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D.B. Fissel 1 , P. D. Osborne 2 , E. Ross 1 , M.G. Lowings 3 . D. Driver 4 , D. Barber 5 , M. Fortier 6 and K. Lév

A Collaborative Program of Mooring Based Studies In the Ajurak and Pokak Exploration Licence Areas of the Canadian Beaufort Sea, July 2009 to September 2011: Sea Ice and Ocean Waves.

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D.B. Fissel 1 , P. D. Osborne 2 , E. Ross 1 , M.G. Lowings 3 . D. Driver 4 , D. Barber 5 , M. Fortier 6 and K. Lév

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  1. A Collaborative Program of Mooring Based Studies In the Ajurak and Pokak Exploration Licence Areas of the Canadian Beaufort Sea, July 2009 to September 2011: Sea Ice and Ocean Waves D.B. Fissel1, P. D. Osborne2, E. Ross1, M.G. Lowings3. D. Driver4, D. Barber5, M. Fortier6and K. Lévesque6 1 ASL Environmental Sciences Inc., Victoria, BC Canada; 2 IMG-Golder Corporation (Golder Associates Inc) Burnaby, BC, Canada; 3 IMG-Golder Corporation (Golder Associates Ltd), Calgary, AB, Canada; 4BP Exploration, Houston, TX USA; 5ArcticNet, U. Manitoba, Winnipeg MB Canada; 6ArcticNet, U. Laval, QC, Canada

  2. Acknowledgements • The Materials Presented are based upon work supported by: • Imperial Oil Resources Ventures Limited • BP Exploration Company and • ExxonMobil Canada • J. Hawkins and N. Darlow, Imperial Oil Resources Ventures Ltd; • James Hall and Dmitri G. Matskevitch, ExxonMobil Upstream Research; • Cynthia Pyc and David Driver, BP Exploration Company • ArcticNet is funded by: • the Networks of Centres of Excellence (NCE) Program of the • National Sciences and Engineering Research Council • (NSERC) of Canada • Research Program Review and Approval: Inuvialuit Settlement Region Community Consultations via Industry and ArcticNet

  3. Collaborative Research Program- Introduction • Early 2000’s: Renewed Interest in Offshore Oil and Gas Exploration of the Canadian Beaufort Sea • 2007: Exploration licence (EL) 446 (Ajurak) -Imperial Oil Resources Ventures Limited (IORVL) and ExxonMobil Canada Limited • 2008: Exploration licences EL 449 (Pokak), EL 451 and 453 to BP Exploration Operating Company Limited • Adopted a risk-based approach to hydrocarbon exploration activities and interaction with the environment. • 2009-2011: IORVL and BP adopting a multi-disciplinary, multi-year, collaborative data collection strategy. • 2011: Formation of a new joint venture of BP and IORVL with Imperial Oil designated as the Operator (for EL 446/449)

  4. Collaborative Research Program- Overview • A Multi-Disciplinary Industry-Academic Collaborative Research Program involving: • IORVL and BP • ArcticNet (U. Laval, U. Manitoba and other member universities) • Consulting Companies (ASL, IMG-Golder and Kavik-Stantec) • 2009-11: Major Program – Inshore to Far Offshore Areas

  5. Data CollectionOverview: 2009-2012- Ongoing • Summer 2009: • CCGS Amundsen (late July-Sept.) • Outer Shelf and Slope: 9 Sub-surface Moorings; 2 surface buoys • CCGS Nahidik (mid July-mid Sept.) • Inner Shelf: 2 Moorings; • extensive ship-based sampling • Fall 2009-Summer 2010: • Continuous Measurements from • 50 Instruments on 8 Moorings • Summer 2010 and 2011: • CCGS Amundsen (Aug.-Sept.) • Fall 2010-Summer 2011: • Continuous Measurements from • 50 Instruments on 8 Moorings • BREA: Fall 2011- Fall 2012 (Ongoing) • 25+ Instruments /4-5 Moorings • CCGS Laurier - Deployed 5 Moorings

  6. CCGS Amundsen Moorings Design Subsurface (Taut-Line) Moorings ASL Ice Profiler Distributed Flotation to key mooring upright (resist tilting and current knockdown ADCP: Ocean Current Profiles and Ice Velocities Single Point Current Meters Other Water Parameters measured All:Temperature, Salinity (T,S) - all Some: Turbidity, Dissolved Oxygen, Chlorophyll Sediment Pumps and Traps (A.1 and G only) Dual Acoustic Releases (for recovery) Steel Anchor Weights on bottom Mooring H

