ocean can be collected by robotic plat- forms along a specified path in a harsh environment and telemetered in real time. The AWGs averaged about 1 knot over 54 days and survived anomalous currents and ice, and solar power was effectively collected and managed through late September in a region with extremely high cloud cover.
Acknowledgments The mission would not have been possible without the curiosity, wisdom and guidance of the late Dr. Norbert Untersteiner at the University of Wash- ington's Polar Science Center. The program also thanks all BP per-
sonnel involved in the mission, as it would not have been possible without the company's logistical support. n
Christian Meinig is the director of en- gineering at NOAA Pacific Marine En- vironmental Labo- ratory in Seattle, Washington, where he develops
and
deploys ocean and atmospheric instru- ments and observing platforms. The engineering group's focus is to provide high-quality and cost-effective ocean observing systems for research and op- erations.
Dr. Michael Steele is a senior principal oceanographer at the Polar Science Center of the Ap- plied Physics Lab at the University of Washington. His main interest is the physical oceanog- raphy of the Arctic and Antarctic seas, with a focus on the how the chang- ing sea-ice cover influences the upper ocean.
Dr. Kevin Wood is a research scientist at the NOAA and University of Wash- ington Joint Insti- tute for the Study of Atmosphere and Oceans (JISAO),
specializing in high-latitude climatol- ogy. He has more than 20 years of experience working in the Arctic and Antarctic regions.
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