Western Lancaster Sound:
The installations here are serviced annually. The ‘array’ here now has been trimmed to essentially one site, although there is a cluster of moorings here for different purposes. Fluxes through the section are estimated via scaling factors using data from the instrumented site. DFO scientists will strive to maintain this installation on a year-to-year basis, depending on chance funding.
Cardigan Strait:
Instruments are currently operating here at three sites. The moorings were placed in August 2009 and will be recovered in August 2012. Current profiles are measured by Doppler sonar, allowing calculation of volume flux. Water column measurements of temperature and salinity are impractical because of very strong tidal flow, so freshwater flux is not available here. There are no plans to maintain this array beyond recovery in 2012.
Nares Strait:
Instruments are currently operating here at seven sites. The moorings were placed in August 2009. We would like to recover these moorings in August 2012, but at present lack funds to engage the necessary logistics (dedicated icebreaker time) to accomplish this. Current profiles are measured by Doppler sonar and T-S profiles by sensors on separate moorings, allowing calculation of volume and freshwater fluxes, the latter only beneath 40-m depth. Sonar has also been deployed to measure ice mass and velocity, enabling the calculation of freshwater flux via pack ice. There are no plans to maintain this array beyond recovery in 2012.
Byam Martin Channel:
Moorings are presently (May 2011) being deployed here at two sites. Current profiles are measured by Doppler sonar and T-S at two levels on the same moorings, allowing calculation of volume flux and estimation of freshwater flux, the latter only beneath 50-m depth. Sonar has also been deployed to measure ice mass and velocity, enabling the calculation of freshwater flux via pack ice. We plan to maintain this array until 2014.
