing data on some days. Activities shared on how they overcame the challenges highlighted the cooperation among the Arctic-going community.
- Community outreach activities range from regional (, Strait Science Talks, etc.) to international presentations (), media outreach (radio, Nome nugget), science communication outreach (live broadcast from the ship, blogging), and educational outreach (PolarTREC, high school presentations, Float your Boat project). Everyone was encouraged to keep writing and keep communicating, and that communication at the regional/hub level is very important.
Pre-field-season meeting
On June 27, held a pre-field-season meeting. At this meeting, researchers shared information about their upcoming expeditions that is relevant to other researchers and coastal communities. The recording is below, and the slides are available for download.
2022 expedition descriptions
Expeditions here are organized by location, then launch date. If an expedition will visit more than one location, it will appear under both location headers. To see all expeditions at once, download the spreadsheet above.
Click each vessel photo to go to that vessel's webpage. Click each expedition cruise track to see a larger version of the image.
Jump to location:
Gulf of Alaska
Aleutian Islands Region
Bering Sea
Chukchi & Beaufort Seas
North Atlantic Ocean
Location TBD
Gulf Of Alaska
Photo: Kim Kenny/
April 19 - May 8
Departs from: Seward
Returns to: Seward
Research location: Northern Gulf of Alaska. Inner shelf to slope transects from Kodiak Island to east of Kayak Island
Vessel: Sikuliaq (National Science Foundation)
Description: Investigation on physical and biogeochemical changes that affect initiation and evolution of spring bloom in the Northern Gulf of Alaska. This will contribute to our understanding of what regulates this highly productive ecosystem that supports part of the nation’s largest fishery. There is also a June/July cruise related to this project.
For more information, contact: Russell Hopcroft, rrhopcroft@alaska.edu
Vessel matrix spreadsheet line: 2
Photo:
May 2 - May 14
Departs from: Dutch Harbor
Returns to: Dutch Harbor
Research location: East Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska
Vessel: Oscar Dyson ()
Description: This cruise will be used to deploy spring surface moorings as well as to maintain existing ones in the East Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska. Profile datasets on temperature, salinity, productivity among others will also be collected up to the ice edge. Larval surveys in the area of the Pribilof Islands will also be conducted as time allows.
For more information, contact: Phyllis Stabeno, phyllis.stabeno@noaa.gov
Vessel matrix spreadsheet line: 4
Vessel track TBD
Photo: Kim Kenny/
July 5 - July 28
Departs from: Seward
Returns to: Seward
Research location: Northern Gulf of Alaska. Inner shelf to slope transects from Kodiak Island to east of Kayak Island.
Vessel: Sikuliaq (National Science Foundation)
Description: Investigation on physical and biogeochemical changes that affect initiation and evolution of spring bloom in the Northern Gulf of Alaska. This will contribute to our understanding of what regulates this highly productive ecosystem that supports part of the nation’s largest fishery. There is also an April/May cruise related to this project.
For more information, contact: Russell Hopcroft, rrhopcroft@alaska.edu
Vessel matrix spreadsheet line: 8
Photo: Jordan Roderick,
CC BY SA 4.0
August 10-31
Departs from: Seattle
Returns to: TBD
Research location: Southeast Gulf of Alaska
Vessel: Rachel Carson (University of Washington)
Description: The specific objectives of the research are to continue long-term observations of ocean acidification in the Gulf of Alaska to fulfill the Federal Ocean Acidification Research and Monitoring Act of 2009 and the Strategic Plan for Federal Research and Monitoring Requirements of Ocean Acidification and its implementation plan requirements.
For more information, contact: Jessica Cross, jessica.cross@noaa.gov
Vessel matrix spreadsheet line: 16
August 25 - September 3
Departs from: Seward
Returns to: Seward
Research location: Southwest Alaska: south of the Aleutian Peninsula, west of the Sanak Islands, and east of Kodiak.
Vessel: Sikuliaq (National Science Foundation)
Description: This project will install three seafloor -Acoustic (-A) sites 60 km from the trench spanning the Shumagin Island to Kodiak region and the apparent transition from an unlocked to a locked interface on the subduction zone. These observations are critical to assessing seismic and tsunami risk in the region and will provide a new understanding of the behavior of subduction zone faults near the trench.
