Arctic Ocean Buoy Program.

Abstract : As part of the United States contribution to the First GARP Global Experiment, an array of automatic data buoys was established in the Arctic Basin early in 1979. The objectives of the buoy program were to provide measurements of surface atmospheric pressure over the basin and to define the large scale field of motion of the sea ice. This report begins with an overview of the measurement program and the data processing procedures. This overview is followed by a presentation of processed data in two forms. The first consists of the time series of position, pressure, and temperature for each buoy, in tabular form. The second consists of charts of surface pressure. In addition to the isobars, these charts display the daily ice displacements. For both the tabular and graphical data the reporting interval is one day. The report covers the period 19 January 1979, when the first buoys were deployed, through 31 December 1979. Many of the buoys continued to operate well into 1980, and in April 1980 thirteen new buoys were deployed. It is planned to maintain the measurement program at about this level for several more years. Raw data from the measurement program are available in real time on the Global Telecommunications System of the World Meteorological Organization. An appendix to this report describes the processed data sets which are available to interested users. (Author)