Acoustic Networks - The Key to Observing the Ocean under the Arctic Sea Ice

This is a Community poster presentation: Hanne Sagen1 (hanne.sagen@nersc.no), Marcel Babin2, Agnieszka Beszczynska-Möller3, Bruce Cornuelle4, Brian Dushaw1, Matthew Dzieciuch4, Lee Freitag5, Patrick Gorringe6, Claire Gourcuff7, Bruce Howe8, Birgit Klein9, Yann Le Page10, Peter N. Mikhalevsky11, Andrey Morozov12, Walter Munk4, Glenn Nolan6, Eric Rehm13, Michel Rixen14, Stein Sandven1, Henrik Søiland15, Dag Tollefsen16, Peter Worcester4 1Nansen Environmental and Remote Sensing Center, Bergen, Norway, 2Université Laval, Département de Biologie/Pavillon Alexandre-Vachon, Québec, Canada, 3Institute of Oceanology PAS, Sopot, Poland, 4University of California San Diego, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, United States, 5Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, United States, 6EuroGOOS – European Global Ocean Observing System, Brussels, Belgium, 7Euro-Argo ERIC, Plouzane, France, 8University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, United States, 9Bundesamt fuer Seeschifffahrt und Hydrographie, Hamburg, Germany, 10ALSEAMAR, Meyreuil, France, 11Leidos, Maritime Systems Division, Arlington, United States, 12Teledyne Marine Systems, Falmouth, United States, 13Unité Mixte Internationale Takuvik, CERC sur la Télédétection de la Nouvelle Frontière Arctique du Canada, Quebec, Canada, 14World Climate Research Programme, Geneva, Switzerland, 15Institute of Marine Research, Bergen, Norway, 16Forsvarets Forskningsinstitutt, Maritime Systemer, Horten, Norway The weakest component of the overall Arctic observing system is the in situ ocean observing system. Advanced drifting ice-ocean observatories provide multi-disciplinary data in near real time, but they require stable ice conditions. Profiling floats and gliders, frequently used in open ocean, have to surface to transmit data, update their clocks, and geo-position via satellite. In ice covered regions floats may not be able to surface for many months. During this time the sensors will collect data, but the positions where the data are taken will be unknown and the clocks will not be accurate. Multipurpose acoustic networks will be an important contribution to the development of a sustainable Arctic Ocean Observing System. A network of fixed mooring systems with acoustic transceivers in the Arctic Ocean will provide an underwater geo-positioning system for all users in direct analogy with GPS positioning. The same system will provide ocean observation through acoustic thermometry, passive acoustic monitoring, and oceanographic point measurements. Moored multipurpose acoustic networks have been implemented in a sequence of year-long research experiments in the Fram Strait and in the Beaufort Sea. New initiatives for establishing acoustic networks in the interior of the Arctic have begun. These initiatives are timely given the several Arctic projects recently funded by the EU's research program HORIZON 2020 and a number of national programs.