A Collaborative Program of Mooring Based
Studies In the Ajurak and Pokak Exploration
Licence Areas of the Canadian Beaufort Sea,
July 2009 to September 2011:
Sea Ice and Ocean Waves
D.B. Fissel1, P. D. Osborne2, E. Ross1, M.G. Lowings3. D. Driver4, D.
Barber5, M. Fortier6 and K. Lévesque6
1 ASL
Environmental Sciences Inc., Victoria, BC Canada; 2 IMG-Golder
Corporation (Golder Associates Inc) Burnaby, BC, Canada; 3 IMG-Golder
Corporation (Golder Associates Ltd), Calgary, AB, Canada; 4BP Exploration,
Houston, TX USA; 5ArcticNet, U. Manitoba, Winnipeg MB Canada;
6ArcticNet, U. Laval, QC, Canada
United States – Canada Northern Oil and Gas Research Forum
Nov. 13-15, 2012
Acknowledgements
The Materials Presented are based upon work supported by:
- Imperial Oil Resources Ventures Limited
- BP Exploration Company and
- ExxonMobil Canada
-
J. Hawkins and N. Darlow, Imperial Oil Resources Ventures Ltd;
James Hall and Dmitri G. Matskevitch, ExxonMobil Upstream
Research;
Cynthia Pyc and David Driver, BP Exploration Company
-
ArcticNet is funded by:
-
the Networks of Centres of Excellence (NCE) Program of the
National Sciences and Engineering Research Council
(NSERC) of Canada
Research Program Review and Approval: Inuvialuit Settlement Region
Community Consultations via Industry and ArcticNet
United States – Canada Northern Oil and Gas Research Forum
Nov. 13-15, 2012
Collaborative Research Program- Introduction
• Early 2000’s: Renewed Interest in Offshore Oil and Gas
Exploration of the Canadian Beaufort Sea
• 2007: Exploration licence (EL) 446 (Ajurak) - Imperial Oil
Resources Ventures Limited (IORVL) and ExxonMobil
Canada Limited
• 2008: Exploration licences EL 449 (Pokak), EL 451 and 453
to BP Exploration Operating Company Limited
• Adopted a risk-based approach to hydrocarbon
exploration activities and interaction with the environment.
• 2009-2011: IORVL and BP adopting a multi-disciplinary,
multi-year, collaborative data collection strategy.
• 2011: Formation of a new joint venture of BP and IORVL
with Imperial Oil designated as the Operator (for EL
446/449)
United States – Canada Northern Oil and Gas Research Forum
Nov. 13-15, 2012
Collaborative Research Program- Overview
A Multi-Disciplinary Industry-Academic Collaborative
Research Program involving:
-
IORVL and BP
ArcticNet (U. Laval, U. Manitoba and other member universities)
Consulting Companies (ASL, IMG-Golder and Kavik-Stantec)
2009-11: Major Program – Inshore to Far Offshore Areas
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Data Collection Overview: 2009-2012- Ongoing
Summer 2009:
CCGS Amundsen (late July-Sept.)
- Outer Shelf and Slope: 9 Sub-surface
Moorings; 2 surface buoys
CCGS Nahidik (mid July-mid Sept.)
- Inner Shelf: 2 Moorings;
extensive ship-based sampling
Fall 2009-Summer 2010:
- Continuous Measurements from
50 Instruments on 8 Moorings
Summer 2010 and 2011:
CCGS Amundsen (Aug.-Sept.)
Fall 2010-Summer 2011:
- Continuous Measurements from
50 Instruments on 8 Moorings
BREA: Fall 2011- Fall 2012 (Ongoing)
- 25+ Instruments /4-5 Moorings
- CCGS Laurier - Deployed 5 Moorings
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CCGS Amundsen Moorings Design
Mooring H
Subsurface (Taut-Line) Moorings
ASL Ice Profiler
Distributed Flotation to key mooring upright (resist
tilting and current knockdown
ADCP: Ocean Current Profiles and Ice Velocities
Single Point Current Meters
Other Water Parameters measured
All:Temperature, Salinity (T,S) - all
Some: Turbidity, Dissolved Oxygen, Chlorophyll
Sediment Pumps and Traps (A.1 and G only)
Dual Acoustic Releases (for recovery)
Steel Anchor Weights on bottom
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Nov. 13-15, 2012
Instruments on Moorings: 2010-2011-Example
Legend
(Instrument depth)
Partial Data Recovery
** upper mooring lost
Site
(water
depth)
A1
(684 m)
A2
(608 m)
B
(149 m)
F
(1003 m)
IPS
1
74 m
1
62 m
1
62 m
1
53 m
G
(706 m)
H
(363 m)
I
(73 m)
J
(82 m)
Total
1**
43 m
1
74 m
1
59 m
1
50 m
7
ADCP ADCP 75 DVS 750 DVS 6000 Temp./Salinity;
150 300 kHz LR > 500m - > 750m
Other Water
kHz¤
750 m
Properties
1
1
1
-4
108 m
429 m
670 m
4: 74 to 654 m
1
1
1
-4
145 m
446 m
593 m
4: 62 to 594 m
1
---2
124 m
62 and 139 m
1
1
2
4
3
109 m
414 m
555m 657-987m 53, 120 &450 m
1**
1
147 m
1¤
60 m
1
62 m
7
1
437 m
1
310 m
--
1
585 m
--
1
691 m
--
--
--
--
--
--
5
5
5
United States – Canada Northern Oil and Gas Research Forum
4 (2**)
131, 475 m
3
73, 164 & 351 m
1
59 m
1
50 m
20
Nov. 13-15, 2012
Sea Ice: Detailed Ice Draft Topography – Upward Looking
Sonars (ULS)
Landsat 5 Image – July 27, 2009
(during deployment) ========
Overview of ULS (ASL Ice Profiler
and ADCP) Data Sets Collected:
2009-2011
2009-2010: 8 offshore locations with
simultaneous data collection of ice
