The Baffin Bay Observing System (BBOS)

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1 The Baffin Bay Observing System (BBOS) A proposed, innova;ve marine observing network led by a Canadian network in collabora;on with Inuit, EU and USA partners. Designed to examine consequences and impacts of climate change on the freshwater-marine system in Baffin Bay Can be considered an Arc;c test-bed; manageable scale; accessible The Baffin Bay Observing System (BBOS) MODIS, May 29, 2015 merged with Google Earth

2 Rapidly changing Environment

3 The Baffin Bay a central ecological hub

4 Changing human use: Opportuni;es and risks New oil licenses and opening shipping routes

5 The Arc;c isn t isolated. It s connected

6 Vision The overarching vision for the BBOS is to develop an integrated environmental observa;on system, that will enable a sustained, near real-;me observa;on of the atmosphere, ice, land, and ocean at the scale of an en;re ocean basin.

7 Why do we need an observing system? Climate change is occurring rapidly and has cascading effects from physical changes to the environment, to ecosystems, and to social, economic, and poli;cal condi;ons. There is a need to understand condi;ons in larger regional scales in order to understand local condi;ons. To operate safely and responsibly in any geographic region there is a need for improved weather, ice hazard, and environmental forecas;ng, which is currently inadequately developed for the Arc;c.

8 Why in Baffin Bay? Climate change is opening up Baffin Bay for new ac;vi;es, including increased shipping and increased risks for oil spills. Baffin Bay is one of the most produc;ve marine systems in the northern hemisphere, including the North Water Polynya, and an important site for natural resources (fisheries, marine mammals, birds). It is an important link between the Arc;c Ocean and the North Atlan;c. It is an important site for people, cultural resources, and coastal regimes. The bay has limited data coverage both temporally as well as geographically.

9 Why now? The climate is changing rapidly; the Greenland Ice Sheet is mel;ng with a further risk of sea level rise and a range of teleconnec;ons to southern la;tudes, e.g. changes that will affect meteorologic, oceanographic and biologic condi;ons in the south. The increased access to the area has greatly increased the risk for regional accidents and environmental pollu;on. The technology readiness level (TRL) of autonomous devices and communica;ons is sufficient to allow for the capability to monitor the en;re extent Baffin Bay. The experience for opera;ng large infrastructures is now available. The poten;al for a broad interna;onal collabora;on exists. There is reconcilia;on with indigenous communi;es as they move towards self determina;on.

10 What will we get from it? Near real ;me, high quality data from the en;rety of Baffin Bay, which will improve our understanding of a data poor region. This will deliver be^er weather, ice hazard, and environmental forecas;ng. It will deliver be^er advice for fisheries and harvest to enable a sustainable economy. It will provide an infrastructure to support the Inuit in selfdetermina;on and enable a new policy development. It will provide vital basic measurements for evidence based research projects and a^ract and increase collabora;on between local, regional, and interna;onal inves;gators.

11 Mul;-ins;tu;onal ini;a;ve some early planning concepts from BBOS commi^ee Key Collaborator University Lead

12 Baffin Bay Observatory System (BBOS) Point inlet

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22 Research sta;on in Qikiqtarjuaq Arc;c-wide-unique access to deep ocean from land Strategic for fixedloca;on long-term monitoring of large scale changes in Arc;c (cloud-snow-ice-ocean coupling, biogeochemistry, diversity and land-ocean interac;ons) Lodging for 15 scien;sts, la space and other facili;es Community involved (2 years of intensive collabora;on, and signed agreement) 13 M$ proposal submi^ed to CFI Innova;on Fund Result June 2017

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24 Deploy moorings and AUVs on the Labrador Shelf and in the Labrador Sea Slocum deep gliders with gas and other biogeochemical sensors Deploy surface wave gliders to make atmospheric and ocean measurements Use ac;ve and passive acous;cs to track plankton and fish Communicate between gliders, moorings providing real ;me data

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26 Labrador Sea important for modifica>on of water proper>es through Uncertainty about influence and transport of freshwater Changes in MOC links to OSNAP Features to study include Deep convec;on Sea-ice forma;on Mixing Transport Sigubin et al. 2017

27 The Greenland side of Baffin Bay (DEN & GRE)

28 Interna;onal science community US partners

29 Arc;c Ocean connec;ons with the World Ocean Arc;c Ocean à Baffin Bay à Labrador Sea

30 Connec;vity is key Massive needs for an Arc;c Observing system (AOS). AOS needs to serve/connect mul;ple stakeholders. Observa;ons and people need to be connected. Northern peoples and their knowledge must be involved. Good examples exists. The Arc;c is not isolated; there are important connec;ons. Proposed Baffin Bay observing system will allow for development of prototype AOS. However, connec;ng Baffin Bay and Labrador offers unique opportuni;es for 1) tes;ng/developing approaches to AOS; and 2) examining impacts of Arc;c change on World Ocean. Promo;ng connec;vity between different observing system elements (e.g. OceanSITES, gliders/floats, satellites, VOC) will be cri;cal.

31 Examples of benefits Technology benefit companies and users Be^er data communi;es, managers, users Improved knowledge safer opera;ons, be^er economies (transport, fisheries, industry) Employment be^er opportuni;es Capacity building and Training be^er opportuni;es Interna;onal sharing and coordina;ng leading to a more efficient return on observing investment Global be^er understanding of climate change in the Arc;c Situa;on awareness security aspects