For more information, contact: Spahr Webb, scw@ldeo.columbia.edu
Vessel matrix spreadsheet line: 22
Photo:
September 16 - October 8
Departs from: Dutch Harbor
Returns to: Kodiak
Research location: East Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska
Vessel: Oscar Dyson (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)
Description: Recover/deploy biophysical moorings (including sensors to measure temperature, salinity, currents, fluorescence, ice thickness, meteorological measurements, pCO2, and passive listening device for marine mammals), and collect Conductivity, Temperature, and Depth (CTD), Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP), and water/net tow samples.
For more information, contact: Phyllis Stabeno, phyllis.stabeno@noaa.gov
Vessel matrix spreadsheet line: 30
Vessel track TBD
Aleutian Islands Region
Seabird and Marine Mammal Surveys
Photo:
April 28 - TBD
Departs from: Homer
Returns to: Homer
Research location: Aleutian Islands and Alaska Peninsula coastal waters. Islands visited include Sugarloaf, Marmot, East Amatuli, Chowiet, Aiktak, Adak, Buldir, Shemya, Nizki, Alaid, Buldir, Attu, G Sitkin, Unalaska, Kaligagan, Egg, Bogoslof, Poa, Puffin, Baby, Agattu, St. George, St. Paul, Amchitka.
Vessel: Tiglax^ (U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service)
Description: Seabird and marine mammal surveys around western and eastern Aleutians. Greatest diversities and abundances of marine birds and mammals occur near continental coastlines, on islands, and within coastal bays and estuaries. This survey will look at how seabird and mammal populations are affected by climate-induced changes as well as human activities.
For more information, contact: Jeff Williams, jeff_williams@fws.gov
Vessel matrix spreadsheet line: 3
Cruise track: Map not provided; general track line includes Homer to Sitka to western Aleutians to Pribilof Islands.
Photo: Kim Kenny/
July 29 - August 24
Departs from: Seward
Returns to: Seward
Research location: Aleutians (Dutch Harbor to Adak)
Vessel: Sikuliaq (National Science Foundation)
Description: A research cruise along Alaska’s Aleutian Islands will allow us to access remote fjords and collect a series of sediment cores and environmental measurements to reconstruct storms in the Bering Sea. These storm reconstructions will improve our understanding of how intense storminess has changed in the Bering Sea and allow examination of the regional environmental factors that enhance or inhibit storm activity.
For more information, contact: Jeffrey Donnelly, jdonnelly@whoi.edu
Vessel matrix spreadsheet line: 15
Photo: Kim Kenny/
August 25 - September 3
Departs from: Seward
Returns to: Seward
Research location: Southwest Alaska: south of the Aleutian Peninsula, west of the Sanak Islands, and east of Kodiak.
Vessel: Sikuliaq (National Science Foundation)
Description: This project will install three seafloor -Acoustic (-A) sites 60 km from the trench spanning the Shumagin Island to Kodiak region and the apparent transition from an unlocked to a locked interface on the subduction zone. These observations are critical to assessing seismic and tsunami risk in the region and will provide a new understanding of the behavior of subduction zone faults near the trench.
For more information, contact: Spahr Webb, scw@ldeo.columbia.edu
Vessel matrix spreadsheet line: 22
Bering Sea
Photo:
May 2 - May 14
Departs from: Dutch Harbor
Returns to: Dutch Harbor
Research location: East Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska
Vessel: Oscar Dyson ()
Description: This cruise will be used to deploy spring surface moorings as well as to maintain existing ones in the East Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska. Profile datasets on temperature, salinity, productivity among others will also be collected up to the ice edge. Larval surveys in the area of the Pribilof Islands will also be conducted as time allows.
For more information, contact: Phyllis Stabeno, phyllis.stabeno@noaa.gov
Vessel matrix spreadsheet line: 4
Vessel track TBD
Multi-sensor Improved Sea Surface Temperature ()
Photo: Saildrone
May 25 - August 31
Departs from: Dutch Harbor
Returns to: Dutch Harbor
Research location: Bering Sea to Chukchi and Beaufort seas
Vessel: Saildrone (; uncrewed vessel)
Description: The goal of this cruise is to acquire data to: (a) validate sea surface temperature satellite data and help improve retrieval algorithms, and (b) investigate the conditions that influence dynamical processes that influence surface water temperatures in the south Bering Sea.
