Mooring Camp CTD Casts 2001-2004

As part of the North Pole Environmental Observatory, an oceanographic mooring is anchored to the ocean floor beneath the drifting ice. Vertically distributed instruments measure ocean properties at fixed depths, recording internally since satellite telemetry cannot reach beneath the ice. The data are retrieved annually when the mooring is recovered. The first NPEO mooring was deployed in April 2001, and replaced annually (later every other year) thereafter. As with most oceanographic moorings, it is useful to record a profile using a winch-lowered CTD at deployment and recovery. Since another part of NPEO involves a survey with such an instrument from a Twin Otter skiplane, planning in early years included a stop at the short-term camp established to recover and deploy the mooring. Problems with the CTD instrument believed to be associated with exposure to extremely low (like -40) air temperatures caused a failure of the Twin Otter cast in 2002, but this archive includes the three CTD profiles obtained in the month of April of 2001, 2003, and 2004. After 2004, logistical arrangements involving the Russian Ice Camp Borneo precluded sending the Twin Otter to the Mooring Camp during the short period it was occupied. However, it is hoped that the CTD Aerial Survey record from those years will offer a CTD profile close enough to the mooring position to be useful. Any user of this archive will also wish to obtain these data- = North Pole Environmental Observatory NPEO Oceanographic Mooring Data = North Pole Environmental Observatory NPEO Aerial CTD Survey