Seasonality and timing of sea ice mass balance and heat fluxes in the Arctic transpolar drift during 2019–2020

• Published in: Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene
• Main Authors: Lei, Ruibo, Cheng, Bin, Hoppmann, Mario, Zhang, Fanyi, Zuo, Guangyu, Hutchings, Jennifer K., Lin, Long, Lan, Musheng, Wang, Hangzhou, Regnery, Julia, Krumpen, Thomas, Haapala, Jari, Rabe, Benjamin, Perovich, Donald K., Nicolaus, Marcel
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: University of California Press 2022
• Subjects: Fram Strait; Sea ice
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1525/elementa.2021.000089; https://online.ucpress.edu/elementa/article-pdf/doi/10.1525/elementa.2021.000089/727768/elementa.2021.000089.pdf

Sea ice growth and decay are critical processes in the Arctic climate system, but comprehensive observations are very sparse. We analyzed data from 23 sea ice mass balance buoys (IMBs) deployed during the Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate (MOSAiC) expedition in 2019–2020 to investigate the seasonality and timing of sea ice thermodynamic mass balance in the Arctic Transpolar Drift. The data reveal four stages of the ice season: (I) onset of ice basal freezing, mid-October to November; (II) rapid ice growth, December–March; (III) slow ice growth, April–May; and (IV) melting, June onward. Ice basal growth ranged from 0.64 to 1.38 m at a rate of 0.004–0.006 m d–1, depending mainly on initial ice thickness. Compared to a buoy deployed close to the MOSAiC setup site in September 2012, total ice growth was about twice as high, due to the relatively thin initial ice thickness at the MOSAiC sites. Ice growth from the top, caused by surface flooding and subsequent snow-ice formation, was observed at two sites and likely linked to dynamic processes. Snow reached a maximum depth of 0.25 ± 0.08 m by May 2, 2020, and had melted completely by June 25, 2020. The relatively early onset of ice basal melt on June 7 (±10 d), 2019, can be partly attributed to the unusually rapid advection of the MOSAiC floes towards Fram Strait. The oceanic heat flux, calculated based on the heat balance at the ice bottom, was 2.8 ± 1.1 W m–2 in December–April, and increased gradually from May onward, reaching 10.0 ± 2.6 W m–2 by mid-June 2020. Subsequently, under-ice melt ponds formed at most sites in connection with increasing ice permeability. Our analysis provides crucial information on the Arctic sea ice mass balance for future studies related to MOSAiC and beyond.