Chukchi Ecosystem Observatory - Alaska Ocean Observing System
Original (non-English) name
Acronym
CEO - AOOS
Citation
Abstract
Moored oceanographic observations are essential for understanding time-varying ocean processes under different environmental conditions. Wave, current, and other physical measurements allow assessment of co-variability in the light, chlorophyll, CDOM, nitrate, backscatter, particle size distribution, zooplankton and fish parameters. The objective of Chukchi Sea Ecosystem Observatory (Mooring) (referred to as the CEO) project is to maintain a multi-parameter, multi-instrument physical/biological/chemical/geological oceanographic mooring in the Northeast Chukchi Sea. The CEO is designed to aid management of subsistence resources and potential commercial fisheries by providing data valuable to an ecosystem-based approach to resource management. The CEO site is also well situated to monitor the state of ocean acidification, changes to shelf nutrient and carbon cycles, and how changing wind, wave, and ice affect the regional oceanography. The observatory provides biogeochemical model validation data, improving our understanding of the marine carbon pump and shelf-basin exchanges. The project complements water column, benthic, and passive acoustics sampling carried out by other programs, and places ship-based sampling programs into a significantly more complete temporal context, including measurements of the National Science Foundation (NSF)-supported Distributed Biological Observatory (DBO) project, serving as a year-round “anchor” for the DBO monitoring region #4. It also complements previous industry-funded Chukchi Sea Environmental Studies Program (CSESP), the ongoing Arctic Marine Biodiversity Observation Network (AMBON), and the NPRB Arctic Integrated Ecosystem Research Program (Arctic IERP).
CEO datasets will have many applications, including:
- Providing independent validation points for biogeochemical and ecosystem models.
Enabling estimates of the particulate fluxes to the seafloor that directly supply the benthic community with organic matter and, in turn, support the key summer walrus foraging area in the vicinity.
- Delivering active acoustic data indicating the presence of Arctic Cod (a subsistence resource and marine mammal prey) and euphausiids (Arctic Cod and bowhead whale prey).
- Providing passive acoustic recordings to document the presence of anthropogenic noises and vocal marine mammals, including walrus, bearded seals, and whales.