Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Skip to content
  • Feedback

    • Ice Tracking drifters deployed on nearshore ice near Barrow, AK, Chukchi Sea, 2015-03-26 to 2017-09-27 (NCEI Accession 0173716)

    Metadata Updated: April 1, 2025

    Twenty-five (25) prototype satellite-tracked ice trackers manufactured by PacificGyre Inc. were deployed on the sea ice along the Alaskan Arctic coast. Twenty were deployed in the spring of 2015 in clusters of five on first year and multi-year ice north of Barrow, AK, on landfast ice near Barrow, and in Harrison Bay in the Beaufort Sea. Five more were deployed in March 2017 within Elson Lagoon NE of Barrow. Trackers were transported via helicopter or snow machine to the deployment locations; trackers #7, #8, and #9 were dropped from the helicopter while in flight to test their ruggedness, and fell 30, 25, and 40 ft respectively.

    The IceTrackers were tracked from their release until they beached on-shore or died at sea because of battery failure or other causes. Tracker positions were determined via GPS, and positions were relayed via Iridium communications to PacificGyre's on-shore data center. Sampling rates in 2015 varied from 10 min to 2 hours. In 2017, drifters transmitted every 10 minutes from 3/1/2017 12:00 to 3/2/2017 5:00, and every 12 hours thereafter. The trackers were designed to float, and deployments continued after the ice melted. Many trackers remained active as sea ice re-formed in the region, and several trackers were frozen in the ice and released the following spring. Tracker #3 survived more than 2 years, transmitting positions from 4/16/2015 - 5/24/2017.

    Access & Use Information

    License: No license information was provided. If this work was prepared by an officer or employee of the United States government as part of that person's official duties it is considered a U.S. Government Work.

    Downloads & Resources

    Dates

    Metadata Date 2024-09-17T19:22:55Z
    Metadata Created Date December 4, 2020
    Metadata Updated Date April 1, 2025
    Reference Date(s) August 6, 2018 (publication)
    Frequency Of Update asNeeded

    Metadata Source

    Harvested from NOAA/NESDIS/ncei/accessions

    Other Data Resources

    Graphic Preview

    Preview graphic

    Additional Metadata

    Resource Type Dataset
    Metadata Date 2024-09-17T19:22:55Z
    Metadata Created Date December 4, 2020
    Metadata Updated Date April 1, 2025
    Reference Date(s) August 6, 2018 (publication)
    Responsible Party (Point of Contact)
    Contact Email
    Guid gov.noaa.nodc:0173716
    Access Constraints Cite as: Kasper, Jeremy; Mahoney, Andrew; Winsor, Peter (2018). Ice Tracking drifters deployed on nearshore ice near Barrow, AK, Chukchi Sea, 2015-03-26 to 2017-09-27 (NCEI Accession 0173716). [indicate subset used]. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. Dataset. https://doi.org/10.25921/may6-vc95. Accessed [date]., Use liability: NOAA and NCEI cannot provide any warranty as to the accuracy, reliability, or completeness of furnished data. Users assume responsibility to determine the usability of these data. The user is responsible for the results of any application of this data for other than its intended purpose.
    Bbox East Long -22.3846
    Bbox North Lat 88.0071
    Bbox South Lat 65.6202
    Bbox West Long 168.0539
    Coupled Resource
    Frequency Of Update asNeeded
    Graphic Preview Description Preview graphic
    Graphic Preview File https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/metadata/landing-page/bin/gfx?id=gov.noaa.nodc:0173716
    Graphic Preview Type PNG
    Harvest Object Id 221efbe0-e9e9-43cc-a79e-40350cc0bf0c
    Harvest Source Id c084a438-6f6b-470d-93e0-16aeddb9f513
    Harvest Source Title NOAA/NESDIS/ncei/accessions
    Licence accessLevel: Public
    Lineage
    Metadata Language eng
    Metadata Type geospatial
    Old Spatial {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": [[[168.0539, 65.6202], [-22.3846, 65.6202], [-22.3846, 88.0071], [168.0539, 88.0071], [168.0539, 65.6202]]]}
    Progress completed
    Spatial Data Service Type
    Spatial Reference System
    Spatial Harvester True
    Temporal Extent Begin 2015-03-26
    Temporal Extent End 2017-09-27

    Didn't find what you're looking for? Suggest a dataset here.