Environment Canada’s Dr. Stoyka Netcheva led a team of scientists in the deployment of a Canadian atmospheric composition monitoring buoy, referred to as “O-buoy 4,” during a joint Canada-U.S. expedition onboard the CCGS Louis St-Laurent icebreaker.

On September 5, 2011, O-buoy 4 started measuring the concentrations of ozone, carbon dioxide and bromine monoxide in the air over the ice of the Arctic Ocean. The buoy remained on the ice for 355 days during which additional data were collected on meteorological variables, the ice drift and ice conditions. O-buoy 4 was the first O-buoy to record data in the High Arctic as close to the North Pole as 89.515°N and the first since 2007 to capture a complete set of measurements during an entire springtime ozone depletion season. The O-Buoy 4 collected information on ozone and carbon dioxide concentrations over the ice of the Arctic Ocean during all four seasons and recorded variations in carbon dioxide concentrations during the ocean freezing and ice melt periods. O-buoy 4 also started reporting data for the World Meteorological Organization’s marine weather forecasts to validate wind direction and wind speed of the forecast models. During the buoy’s deployment, daily updates were posted online.

The buoy was successfully retrieved from the ice of the Fram Strait on August 25, 2012. Data are being used by scientists to better understand atmospheric processes in the Arctic and to develop advanced prediction capability applicable to this region. The research project was funded through the International Polar Year and received support from the Canadian Extended Continental Shelf Mapping Program.

Contact: Dr. Stoyka Netcheva, 416-739-4856, Air Quality Research Division, Atmospheric Science and Technology Directorate