D-2 Inc.’s OEM version of the Ultra Low Power Conductivity, Temperature, and Depth (CTD) Sensor has once again been deployed as part of the Ice Tethered Profiler (ITP) program, operated by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) in the Arctic Ocean.
Engineered to integrate seamlessly with the existing ITP housing, this specialized CTD configuration places only the essential sensor components—the conductivity cell, temperature thermistor, and pressure transducer—externally, preserving the integrity and compact form of the original system.
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution said, “Recent studies indicate that the Arctic may be both a sensitive indicator and an active agent of climate variability and change. While progress has been made in understanding the Arctic’s coupled atmosphere-ice-ocean system, documentation of its evolution has been hindered by a sparse data archive. This observational gap represents a critical shortcoming of the ‘global’ ocean observing system. Addressing this gap, a new instrument, the ‘Ice-Tethered Profiler’ (ITP) was conceived to repeatedly sample the properties of the ice-covered Arctic Ocean at high vertical resolution over time periods of up to three years.”
This marks D-2 Inc.’s second contribution to the ITP initiative, following a successful previous deployment that resulted in one of the top 11 data sets collected during last year’s program. Impressed by the performance and reliability of the sensors, the ITP team has since procured two additional ICE CTD units from D-2 Inc.
The ITP program has been providing critical climate data from the Arctic since 2004, as illustrated by long-term datasets that inform our understanding of Earth’s changing climate. With the integration of D-2 Inc.’s CTD, the program is expected to further enhance the resolution and precision of the data collected in this vital and rapidly evolving region.
