80.54° North, 98.26° East – Foggy, -0.2 °C, wind speed: 4.2 m/s
Contributing to the international Argo float network
A team of Russian oceanographers have been deploying Argo floats since the Arctic Century Expedition reached the ice edge (see post of 19 August). In total, three floats were deployed on ice floes and two in the open water, to the north and northwest of Komsomolets Island (Severnaya Zemlya). The floats are recording different meteorological and oceanographical parameters autonomously as they go.
Sensing systems on the floats on the ice are recording atmospheric pressure and ice temperature whilst the floats in the water are recording surface water temperature. An integrated navigation system is tracking the floats, also providing information on ocean currents and sea ice drift. The data are transmitted to the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute in St. Petersburg and the international scientific community in real-time.
Argo is an international collaborative network of more than 30 nations that uses profiling floats to record oceanographical and meteorological data worldwide in real-time for climate research.
Header photograph: An Argo float being deployed on the sea ice.
Rights: © 2021 Swiss Polar Institute, CC BY 4.0 