The group continues to work closely with sea-ice groups at SAMS and elsewhere in the development, construction and testing of novel instrumentation for sea-ice observations.

It is now evident that the sea-ice cover of the Arctic Ocean is under threat from increasing heat and fresh water inputs, and SAMS is playing an important role in the international effort to monitor these changes. These efforts are being co-ordinated within the context of the International Polar Year, and the SAMS technology group has been supported both by substantial NERC grants, and by European funding under the RECARO and DAMOCLES programmes. Recent deployments have included tiltmeter and GPS suitcase buoys, both designed to monitor ice movements and the changing pattern of the ice cover. Last year we developed and deployed novel clear-hulled GPS buoys, using solar panels, a rechargeable battery and satellite communications to study year-round ice dynamics.

Similar satellite technology has also been used to collect data from a number of sensor chains that were deployed in the Arctic sea ice last summer from the Canadian ice-breaker Louis S St Laurent. These chains are allowing us to study the melt and breakup of the ice in response to global warming.