Under Pressure: Construction and use of stress buoys in the SEDNA project Tess Mattraw 1 , Cathleen A. Geiger 2 , Jackie Richter-Menge 3 , Bruce C. Elder 3 1 Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH 2 University of Delaware, Newark, DE 3 Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory, Hanover, NH S N A E D Constructing the stress buoys Inside the stress sensor IC E S at multi-year ice first-year ice P ru dho e Bay Field Program Overview Stress Sensor Buoy 1) Argos Antenna 2) Global Positioning System 3) Stress Sensor 4) Air Temperature 5) Barometer 6) Compass (inside housing) 7) Data Logger (inside) 8) Battery Pack (inside) (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (8) (7) Completed stress buoys Stress buoys awaiting deployment Deployed stress buoy 1.Ice stress 2.Three wires magnetically plucked to record a vibration frequency 3. Steel cylinder of known strength 1 3 2 Ice stress = F(cylinder strength, wire frequency, temperature) External forces (wind, air temps) Ice stre ss Force on cylind er wall Cylind er deform s Changes wire frequenc y Wire Stretches or loosens As a WISP student working at CRREL, my responsibility to the Sea-ice Experiment Dynamic Nature of the Arctic (SEDNA) project was to construct the stress buoys that would later be deployed in the Beaufort Sea to measure the stress and movement of the sea ice. I would also help with other preparatory tasks, such as testing GPS units and other field equipment and packing for the trip. In building the stress buoys, I came to a deeper understanding of the physics behind them. I also learned first hand about the extensive preparation involved in Arctic field research. From this I have been able to gain a greater knowledge of what goes on behind the scenes of scientific research. Schematic layout of the field program for SEDNA