For more information, contact: Marisol Garcia Reyes, marisolgr@faralloninstitute.org
Vessel matrix spreadsheet line: 37
PDF of slides from pre-season meeting
Walleye Pollock Acoustic-Trawl Survey Biennial Bering Sea
Photo:
May 28 - August 8
Departs from: TBD
Returns to: Unalaska
Research location: Bering Sea
Vessel: Oscar Dyson ()
Description: The midwater pollock population estimates from the acoustic-trawl survey is one of three key inputs for the pollock stock assessment model, which in turn guides the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council’s annual decisions on U.S. Bering Sea pollock stock management.
For more information, contact: Sandy Parker-Stetter, sandy.parker-stetter@noaa.gov
Vessel matrix spreadsheet line: 5
Photo: Government
of Canada
July 5-26
Departs from: Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Returns to: Utqiagvik
Research location: Distributed Biological Observatory sites at southern St. Lawrence Island, Chirikov Basin, southern Chukchi Sea, northeast Chukchi Sea, and Barrow Canyon.
Vessel: Sir Wilfrid Laurier (Canadian Coast Guard)
Description: To more systematically track the broad biological response to sea ice retreat and associated environmental change, an international consortium of scientists are developing a coordinated Distributed Biological Observatory () that includes selected biological measurements at multiple trophic levels in the Pacific Arctic. The currently focuses on five regional biological "hotspot" locations. Monitoring rates of environmental change in these areas is relevant to understanding ecological shifts and fisheries production.
For more information, contact: Jackie Grebmeier, jgrebmei@umces.edu, and Sarah Zimmermann, Sarah.Zimmermann@dfo-mpo.gc.ca
Vessel matrix spreadsheet line: 9
Photo: Support Vessels
of Alaska
July 9-15
Departs from: Nome
Returns to: Nome
Research location: Chukchi Sea, Bering Strait
Vessel: Norseman II (Support Vessels of Alaska, Inc.)
Description: Moorings will measure seasonal and interannual physical and biogeochemical changes in the Bering Strait for four years. Measuring long-term variability in this region will contribute to our understanding of the amount of freshwater Bering Strait provides to the Arctic Ocean. It will also elucidate the seasonal variation in how the Pacific waters ventilate the Arctic. Summer cruise.
For more information, contact: Rebecca Woodgate, woodgate@uw.edu
Vessel matrix spreadsheet line: 10
PDF of slides from pre-season meeting
Photo: Charly Hengen/
July 14 - October 30
Departs from: Dutch Harbor
Returns to: Dutch Harbor
Research location: Bering, Chukchi, and Beaufort seas
Vessel: Healy (U.S. Coast Guard)
Description: Servicing moored, autonomous, and ice-based assets for the Arctic Mobile Observing System.
For more information, contact: Craig Lee, craig@apl.washington.edu
Vessel matrix spreadsheet line: 11
PDF of slides from pre-season meeting
EMA-FOCI Age-0 Groundfish and Salmon Recruitment Process
Photo:
August 13 - September 12
Departs from: TBD
Returns to: TBD
Research location: Bering Sea
Vessel: Oscar Dyson ()
Description: Ecosystem survey for salmon and juvenile groundfish.
For more information, contact: Ed Farley, ed.farley@noaa.gov
Vessel matrix spreadsheet line: 19
PDF of slides from pre-season meeting
Photo: Support Vessels
of Alaska
August 16 - September 21
Departs from: Nome
Returns to: Nome
Research location: Bering and Chukchi seas
Vessel: Norseman II (Support Vessels of Alaska, Inc.)
Description: Direct observations in the Pacific Arctic region, including the northern Bering and Chukchi seas, are needed to understand how this ecosystem is shifting in a time of rapid change. To that end, the investigators will participate in a research expedition to make simultaneous oceanographic measurements of dissolved oxygen, dissolved carbon dioxide, dissolved nutrients, particulate organic matter distribution and composition, and plankton productivity.
