File:Smoke bombs mark the tellurometer site, AIDJEX Project (50646498417).jpg

Smoke bombs mark the site of the tellurometer, a survey instrument that measures distance using microwaves. This was a joint site for the Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL) and US Geological Survey. The instrument was used during the Naval Oceanographic Office (NAVOCEANO) "Birdseye" overflight in the 1972 pilot study: Arctic Ice Dynamics Joint Experiment (AIDJEX) project. Project Birdseye, a US Navy-initiated project, aimed to understand the Arctic Ocean, and in particular, sea ice. <a href="https://nsidc.org/about/monthlyhighlights/2015/01/ninety-nine-canisters-film-wall" rel="noreferrer nofollow">Project Birdseye</a> lasted from 1962 to the mid 1980s, generating important weather reports, aerial photographs, and other data. NSIDC is a steward of this data.

During the 1972 AIDJEX pilot study, NAVOCEANO conducted a sea ice investigation involving remote-sensing overflights and ice deformation experiments in order to expand its ice prediction capability. Six people from NAVOCEANO participated, four on the Birdseye aircraft and two at the AIDJEX site.

In the AIDJEX pilot study, scientists collected meteorological and oceanographic data from instruments located at the camps and on floating data buoys. The experiment was designed to collect coordinated measurements over at least one year, in order to have the right combination of data for understanding atmosphere and ice interactions. The submarine USS Gurnard participated by collecting ice draft data from upward-looking acoustical soundings (sonar). Ice draft (the depth of the ice below the water surface) is an estimator of ice thickness.

The AIDJEX project was the first major western sea ice experiment constructed specifically to answer emerging questions about how sea ice moves and changes in response to the influence of ocean and atmosphere. The pilot study in 1972 was followed by the AIDJEX field program in 1975 and 1976.