Celebrating 90 years of Arctic Ocean study by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Oceanological Research

In 2020, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) celebrates 90 years of research, education, and exploration of the World Ocean. Since inception this has included Arctic studies. In fact, WHOI’s first technical report is on the oceanographic data obtained during the submarine “Nautilus” polar expedition in 1931. In 1951 and 1952, WHOI scientists supervised the collection of hydrographic data during the U.S. Navy SkiJump I & II expeditions utilizing ski-equipped aircraft landings in the Beaufort Sea, and inferred the Beaufort Gyre circulation cell and existence of a mid-Arctic ridge. Later classified studies, particularly concerning under-ice acoustics, were conducted by WHOI personnel from Navy and Air Force ice camps. With the advent of simple satellite communications and positioning, WHOI oceanographers began to deploy buoys on sea ice to obtain surface atmosphere, ice, and upper ocean time series data in the central Arctic beginning in 1987. Observations from these first systems were limited technologically to discrete depths and constrained by power considerations, satellite throughput, as well as high costs. As technologies improved, WHOI developed the drifting Ice-Tethered Profiler (ITP) to obtain vertically continuous upper ocean data several times per day in the ice-covered basins and telemeter the data back in near real time to the lab. Since the 1980s, WHOI scientists have also been involved in geological, biological, ecological and geochemical studies of Arctic waters, typically from expeditions utilizing icebreaking vessels, or air supported drifting platforms. Since the 2000s, WHOI has maintained oceanographic moorings on the Beaufort Shelf and in the deep Canada Basin, the latter an element of the Beaufort Gyre Observing System (BGOS). BGOS maintains oceanographic moorings via icebreaker, and conducts annual hydrographic and geochemical surveys each summer to document the Beaufort Gyre freshwater reservoir that has changed significantly since earlier investigations from the 1950s-1980s. With the experience and results demonstrated over the past decades for furthering Arctic research, WHOI scientists are well positioned to continue to explore and study the polar oceans in the decades ahead. Grant no. NA14OAR4320158

2020年，伍兹霍尔海洋研究所（Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, WHOI）迎来其90周年华诞，该机构自创立以来始终致力于全球海洋的研究、教育与探索事业，从初创阶段便将北极研究纳入核心研究方向。事实上，WHOI的首份技术报告正是基于1931年“鹦鹉螺”号潜艇极地科考航次所获取的海洋学数据撰写而成。1951年与1952年，WHOI科学家在美国海军“跳雪”（SkiJump）I、II号科考航次中负责监督水文数据采集工作，此次航次借助搭载滑雪板的飞机在波弗特海着陆，并由此推断出波弗特环流单元以及北极中部海岭的存在。此后，WHOI工作人员依托海军与空军冰上营地开展了多项涉密研究，其中尤以冰下声学相关研究最为突出。随着简易卫星通信与定位技术的问世，自1987年起，WHOI海洋学家开始在北极中心区域的海冰上部署浮标，以获取地表大气、海冰及上层海洋的时间序列数据。早期这套观测系统受技术限制，仅能采集离散深度的数据，同时还受到供电条件、卫星传输带宽以及高额成本的制约。随着技术迭代升级，WHOI研发了系泊漂流剖面浮标（Ice-Tethered Profiler, ITP），可在冰覆盖的海盆中每日多次获取垂直连续的上层海洋数据，并将数据以近实时的方式回传至实验室。自20世纪80年代以来，WHOI科学家还参与了北极海域的地质、生物、生态及地球化学研究，相关工作通常依托破冰船或空气支撑漂流平台开展科考航次完成。进入21世纪以来，WHOI在波弗特陆架以及加拿大深海海盆布设了海洋观测锚系，其中后者是波弗特环流观测系统（Beaufort Gyre Observing System, BGOS）的组成部分。BGOS通过破冰船维护海洋观测锚系，并于每年夏季开展年度水文与地球化学勘测，以记录波弗特环流淡水储层的变化情况——自1950年代至1980年代的早期科考以来，该储层已发生显著改变。凭借过去数十年间在北极研究领域积累的经验与成果，WHOI科学家已具备充足条件，能够在未来数十年持续开展极地海洋的探索与研究工作。资助编号：NA14OAR4320158