For more information, contact: Miguel Goni, mgoni@coas.oregonstate.edu
Vessel matrix spreadsheet line: 21
PDF of slides from pre-season meeting
Northern Bering Sea Integrated Ecosystem Survey
August 27 - September 20
Departs from: Dutch Harbor
Returns to: Dutch Harbor
Research location: Bering Sea
Vessel: Northwest Explorer (Private fishing vessel)
Description: The survey will include the deployment of multiple sampling gear types, including a surface trawl, a small mesh beam trawl, a bongo net, a CTD, a rosette water sampler, and a Van Veen benthic grab. The survey will support a wide range of research activities, including stock-specific juvenile salmon abundance estimates, the pelagic food web, fish condition, oceanographic conditions, zooplankton distribution and abundance, seabird densities, harmful algal bloom toxins, essential crab habitat, environmental DNA, salmon shark migration, and the carbon cycle of the Yukon River plume.
For more information, contact: Jim Murphy, jim.murphy@noaa.gov
Vessel matrix spreadsheet line: 23
PDF of slides from pre-season meeting
Photo: Support Vessels
of Alaska
September 8-18
Departs from: Nome
Returns to: Nome
Research location: Chukchi Sea, Bering Strait
Vessel: Norseman II (Support Vessels of Alaska, Inc.)
Description: Moorings will measure seasonal and interannual physical and biogeochemical changes in the Bering Strait for four years. Measuring long-term variability in this region will contribute to our understanding of the amount of freshwater Bering Strait provides to the Arctic Ocean. It will also elucidate the seasonal variation in how the Pacific waters ventilate the Arctic. Autumn cruise.
For more information, contact: Rebecca Woodgate, woodgate@uw.edu
Vessel matrix spreadsheet line: 25
PDF of slides from pre-season meeting
Photo:
September 16 - October 8
Departs from: Dutch Harbor
Returns to: Kodiak
Research location: East Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska
Vessel: Oscar Dyson (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)
Description: Recover/deploy biophysical moorings (including sensors to measure temperature, salinity, currents, fluorescence, ice thickness, meteorological measurements, pCO2, and passive listening device for marine mammals), and collect Conductivity, Temperature, and Depth (CTD), Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP), and water/net tow samples.
For more information, contact: Phyllis Stabeno, phyllis.stabeno@noaa.gov
Vessel matrix spreadsheet line: 28
Vessel track TBD
Chukchi & Beaufort Seas
Multi-sensor Improved Sea Surface Temperature ()
Photo: Saildrone
May 25 - August 31
Departs from: Dutch Harbor
Returns to: Dutch Harbor
Research location: Bering Sea to Chukchi and Beaufort seas
Vessel: Saildrone (; uncrewed vessel)
Description: The goal of this cruise is to acquire data to: (a) validate sea surface temperature satellite data and help improve retrieval algorithms, and (b) investigate the conditions that influence dynamical processes that influence surface water temperatures in the south Bering Sea.
For more information, contact: Marisol Garcia Reyes, marisolgr@faralloninstitute.org
Vessel matrix spreadsheet line: 37
PDF of slides from pre-season meeting
Korea-Arctic Ocean Warming and Ecosystem (K-AWARE) Study
Photo: Bernard Spragg,
via Flickr
July 4 - October 4
Departs from: Incheon, South Korea
Returns to: Incheon, South Korea
Research location: Chukchi and Beaufort seas, with stops in Dutch Harbor and Utqiagvik.
Vessel: Araon (Government of South Korea)
Description: To identify key physical and biogeochemical changes as a result of decreasing sea ice in the Pacific Central Arctic Ocean. Observations obtained from this cruise will be used to improve models and validate satellite-based observations.
For more information, contact: Eun Jin Yang, ejyang@kopri.re.kr
Vessel matrix spreadsheet line: 7
PDF of slides from pre-season meeting
Photo: Government
of Canada
July 5-26
Departs from: Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Returns to: Utqiagvik
Research location: Distributed Biological Observatory sites at southern St. Lawrence Island, Chirikov Basin, southern Chukchi Sea, northeast Chukchi Sea, and Barrow Canyon.