drafts and ice velocities
2010-2011: 7 offshore locations with
simultaneous data collection, as
above
Continuous Ice Draft Data – 2 s samples, 1 m horizontal resolution
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Sea Ice Drafts: Seasonal Variability
Presence of Large Ice Keels:
- Start: mid-Oct./Nov.;
- Extending to following summer (early June to early Sept)
- Total Ice Season: up to 11 months
- Highly Episodic Occurrences; Most Deformed Ice from Winter to mid-Spring
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Sea Ice: Detailed Ice Draft Topography
Change in Ice Distance: (10/11 vs 09/10)
• More Ice at Deep Locations (F,A) than at
Inner Slope (B) and Shelf Edge (I)
• Reduced by 25% at Shelf Edge and
• 10-15% Offshore
Changes in Number of Large Ice Keels
• No. Ice Keels > 8 m draft: -22 to - 46%
• No. Ice Keels > 11 m draft: -24 to +24
• No. Ice Keels > 15 m: I&J: 75 vs 67: +11%
• Site F: 35 vs 55: -36%
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Sea Ice Velocity:
Ice Velocities using Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) at 15 min. intervals
Typical Speed –Direction
Distribution:
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Sea Ice Velocity:
Ice Drift to W-NW but episodic reversals to SE due to winds and Coriolis effects
2010-2011
Highest Speeds in Fall, Low in Winter
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Ocean Waves
Data Sets Collected: 2009-2011
Summer 2009: 11 locations simultaneous wave data - incl. 2 inshore (dir. waves)
2009-2010; 2010-201: subsurface mooring measurements at 8 and 7 sites
Largest Waves
from the North
East
i.e., prevailing
wind direction
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Nov. 13-15, 2012
Large Ocean Wave Episodes: 2009-2011
Episodic Wave Events throughout Open Water Season:
Each Year: 10 events of Significant Wave Heights (Hs) > 2m
Hs < 3 m in Summer; Larger in Fall
Largest Wave Event: Hs = 4.9 m (Nov. 5, 2010; E. Winds up to 20 m/s)
2009 Largest Wave - Oct. 22-26, 2009: Hs 3.9 m (site J) to 4.2 m (site F)
Hs can vary considerably among mooring sites according to:
-
Wind Fetch Distance and Local and Regional Sea Ice Conditions
Measured Many Episodes of “Waves In Ice” Measured Swell Waves of up 15 s period and Ice Floe Fracturing
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Summary and Conclusions:
Collaborative Industry-Academic Oceanographic Ice
Research Program in the Canadian Beaufort Sea
• Supported a multi-disciplinary, multi-year, collaborative data
collection strategy by the Oil Industry
• Summer of 2009 to Summer 2011
• Very Extensive Data Sets
• Operation of 8 Year-Round Subsurface Moorings for 26 Months
• Over 100 Continuous Year-Long Time Series Data Sets plus
• Many Shorter Summer-Only Time Series Data
• Augmented by Extensive Ship-Based and Airborne Remote
Sensing Programs
• 2011-2013:Continued Operation of 4-5 Moorings – BREA Program
Applications of the Scientific Data - Industry :
A. Baseline Data Collection for Environmental Approvals Process
B. Support Engineering Design and Project Planning
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Summary and Conclusions (Cont’d)
C. Data Sets- Scientific Research Projects (ArcticNet-Industry)
• Scientific Papers are now In Preparation:
• In Arctic Oceanography and Sea Ice
Sea Ice Research - Examples:
• Ice Mass Changes within the Canadian Beaufort Sea – NE to W. Areas
• Ice Data Fusion: Advancing the Methodology of Combined Remote
Sensing and Moored Sea Ice Measurements
• Sea Ice Velocity Characterizations at Synoptic and Inertial Time Scales
Ocean Wave Research - Examples:
• Wave Climatology from IPS and Radarsat
• Waves in Ice (Observations and Modeling)
Also Research Papers in
• Ocean Currents and Upwelling,
• Sediment Processes
• Other Topics
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Ice Data Sets - Offshore Moorings 2009-2011
Ice Data from Ajurak / Pokak Moorings
2009
2010
2011
Site
J A S O N D J F MA M J J A S O N D J F MA M J J A S
F (z)
F (v)
A.1 (z)
A.1 (v)
A.2 (z)
A.2 (v)
***
B (z)
B (v)
*
Sea Ice Drafts
Wave Data
Ice Velocity Data
Missing Data - no ice
Missing Data - instrument failed/not recovered
G (z)
G (v)
H (z)
H (v)
J (z)
J (v)
I (z)
I (v)
Ocean Currents/ T-S Results:
See Poster Paper
by Osborne at al, this conference
United States – Canada Northern Oil and Gas Research Forum
************
************
***
Nov. 13-15, 2012
Ocean Waves
Late-July to mid-Oct. 2009 Site A:
ASL IPS5 Subsurface Mooring
ArcticNet Surface Buoy
• ULS (ASL IPS5) instruments provide non-directional measurements
year-round
• Unlike Wave Buoys which are limited to Short Summer Deployments
United States – Canada Northern Oil and Gas Research Forum
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