Navigation, meteorological and surface seawater data from the SWERUS-C3 Arctic Ocean expedition in 2014

John Prytherch, Michael Tjernström

Measurements from icebreaker Oden’s navigation, meteorological and surface seawater systems from the SWERUS-C3 expedition to the Eastern Arctic Ocean in July to October 2014.

The dataset provides rare meteorological and surface sea water observations from sea-ice regions of the Arctic Ocean, as well as Oden’s navigation data. The data enable analysis of meteorological conditions and provide context for other measurements and analysis associated with the expedition.

Measurements of wind, temperature, humidity and pressure were made from sensors above Oden’s bridge (25⁠ – ⁠35 m above sea level). Measurements of seawater properties (temperature, salinity, conductivity and sound velocity) were performed by sensors in the main laboratory on the pumped underway line, with an intake at 8 m depth. Water temperature was also measured with hull contact sensors located close to the underway line intake. These data were processed as part of the Arctic Clouds in Summer Experiment (ACSE).

Citation

John Prytherch, Michael Tjernström (2019) Navigation, meteorological and surface seawater data from the SWERUS-C3 Arctic Ocean expedition in 2014. Dataset version 1. Bolin Centre Database. https://doi.org/10.17043/oden-swerus-2014-navigation-1

References

Tjernström, M., Achtert, P., Shupe, M. D., Prytherch, J., Sedlar, J., Brooks, B. J., Brooks, I. M., Persson, P. O. G., Sotiropoulou, G., Salisbury, D. J. (2019). Arctic summer air-mass transformation, surface inversions and the surface energy budget. Journal of Climate: 32, 769–789. https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-18-0216.1

Sotiropoulou, G., Tjernström, M., Savre, J., Ekman, A. M. L., Hartung, K., and Sedlar, J. (2018). Warm-air advection and air-mass transformation over melting sea ice in the summer Arctic. Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society: 144, 2449–2462. https://doi.org/10.1002/qj.3316

Prytherch, J., Brooks, I. M., Crill, P. M., Thornton, B. F., Salisbury, D. J., Tjernström, M., Anderson, L. G., Geibel, M. C., Humborg, C. (2017): Direct determination of the air-sea CO2 gas transfer velocity in Arctic sea-ice regions. Geophys. Res. Lett., 44. https://doi.org/10.1002/2017GL073593

Sotiropoulou, G., Tjernström, M., Sedlar, J., Achtert, P., Brooks, B. J., Brooks, I. M., Persson, P. O. G., Prytherch, J., Salisbury, D. J., Shupe, M. D., Johnston, P. E., Wolfe, D. (2016): Atmospheric conditions during the Arctic Clouds in Summer Experiment (ACSE): Contrasting open-water and sea-ice surfaces during melt and freeze-up seasons. J. Clim., 29, 8721– 8744. https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-16-0211.1

Achtert, P., Brooks, I. M., Brooks, B. J., Prytherch, J., Persson, P. O. G., Tjernström, M. (2015): Measurement of wind profiles over the Arctic Ocean from ship-borne Doppler lidar. Atmos. Meas. Tech. 8, 4993-5007. https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-4993-2015

Tjernström, M., Shupe, M. D., Brooks, I. M., Persson, P. O. G., Prytherch, J., Salisbury, D. J., Sedlar, J., Achtert, P., Brooks, B. J., Johnston, P. E, Sotiropoulou, G., Wolfe, D. (2015): Warm-air advection, air mass transformation and fog causes rapid ice melt. Geophys. Res. Lett., 42. https://doi.org/10.1002/2015GL064373

Data description

Data from icebreaker Oden’s systems averaged over either 1 or 30-minute intervals. Three data formats are available: Matlab (.mat), NetCDF (.nc) and comma separated value (.csv) text, with an accompanying readme (.rtf) file.

Comments

Sensors were operated and maintained by icebreaker Oden’s ship crew and the Swedish Polar Research Secretariat staff. The following processing was carried out post-expedition: (i) True winds were re-calculated from the measured ship-relative winds using the navigation data to correct an error in the original true wind calculation; (ii) Large variations in the underway line salinity measurement (resulting from variations in line flow speed due to e.g. ice blockages) were removed and interpolated over. A flag indicates interpolation. Other underway line measurements are not adjusted.

Data from the various systems are combined into a single, cruise-length file. The file is time-averaged to either 1-minute or 30-minute, to correspond with the micrometeorological averaging periods used for the mast sensors.

The Arctic Clouds in Summer Experiment (ACSE) was a component in the Swedish–Russian–US SWERUS-C3 expedition. The main scientific questions of SWERUS-C3 concerned the linkages between climate, cryosphere, and carbon. ACSE was focused on exploring the role of clouds in shaping the new Arctic climate. Clouds remain a large uncertainty in our understanding of the climate system, in particular in the Arctic. The understanding of the processes involved is poor in part because of a lack of direct observations. The icebreaker Oden was equipped with a suite of in-situ and remote sensing instruments to study these processes in detail, with field work along the Russian Arctic coast on the icebreaker Oden during three months from early summer to early autumn (July 6 to October 14, 2014).

More information about the SWERUS-C3 expedition is available from the Swedish Polar Research Secretariat. See also SWERUS-C3 program website, managed by the Department of Geological Sciences, Stockholm University.

Version history

Version 1