ITP48

Deployment Location: 9/9/2011, 8:00 UTC at 84° 48.8’N, 166° 12.9’E

Last Location: 9/11/2014, 23:00 UTC at 83° 28.1’ N, 73° 22.4’ W

Duration: 1099 days

Distance Traveled: 5173 km

Number of profiles: 1374 in 437 days

Other instruments: IMBB 2011-L, ITAC, ITBOB

ITP 48 was deployed on a 1.2 m thick ice floe in the Transpolar Drift during the ARK-XXVI/3 cruise (TransArc) on the R/V Polarstern as a contribution to the Hybrid Arctic/Antarctic Float Observation System (HAFOS). On the same icefloe, an Optimare ITAC with GPS mast, an Ice-Tethered Bio-optical Buoy (ITBOB), and a US Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL) Ice Mass Balance Buoy (IMB 2011-L) were also installed. The ITP included a dissolved oxygen sensor and full biosuite system, and operated on a pattern profiling sampling schedule. More information on the biosuite sensor package and data handling can be found here.

Ian Waddington, Hiroshi Sumata, Ben Rabe, and Bert Rudels prepare to lower an ITP with biosuite sensor package suspended on the tether wire through the ice hole, as the Polarstern maintains position against the icefloe in the background. (Sergey Pisarev)