WEBVTT 00:00.827 --> 00:03.327 (light music) 00:07.621 --> 00:08.875 - We're currently up here in Thule Air Force Base 00:08.875 --> 00:10.946 ^in northwest Greenland deploying some 00:10.946 --> 00:14.296 ^oceanographic buoys at a Royal Danish Air Force C130 00:14.296 --> 00:17.406 in support of the International Arctic Buoy Program 00:17.406 --> 00:18.681 that's a collaboration with 00:18.681 --> 00:20.463 ^the Office of (mumbles) Research. 00:20.463 --> 00:21.975 ^- Two years ago, we established the 00:21.975 --> 00:25.066 ^International Cooperative Engagement for Polar Research, 00:25.066 --> 00:26.661 ^or ICEPR, which is a new multinational effort, 00:26.661 --> 00:29.078 and out of those discussions, 00:29.266 --> 00:33.433 we had a meeting with the Danish military in May of 2017. 00:34.147 --> 00:35.326 And so out of those discussions, 00:35.326 --> 00:37.784 the new Danish Arctic Command was very gracious 00:37.784 --> 00:40.025 in providing us some support and opportunities 00:40.025 --> 00:42.563 to deploy these buoys for the firs time ever 00:42.563 --> 00:45.103 out of not only Greenland with Danish Air Force assets, 00:45.103 --> 00:47.494 but also only the second time over the North Pole. 00:47.494 --> 00:49.478 So Thule gives us a unique area to base 00:49.478 --> 00:51.119 our operation out of. 00:51.119 --> 00:52.899 One, it's got a great logistical support network 00:52.899 --> 00:55.202 with the United States Air Force. 00:55.202 --> 00:56.942 It also has an excellent cooperation 00:56.942 --> 00:59.528 with the Danish government that operates 00:59.528 --> 01:01.643 the base up here that'll basically allow us 01:01.643 --> 01:04.374 to use this as a launching point to get 01:04.374 --> 01:05.455 into the high Arctic. 01:05.455 --> 01:07.028 ^- So these buoys that we're deploying 01:07.028 --> 01:08.596 ^are airborne seasonal ice beacons. 01:08.596 --> 01:10.997 ^We'll push them out of the airplane. 01:10.997 --> 01:14.498 They have basic fundamental meteorological senses 01:14.498 --> 01:16.582 of air pressure, air temperature, 01:16.582 --> 01:18.691 and they also measure surface temperature 01:18.691 --> 01:21.514 and have GPSs, so we know where they are. 01:21.514 --> 01:23.440 It's basically a buoy that can survive 01:23.440 --> 01:26.243 for multiple years in the seasonal ice zone, 01:26.243 --> 01:28.304 melt out in the summer, survive storms 01:28.304 --> 01:29.966 and crunching sea ice. 01:29.966 --> 01:31.482 It's a pretty harsh environment now. 01:31.482 --> 01:33.302 ^The National Ice Center uses data 01:33.302 --> 01:36.561 ^from the Arctic buoys in assisting, and determining, 01:36.561 --> 01:38.620 ^and forecasting sea ice conditions, 01:38.620 --> 01:40.329 which we provide to government vessels 01:40.329 --> 01:42.694 such as US submarines, Coast Guard icebreakers, 01:42.694 --> 01:45.611 and cutters operating near the ice, 01:45.771 --> 01:47.909 as well as research vessels that have 01:47.909 --> 01:50.637 scientific missions near the sea ice. 01:50.637 --> 01:52.207 This also reduces risk to our forces 01:52.207 --> 01:54.479 and anyone operating in the Arctic 01:54.479 --> 01:56.866 or other just commercial vessels, as well, 01:56.866 --> 01:59.014 by providing them more accurate forecasts. 01:59.014 --> 02:01.824 - So that fact that we can, you know, 02:01.824 --> 02:04.282 jump on a Royal Danish C130 and drop the buoys 02:04.282 --> 02:05.679 over the North Pole, it's a pretty rare event. 02:05.679 --> 02:07.946 - Deploying these buoys in this part of the Arctic Ocean 02:07.946 --> 02:10.358 is gonna be a benefit to all the countries 02:10.358 --> 02:13.240 that are involved in gaining a data source 02:13.240 --> 02:17.062 in an area that has very few observations currently. 02:17.062 --> 02:18.864 That's gonna improve both meteorology 02:18.864 --> 02:20.485 and oceanography models. 02:20.485 --> 02:22.621 - For this effort in particular with these 02:22.621 --> 02:23.778 buoy deployments, 02:23.778 --> 02:25.834 this is a perfect example that under this framework 02:25.834 --> 02:29.169 for ICEPR, we're able to have a US, Canadian, and Danish 02:29.169 --> 02:32.417 joint effort together to see this through 02:32.417 --> 02:34.997 both the buoy drops and the deployment, 02:34.997 --> 02:36.768 and then of course the data, 02:36.768 --> 02:38.673 particularly from the National Ice Center 02:38.673 --> 02:40.982 and the Office of Naval Research is then available 02:40.982 --> 02:43.029 for all sorts of ships and other vessels 02:43.029 --> 02:44.695 that are deploying into the Arctic 02:44.695 --> 02:46.853 so that safety at sea, navigational ability 02:46.853 --> 02:49.436 will be supported by this data.