A 35-day NSF-sponsored cruise aboard the USCGC Polar Star has studied in depth the physical oceanography of the Chukchi Borderland and Mendeleev Ridge regions. An extensive hydrographic survey (126 CTD casts) was conducted. In addition to CTD profiles of temperature, conductivity, oxygen, and light scatter and L-ADCP profiles of water velocity, bottle samples were taken for nutrients (2662 samples), dissolved oxygen (2999 samples), salinity (3066 samples) and tracers CFCs (F11, F12, F113, ca. 2500 samples), O18 isotopes (ca.1000 samples), Barium (ca.1000 samples), Helium (ca.108 samples), Iodine-129 (96 samples) and Cesium-137 (27 samples). Twenty-one denitrification (N:Ar ratio) samples were also taken. A total of 47 XBTs were used both to increase spatial coverage over the shelf and to increase spatial resolution in the slope regions. To better map the boundary current regime, 3 oceanographic moorings carrying current meters and temperature and salinity sensors were deployed across the boundary current for the ca. 1 month duration of the cruise. During the cruise, via a website of daily updates from a High School teacher aboard the Polar Star and visits to schools in Barrow, we brought Arctic research into the classroom. Post-cruise a multi-institute team of scientists will study this extensive data set, with reference to previous (sparse) measurements, Canadian measurements taken this year in the Canadian Basin and near Northwind Ridge, and modeling results, to understand the role of this Arctic Crossroads in the circulation of the Arctic Ocean.

From August 2010 – September 2012, six moorings (BC1 inshore to BC6 offshore), spaced ~13 km apart, spanned the head of Barrow Canyon, Chukchi Sea, Alaska. Each mooring contained an upward looking 300 or 600 kHz Teledyne ADCP and a temperature/conductivity/pressure (T/C/P) recorder (Seabird SBE-37 or SBE-19). Moorings BC-2 through BC-5 included bottom tracking for measuring ice keel depths and ice drift. Bottom-tracking was inactive on BC-1 and BC-6 because these included directional wave firmware. The T/C/P and ADCP were housed in a float situated ~4 m above bottom. BC1, the mooring nearest to the coast, was deployed in a water depth of 31 m with its instruments mounted 1-m above the bottom in a SeaSpider frame. The compact mooring design minimized damage from nearshore ice keels that can exceed 25 m depth. After recovering the array in 2012, we deployed a single mooring (BC2) in 3 succeeding years.

These data are part of a multi-year baseline environmental studies data set collected as part of the permitting process prior to drilling exploration wells. The objectives of the Chukchi Sea Environmental Baseline Studies Program are: 1. To provide data for pre-exploration and development-related activities 2. To provide data for permit applications 3. To provide input to planning of future operations and associated mitigation 4. To provide additional baseline data that can be used to assess and measure the potential environmental effects of offshore oil and gas exploration and development in the northeastern Chukchi Sea. These data were submitted under Annex 1 of the Memorandum of Understanding between NOAA and the oil companies (NOAA Agreement NOS-MOA-2011-080).

Surface current velocities representative of the upper 2 m of the water column were collected in the northeastern Chukchi Sea using high-frequency radar systems during the ice free seasons of 2012 - 2014. Hourly data from August through October of each year are included at a spatial resolution of 6 km.

These data were collected as part of the physical oceanographic component of the Chukchi Sea Offshore Monitoring in Drilling Area (COMIDA) Hanna Shoal Ecosystem Study. Hanna Shoal is a topographic feature in the northeastern Chukchi Sea that is both shallow (as little as 20m deep) and biologically productive. The earlier COMIDA: Chemistry and Benthos (CAB) study identified it as an area at which to focus additional ecological monitoring. To define the circulation around the Shoal, Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers (ADCPs) were deployed on six moorings on its northwest and northeast slopes on the 40, 50, and 60 m isobaths. These were initially deployed in August 2012 from the USCG Healy. They were then recovered and re-deployed in September 2013 from the Norseman II under the direction of Chief Scientist Peter Winsor (UAF). The same vessel and Chief Scientist conducted the recoveries in September 2014. Each mooring included a MicroCat temperature/conductivity/pressure (CTD) recorder mounted about 3 m above bottom. Two moorings, HS-NE_50m and HS-NE_60m in 2012-13, additionally included an ISCAT (upper level temperature-salinity-pressure sensors in a trawl resistant housing designed to survive impact by ice keels) at ~25 and 30 m depth, respectively. All data are in ASCII.

