Automated Ice-Ocean Environmental Buoys (IOEBs) for the telemetry of air, ice and ocean data from the polar oceans

The Ice-Ocean Environmental Buoy (IOEB) was developed to acquire and telemeter in near real-time interrelatable time-series data on atmospheric, oceanographic and ice physics in ice-covered oceans during all seasons. Mechanically, the IOEB consists of an extremely durable surface notation package and an underwater mooring line of instruments and sensors. The apex contains data loggers for meteorological, ice physics and engineering measurements, microcontroller modules for accumulating the data, and ARGOS platform transmit terminals (PTTs) for broadcasting the data. The ocean sensors include conductivity/temperature recorders, an Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP), a dissolved oxygen sensor, a transmissometer and two fluorometers. Furthermore, a suspended particle collector and sediment trap collect biogeochemical samples at the bottom of the 110 m suspended mooring. In April 1992, two IOEBs were successfully deployed at two separate ice camps in the Arctic Ocean with battery power adequate to sustain the systems for over two years.<>