Vessel: Sir Wilfrid Laurier (Canadian Coast Guard)
Description: To more systematically track the broad biological response to sea ice retreat and associated environmental change, an international consortium of scientists are developing a coordinated Distributed Biological Observatory () that includes selected biological measurements at multiple trophic levels in the Pacific Arctic. The currently focuses on five regional biological "hotspot" locations. Monitoring rates of environmental change in these areas is relevant to understanding ecological shifts and fisheries production.
For more information, contact: Jackie Grebmeier, jgrebmei@umces.edu, and Sarah Zimmermann, Sarah.Zimmermann@dfo-mpo.gc.ca
Vessel matrix spreadsheet line: 9
PDF of slides from pre-season meeting
Photo: Support Vessels
of Alaska
July 9-15
Departs from: Nome
Returns to: Nome
Research location: Chukchi Sea, Bering Strait
Vessel: Norseman II (Support Vessels of Alaska, Inc.)
Description: Moorings will measure seasonal and interannual physical and biogeochemical changes in the Bering Strait for four years. Measuring long-term variability in this region will contribute to our understanding of the amount of freshwater Bering Strait provides to the Arctic Ocean. It will also elucidate the seasonal variation in how the Pacific waters ventilate the Arctic. Summer cruise.
For more information, contact: Rebecca Woodgate, woodgate@uw.edu
Vessel matrix spreadsheet line: 10
PDF of slides from pre-season meeting
Photo: Charly Hengen/
July 14 - October 30
Departs from: Dutch Harbor
Returns to: Dutch Harbor
Research location: Bering, Chukchi, and Beaufort seas
Vessel: Healy (U.S. Coast Guard)
Description: Servicing moored, autonomous, and ice-based assets for the Arctic Mobile Observing System.
For more information, contact: Craig Lee, craig@apl.washington.edu
Vessel matrix spreadsheet line: 11
PDF of slides from pre-season meeting
Photo: Support Vessels
of Alaska
July 19 - August 15
Departs from: Nome
Returns to: Nome
Research location: Distributed Biological Observatory sites in the southern Chukchi Sea, Barrow Canyon, and East Beaufort Sea
Vessel: Norseman II (Support Vessels of Alaska, Inc.)
Description: The Pacific sector of the Arctic Ocean is warming, in particular the shallow Chukchi Sea. As a result, many organisms may spread into Arctic waters, and some present significant threats to human and ecosystem health, such as harmful algal bloom () species (commonly called red tides). This study will be the first to document the current distribution of highly toxic species at high resolution over large spatial scales within the Alaskan Arctic and along its transport pathways and will provide estimates of areas at high risk of toxicity now and in a warming future.
For more information, contact: Robert Pickart, rpickart@whoi.edu
Vessel matrix spreadsheet line: 13
PDF of slides from pre-season meeting
Photo: Southern Cross
Oceanography
July 26 - August 9
Departs from: Prudhoe Bay
Returns to: Harrison Bay
Research location: Beaufort Shelf
Vessel: Ukpik (Southern Cross Oceanography)
Description: In many coastal environments, shoreline erosion provides a major source of sediment to the ocean. Over time, this material is transported along the shore (to nourish beaches) and/or offshore (to form deeper-water mud patches). Some of the highest rates of coastal erosion occur in the Arctic because ground containing permafrost thaws easily under the influence of warm ocean water and wave attack. But once that sediment enters the Arctic Ocean, we know very little about where it goes. This study is designed to determine the primary pathways of sediments in the coastal ocean during the open-water season, when frequent wind storms are expected to mobilize sediments recently delivered to the seabed.
For more information, contact: Emily Eidam, emily.eidam@oregonstate.edu
Vessel matrix spreadsheet line: 14
Bio-Physical Drivers of Bowhead Whale Distribution on the Alaskan Beaufort Shelf During a Period of Rapid Environmental Change
Photo: Oceanic Research
Services, Inc.
August 12 - September 3
Departs from: Prudhoe Bay
Returns to: Prudhoe Bay
Research location: Beaufort Sea
Vessel: Annika Marie (Oceanic Research Services, Inc.)
