Oceanographic and acoustic data from a voyage near the ice edge in the Fram Strait summer 2016

The objective of the project was to develop new measurement technology for use in the ice edge zone. The unique marine ecosystem of the Arctic is sensitive to anthropogenic change, including acidification caused by CO2 emissions. Better knowledge of how this natural system functions is needed, but it is a challenging area to observe. In this project, a new sensor package measuring parameters relevant to ocean acidification was integrated on an autonomous sailing platform, the SailBuoy. A method of automatically identifying objects in echograms was developed. Objects seen in the echograms from the SailBuoy were categorized by their shape, and interpreted as plankton, individual fish or fish schools. The automatically identified and classified objects from the echograms were compared with satellite data and with the independently made measurements from the other SailBuoy. It is clear that using two SailBuoys with different instrumentation in tandem opens up interesting possibilities.