A specialized plane, camera and a crew of four are in Alaska to understand the ecosystems of the Bering and Chukchi seas.
Jiaxu Zhang is a research scientist at the University of Washington, and for the last four summers she’s brought a team of researchers to Nome for the Arctic Airborne Investigations and Research project, or Arctic AIR for short.
“Arctic AIR does all sorts of research, ranging from physical oceanography to sea ice surveys to phytoplankton studies and remote sensing," Zhang said. "And sometimes we also onboard some observers to do some marine mammal surveys."
Zhang said one of the team’s main objectives is to monitor algal blooms. Algae is a critical part of the ocean’s ecosystem, but species like Alexandrium Catenella can be harmful to human health and marine ecosystems. Zhang said data collected by Arctic AIR is used to track the growth of algae in the Arctic.
Another goal of the project is to develop cutting-edge buoys packed with sensors. This year's work began with deploying buoys in Prudhoe Bay. The buoys track conditions in the ocean.
The team flies aboard NOAA’s De Havilland DHC-6-300 — more commonly known as the “Twin Otter.” One of the project's pilots, Sean Cheng, said the aircraft's performance at low speeds makes it a good fit for the mission.
“That makes it really easy to control when it comes to, you know, at those little airspeeds that we need to be at for survey conditions,” Cheng said.
At the bottom of the craft is a hyperspectral camera, which points down to the water below while flying at high altitudes. The camera is powerful enough to distinguish between different types of algae.
“The hyperspectral work that we've done here is really to collect ocean color data and try to understand the different phytoplankton groups, whether there are harmful species here or there are other species that are not harmful,” Zhang said.
Zhang and Anuscheh Nawaz, another scientist on the team, stressed that their work on a broader scale is observing the changing climate. Nawaz said the global importance of her work is just one reason she’s thrilled to be part of Arctic AIR.
Zhang said the project is an open science platform where other researchers can hop on to test instruments and survey ideas. This year’s expedition had the team stopping in Prudhoe Bay, Nome and then Kotzebue before wrapping up in late September.