Description: Eleven years (2005-2015) of previous work near Pt. Barrow showed that krill availability as prey for bowhead whales on the shelf was driven by local wind forcing and shelf-break upwelling and that the timing of sea ice retreat each summer was associated with the age (and thus size) of the krill in late summer. Since 2015, weather patterns have shifted and krill availability on the shelf may not be as reliable as before. This project renews studies on krill availability near Pt. Barrow and off of Prudhoe Bay with relevance to bowhead whale migration and distribution patterns. Fieldwork consists of surveys of hydrography, plankton/krill and whale distributions, and the deployment of year-round moorings at key locations.
For more information, contact: Carin Ashjian, cashjian@whoi.edu
Vessel matrix spreadsheet line: 17
Vessel track TBD PDF of slides from pre-season meeting
Arctic Challenge for Sustainability (ArCS II)
Photo: JAMSTEC
August 12 - October 6
Departs from: Japan (stopping in Dutch Harbor)
Returns to: Japan
Research location: Distributed Biological Observatory sites in southern Chukchi Sea, Barrow Canyon, East Beaufort Sea, and central Beaufort Sea
Vessel: Mirai (Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology)
Description: This is a cruise to monitor on-going physical and biogeochemical changes in Bering Strait, Chukchi Sea, and Beaufort near coast sites. Apart from observational study of Arctic ocean environmental changes, there will also be monitoring efforts in sea ice, microplastic pollution, trace gasses and aerosols, and atmospheric greenhouse gases.
For more information, contact: Shigeto Nishino, nishinos@jamstec.go.jp, and Motoyo Itoh, motoyo@jamstec.go.jp
Vessel matrix spreadsheet line: 18
PDF of slides from pre-season meeting
EMA-FOCI Age-0 Groundfish and Salmon Recruitment Process
Photo:
August 13 - September 12
Departs from: TBD
Returns to: TBD
Research location: Bering Sea
Vessel: Oscar Dyson ()
Description: Ecosystem survey for salmon and juvenile groundfish.
For more information, contact: Ed Farley, ed.farley@noaa.gov
Vessel matrix spreadsheet line: 19
Photo: Support Vessels
of Alaska
August 16 - September 21
Departs from: Nome
Returns to: Nome
Research location: Bering and Chukchi seas
Vessel: Norseman II (Support Vessels of Alaska, Inc.)
Description: Direct observations in the Pacific Arctic region, including the northern Bering and Chukchi seas, are needed to understand how this ecosystem is shifting in a time of rapid change. To that end, the investigators will participate in a research expedition to make simultaneous oceanographic measurements of dissolved oxygen, dissolved carbon dioxide, dissolved nutrients, particulate organic matter distribution and composition, and plankton productivity.
For more information, contact: Miguel Goni, mgoni@coas.oregonstate.edu
Vessel matrix spreadsheet line: 21
PDF of slides from pre-season meeting
Photo: Support Vessels of
Alaska, Inc.
September 5 - October 4
Departs from: Nome
Returns to: Nome
Research location: Beaufort Sea
Vessel: Woldstad (Support Vessels of Alaska, Inc.)
Description: The overall motivation of this project is to improve our understanding of sea ice-ocean interactions in order to better understand local- to climate-scale impacts of declining Arctic sea ice. Specifically, this project aims to understand the relationship between how fresh meltwater layers created by melting sea ice during summer can later impact the formation of sea ice in autumn. We will make intensive observations of the upper ocean and atmosphere near the sea ice edge during the transition between summer ice melt and autumn advance. The campaign will include a ship, autonomous platforms (e.g., wave gliders, drifters), and an aircraft.
For more information, contact: Kyla Drushka, kdrushka@apl.uw.edu
Vessel matrix spreadsheet line: 26
Vessel track TBD
Photo: Government of
Canada
September 14 - October 15
Departs from: Kugluktuk, Nunavut, Canada
Returns to: Kugluktuk, Nunavut, Canada
Research location: Beaufort Sea
Vessel: Louis St. Laurent (Canadian Coast Guard)
Description: This is a joint cruise led by Canadian and U.S. researchers, with other international partners. This project is an extensive observing program to document and analyze the Beaufort Gyre’s evolving sea ice and ocean properties. In-depth analyses of the data provide understanding of the Beaufort Gyre’s role in the Arctic and global climate system, which is essential to develop the most viable future climate predictions.
