Albedo of Melting Sea Ice in the Southern Beaufort Sea

• Published in: Journal of Glaciology
• Main Author: Langleben, M.P.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 1971
• Subjects: Northwest Territories; Tuktoyaktuk; Beaufort Sea; Journal of Glaciology; Sea ice
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0022143000013022; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022143000013022

Two Kipp hemispherical radiometers mounted back to back and suspended by an 18 m cable from a helicopter flying at an altitude of about 90 m were used to make measurements of incident and reflected short-wave radiation. The helicopter was brought to a hovering position at the instant of measurement to ensure that the radiometers were in the proper attitude and a photograph of the ice cover was taken at the same time. The observations were made in 1969 during 16 flights out of Tuktoyaktuk, Northwest Territories (lat. 69° 26’N., long. 133° 02’W.) over the fast ice extending 80 km north of Tuktoyaktuk. Values of albedo of the ice cover were found to decrease during the melting period according to the equation A = 0.59 —0.32 P where P is the degree of puddling of the surface.