Arctic Observing Summit Theme : Technology and innovation for sustained Arctic observations Microbuoys for low-cost observation of the upper Arctic Ocean

Small, instrumented buoys known as microbuoys provide a low cost means of acquiring measurements from the upper Arctic Ocean. They carry a small sensing suite (including GPS), a low-power microcontroller, a limited battery package, and a satellite modem or other radio for data retrieval. The platform is effectively agnostic of sensor type, though certainly limited by size and mass. For relatively low duty cycle sensing, battery capacity can last on the order of one month in a buoy of less than one liter in volume. The microbuoy concept was demonstrated in the Arctic during the 2013 MIZOPEX campaign, a NASA-run program that, among other things, deployed eight Air Deployed Microbuoys from unmanned aircraft in the Beaufort Marginal Ice Zone. The ADMB system is described, along with the general microbuoy concept and a few other examples of microbuoys. The Drone Deployed Micro-Drifter is a similar system that also integrates the functionality of a dropsonde, collecting atmospheric profile measurements as it falls into the ocean. The potential role of microbuoys in the Arctic observing system is described, with some comments on the best uses for these systems.