For more information, contact: Mary-Louise Timmermans, mary-louise.timmermans@yale.edu
Vessel matrix spreadsheet line: 29
Joint Ocean Ice Study/Beaufort Gyre Observing System (JOIS/BGOS)
Photo: Government of
Canada
September 1-29
Departs from: Kugluktuk, Nunavut, Canada
Returns to: Canada
Research location: Beaufort Sea
Vessel: Louis St. Laurent (Canadian Coast Guard)
Description: This is a joint cruise led by Canadian and U.S. researchers, with other international partners. This project will monitor physical and biogeochemical changes in the sites. There will also be marine mammal and seabird surveys.
For more information, contact: Sarah Zimmerman, sarah.zimmermann@dfo-mpo.gc.ca
Vessel matrix spreadsheet line: 24
Photo: Support Vessels
of Alaska
September 8-18
Departs from: Nome
Returns to: Nome
Research location: Chukchi Sea, Bering Strait
Vessel: Norseman II (Support Vessels of Alaska, Inc.)
Description: Moorings will measure seasonal and interannual physical and biogeochemical changes in the Bering Strait for four years. Measuring long-term variability in this region will contribute to our understanding of the amount of freshwater Bering Strait provides to the Arctic Ocean. It will also elucidate the seasonal variation in how the Pacific waters ventilate the Arctic. Autumn cruise.
For more information, contact: Rebecca Woodgate, woodgate@uw.edu
Vessel matrix spreadsheet line: 26
PDF of slides from pre-season meeting
Photo: Kim Kenny/
September 14 - October 29
Departs from: Nome
Returns to: Nome
Research location: Beaufort Sea
Vessel: Sikuliaq (National Science Foundation)
Description: Service moored, autonomous, and ice-based assets for the Arctic Mobile Observing System program.
For more information, contact: Craig Lee, craiglee@uw.edu
Vessel matrix spreadsheet line: 28
PDF of slides from pre-season meeting
Photo:
September 16 - October 8
Departs from: Dutch Harbor
Returns to: Kodiak
Research location: Distributed Biological Observatory sites at southern St. Lawrence Island, Chirikov Basin, southern Chukchi Sea, northeast Chukchi Sea, and Barrow Canyon.
Vessel: Oscar Dyson ()
Description: Occupy and ecosystem stations. Recover/deploy biophysical moorings (including sensors to measure temperature, salinity, currents, fluorescence, ice thickness, met, pCO2, and passive listening device for marine mammals), and collect CTD, ADCP, and water/net tow samples.
For more information, contact: Jackie Grebmeier, jgrebmei@umces.edu
Vessel matrix spreadsheet line: 24
Monitoring the Western Arctic Boundary Current in a Warming Climate: Atmospheric Forcing and Oceanographic Response
Photo: Kim Kenny/
November 1-28
Departs from: Nome
Returns to: Seward
Research location: Beaufort Sea
Vessel: Sikuliaq (National Science Foundation)
Description: This project focuses on the fate of the Pacific water that enters the Arctic Ocean through the Bering Strait. Pacific water plays a critical role in the western Arctic ecosystem. In wintertime, the cold inflowing water provides food for phytoplankton at the base of the food chain. In summertime, the warm water melts pack ice and provides freshwater to the Arctic Ocean. After the water crosses the Chukchi Sea, north of the Bering Strait, some of it forms a narrow current that flows eastward along the edge of the Beaufort Sea. As part of our project we will continue to maintain a mooring positioned in the center of the current to measure its physical and biological properties. In addition, we will carry out shipboard surveys of the current and adjacent waters when we service the mooring, to provide a larger-scale view of the fate of the Pacific water.
For more information, contact: Robert Pickart, rpickart@whoi.edu
Vessel matrix spreadsheet line: 34
PDF of slides from pre-season meeting
North Atlantic Ocean
Photo:
June 18 - July 20
Departs from: Woods Hole, Massachusetts
Returns to: Reykjavik, Iceland
Research location: Irminger Sea
Vessel: Neil Armstrong (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)
Description: Moorings in the Irminger Sea Array support sensors for measurement of air-sea fluxes of heat, moisture and momentum, physical, biological, and chemical properties throughout the water column. Monitoring the North Atlantic is important because it is one of the few places on Earth with deep-water formation that feeds the large-scale circulation of the ocean. This cruise will provide annual service to check power systems, biofouling, and calibration of moorings.