This dataset includes a reference baseline used by the Digital Shoreline Analysis System (DSAS) to calculate rate-of-change statistics for the exposed north coast of Alaska coastal region between Point Barrow and Icy Cape for the time period 1947 to 2012. This baseline layer serves as the starting point for all transects cast by the DSAS application and can be used to establish measurement points used to calculate shoreline-change rates.

The data were collected by Flow Industries, Inc., under contract number 03-78-B01-61, "The Transport and Behavior of Oil Spilled In and Under Sea Ice", to NOAA. The data are primarily from drifting ice buoys and were collected in the Chukchi Sea, NW Coast of Alaska during the period December 19, 1981 to January 1, 1982 from six drifting buoys as part of Flow Project Icespil III. Three of the buoys have current and/or pressure records. Data has been processed to the NODC standard Drifting Buoy Data (F156) format. The F156 data type contains time series ocean circulation data determined by tracking the movement of drifting buoys, drogues or other instrumented devices. Movement is reported as point-to-point geographic locations determined by shore-based, surface ship, aircraft or satellite observations. Data from both ocean currents and sea ice movement can be reported in this format over time periods ranging from minutes to months. Directions and speeds between individual observations may be computed from these data and presented in graphic or summary listing form to provide information on circulation patterns and mass transport in offshore and nearshore regions. Platform name (for platform acquiring data or deploying device), drogue characteristics, start and end positions and times, and observation frequency (if constant time interval) are reported for each series of observations. The data record comprises position, date and time for each observation. Other surface meteorological or oceanographic parameters (e.g., water temperature and salinity, air temperature and pressure, wind, waves) and subsurface data (depth, pressure, temperature) may also be reported. Text records may be used to report general comments or to describe individual drogue observations.

A set of eight moorings were set up across the Charlie Gibbs Fracture Zone to measure the intermediate and deep water variability for a two-year period, from a depth of 500 meters to the ocean floor. The moorings held a total of three McLane Moored Profilers (MMPs), 10 Nortek AquaDopp current meters, 18 Aanderaa RCM11 current meters, and 36 SBE MicroCATs, deployed from 18-20 August 2010 through 28-30 June 2012. This yielded a nearly two-year record of velocity, temperature, conductivity, pressure, and salinity across the interface between the generally eastward flowing Labrador Sea Water carried underneath the North Atlantic Current and the westward flowing deep Iceland-Scotland Overflow Water. Data files provided in netcdf format.

This dataset includes a reference baseline used by the Digital Shoreline Analysis System (DSAS) to calculate rate-of-change statistics for the sheltered north coast of Alaska coastal between Point Barrow and Icy Cape for the time period 1947 to 2012. This baseline layer serves as the starting point for all transects cast by the DSAS application and can be used to establish measurement points used to calculate shoreline-change rates.

The data included in this dataset were collected in East Greenland in the Sermilik Fjord, located in the Ammassalik district close to the town of Tasiilaq, and at the Kangerlussuaq Glacier. Data collection was conducted by deploying eleven moorings from August 2009 to August 2010. One mooring was not recovered until September 2012 and three moorings were never recovered. The recovered moorings located in the Sermilik Fjord were named CM1, CM3, CM5, CM6, and SM3. The recovered moorings located at Kangerlussuaq Glacier were GP1, GP2, and GP3. The moorings were equipped with SBE MicroCATs, Onset UTBI-001 TidbiTs, Nortek Aquadopps, RBR DR-1050s, and RBR XR-420s.