Ice drift in the Beaufort Sea observed by drifting buoys

This project, led by York University, has used airborne electromagnetic surveys and drift beacons to quantify the thickness and regional distribution of different sea ice types and extreme ice features in the southern Beaufort Sea. A Canadian airborne platform has been developed to perform long-range aerial surveys of sea ice and to mark the surveyed ice at the same time with drifting buoys. These have been air-dropped on extreme ice features and ice floes to study ice motion, deformation, and their impact on the ice thickness distribution. Two surveys were performed, one in April 2012 and one in April 2013, when end of winter thicknesses are at their maximum. The airborne platform is available to other users to add further sensors during the same flights to increase efficiency of operations. The airborne environmental observatory for the Beaufort Sea and Canadian Arctic will be available for use by other stakeholders in the future. The 2012 buoy deployment used parachute-equipped ice beacons manufactured by Canatec Associated in Calgary AB.