For more information, contact: Al Plueddemann, aplueddemann@whoi.edu
Vessel matrix spreadsheet line: 6
Photo:
July 21 - August 16
Departs from: Reykjavik, Iceland
Returns to: Reykjavik, Iceland
Research location: North Atlantic, Irminger and Iceland Basins
Vessel: Neil Armstrong (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)
Description: The project's goal is to measure basin-wide integrated fluxes of volume, heat, and freshwater fluxes in the North Atlantic Subpolar Gyre with an array of moorings spanning the Labrador, Irminger, and Iceland Basins. This cruise will service U.S. and Dutch moorings in the Iceland and Irminger Basins and perform localized boundary current surveys in the region.
For more information, contact: William Johns, wjohns@rsmas.miami.edu
Vessel matrix spreadsheet line: 12
Photo:
August 17 - September 29
Departs from: Reykjavik, Iceland
Returns to: Nuuk, Greenland
Research location: Labrador and Irminger Seas
Vessel: Neil Armstrong (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)
Description: A U.S.-led international effort, Overturning in the Subpolar North Atlantic Program (OSNAP) has provided a continuous record of the full-water column, trans-basin fluxes of heat, mass, and freshwater in the subpolar North Atlantic since 2014, in partnership with the UK, Netherlands, Canada, and Germany.
For more information, contact: Robert Pickart, rpickart@whoi.edu
Vessel matrix spreadsheet line: 20
The Arctic Observing Network – Capturing and Understanding Arctic Change with Renewed Observations at the Davis Strait Gateway
Photo:
September 28 - October 24
Departs from: Nuuk, Greenland
Returns to: Nuuk, Greenland
Research location: Davis Strait, north Labrador Sea to central Baffin Bay
Vessel: Neil Armstrong (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)
Description: This project will renew the integrated observational program at Davis Strait, delivering data to the community and matching ongoing collections at Bering Strait, Utqiagvik, Alaska, and Fram Strait to extend the time series of concurrent measurements across the major Arctic Gateways. The extended time series will document changes in freshwater and heat fluxes, and will be combined with numerical modeling to investigate the processes that control variability in the strait and the potential impacts.
For more information, contact: Craig Lee, craiglee@uw.edu
Vessel matrix spreadsheet line: 33
Location TBD
Photo: Charly Hengen/
September 4 - October 28
Departs from: Dutch Harbor
Returns to: Dutch Harbor
Research location: TBD
Vessel: Healy (U.S. Coast Guard)
Description: The Synoptic Arctic Survey () is an international program envisioned to mount a coordinated multinational field-based effort on a pan-Arctic scale over one to two summers to achieve the baseline understanding of the fundamental structure and function of the linked carbon-ecosystem-physical systems that will permit detection of ongoing and future changes. The Synoptic Arctic Survey is focused on a single overarching question, "What are the present state and major ongoing transformations of the Arctic marine system?"
For more information, contact: Carin Ashjian, cashjian@whoi.edu
Vessel matrix spreadsheet line: 25
PDF of slides from pre-season meeting
Moorings
Photo: Government of
Canada
September 25 - October 28
Departs from: TBD
Returns to: TBD
Research location: TBD
Vessel: Sir Wilfrid Laurier (Canadian Coast Guard)
Description: Moorings will measure seasonal and interannual physical and biogeochemical changes.
For more information, contact: Bill Williams, bill.williams@dfo-mpo.gc.ca
Vessel matrix spreadsheet line: 32
Dates TBD
Departs from: Dutch Harbor
Returns to: TBD
Research location: TBD
Vessel: TBD
Description: Recover/deploy biophysical moorings, including sensors to measure temperature, salinity, currents, fluorescence, ice thickness, met, pCO2, and passive listening device for marine mammals samples.
For more information, contact: Phyllis Stabeno, phyllis.stabeno@noaa.gov
Vessel matrix spreadsheet line: 31
PDF of slides from pre-season meeting
Vessel track TBD