  7. Instruments on Moorings: 2010-2011-Example Legend (Instrument depth) Partial Data Recovery ** upper mooring lost

  8. Sea Ice: Detailed Ice Draft Topography – Upward Looking Sonars (ULS) Landsat 5 Image – July 27, 2009 (during deployment) ======== Overview of ULS (ASL Ice Profiler and ADCP) Data Sets Collected: 2009-2011 2009-2010: 8 offshore locations with simultaneous data collection of ice drafts and ice velocities 2010-2011: 7 offshore locations with simultaneous data collection, as above Continuous Ice Draft Data – 2 s samples, 1 m horizontal resolution

  9. Sea Ice Drafts: Seasonal Variability • Presence of Large Ice Keels: • Start: mid-Oct./Nov.; • Extending to following summer (early June to early Sept) • Total Ice Season: up to 11 months • Highly Episodic Occurrences; Most Deformed Ice from Winter to mid-Spring

  10. Sea Ice: Detailed Ice Draft Topography • Change in Ice Distance: (10/11 vs 09/10) • More Ice at Deep Locations (F,A) than at Inner Slope (B) and Shelf Edge (I) • Reduced by 25% at Shelf Edge and • 10-15% Offshore • Changes in Number of Large Ice Keels • No. Ice Keels > 8 m draft: -22 to - 46% • No. Ice Keels > 11 m draft: -24 to +24 • No. Ice Keels > 15 m: I&J: 75 vs67: +11% • Site F: 35 vs55: -36%

  11. Sea Ice Velocity: Ice Velocities using Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) at 15 min. intervals Typical Speed –Direction Distribution:

  12. Sea Ice Velocity: Ice Drift to W-NW but episodic reversals to SE due to winds and Coriolis effects 2010-2011 Highest Speeds in Fall, Low in Winter

  13. Ocean Waves Data Sets Collected: 2009-2011 Summer 2009: 11 locations simultaneous wave data - incl. 2 inshore (dir. waves) 2009-2010; 2010-201: subsurface mooring measurements at 8 and 7 sites Largest Waves from the North East i.e., prevailing wind direction

  14. Large Ocean Wave Episodes: 2009-2011 • Episodic Wave Events throughout Open Water Season: • Each Year: 10 events of Significant Wave Heights (Hs) > 2m • Hs < 3 m in Summer; Larger in Fall • Largest Wave Event: Hs = 4.9 m (Nov. 5, 2010; E. Winds up to 20 m/s) • 2009 Largest Wave - Oct. 22-26, 2009: Hs 3.9 m (site J) to 4.2 m (site F) • Hs can vary considerably among mooring sites according to: • Wind Fetch Distance and Local and Regional Sea Ice Conditions Measured Many Episodes of “Waves In Ice” - Measured Swell Waves of up 15 s period and Ice Floe Fracturing

  15. Summary and Conclusions: • Collaborative Industry-Academic Oceanographic Ice Research Program in the Canadian Beaufort Sea • Supported a multi-disciplinary, multi-year, collaborative data collection strategyby the Oil Industry • Summer of 2009 to Summer 2011 • Very Extensive Data Sets • Operation of 8 Year-Round Subsurface Moorings for 26 Months • Over 100 Continuous Year-Long Time Series Data Sets plus • Many Shorter Summer-Only Time Series Data • Augmented by Extensive Ship-Based and Airborne Remote Sensing Programs • 2011-2013:Continued Operation of 4-5 Moorings – BREA Program Applications of the Scientific Data - Industry : A. Baseline Data Collection for Environmental Approvals Process B. Support Engineering Design and Project Planning

  16. Summary and Conclusions (Cont’d) • C. Data Sets- Scientific Research Projects (ArcticNet-Industry) • Scientific Papers are now In Preparation: • In Arctic Oceanography and Sea Ice • Sea Ice Research - Examples: • Ice Mass Changes within the Canadian Beaufort Sea – NE to W. Areas • Ice Data Fusion: Advancing the Methodology of Combined Remote Sensing and Moored Sea Ice Measurements • Sea Ice Velocity Characterizations at Synoptic and Inertial Time Scales • Ocean Wave Research - Examples: • Wave Climatology from IPS and Radarsat • Waves in Ice (Observations and Modeling) • Also Research Papers in • Ocean Currents and Upwelling, • Sediment Processes • Other Topics

  17. Ice Data Sets - Offshore Moorings 2009-2011 Ocean Currents/ T-S Results: See Poster Paper by Osborne at al, this conference

  18. Ocean Waves Late-July to mid-Oct. 2009 Site A: ASL IPS5 Subsurface Mooring ArcticNet Surface Buoy • ULS (ASL IPS5) instruments provide non-directional measurements year-round • Unlike Wave Buoys which are limited to Short Summer Deployments

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