Sea ice and snow characteristics from year-long transects at the MOSAiC Central Observatory
Repeated transects have become the backbone of spatially distributed ice and snow thickness measurements crucial for understanding of ice mass balance. Here we detail the transects at the Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate (MOSAiC) 2019–2020, which represent the f...
Published in: | Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene |
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2023
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1525/elementa.2022.00048 https://online.ucpress.edu/elementa/article-pdf/doi/10.1525/elementa.2022.00048/770519/elementa.2022.00048.pdf |
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crunicaliforniap:10.1525/elementa.2022.00048 2024-06-23T07:50:53+00:00 Sea ice and snow characteristics from year-long transects at the MOSAiC Central Observatory Itkin, Polona Hendricks, Stefan Webster, Melinda von Albedyll, Luisa Arndt, Stefanie Divine, Dmitry Jaggi, Matthias Oggier, Marc Raphael, Ian Ricker, Robert Rohde, Jan Schneebeli, Martin Liston, Glen E. 2023 http://dx.doi.org/10.1525/elementa.2022.00048 https://online.ucpress.edu/elementa/article-pdf/doi/10.1525/elementa.2022.00048/770519/elementa.2022.00048.pdf en eng University of California Press http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene volume 11, issue 1 ISSN 2325-1026 journal-article 2023 crunicaliforniap https://doi.org/10.1525/elementa.2022.00048 2024-06-13T04:19:13Z Repeated transects have become the backbone of spatially distributed ice and snow thickness measurements crucial for understanding of ice mass balance. Here we detail the transects at the Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate (MOSAiC) 2019–2020, which represent the first such measurements collected across an entire season. Compared with similar historical transects, the snow at MOSAiC was thin (mean depths of approximately 0.1–0.3 m), while the sea ice was relatively thick first-year ice (FYI) and second-year ice (SYI). SYI was of two distinct types: relatively thin level ice formed from surfaces with extensive melt pond cover, and relatively thick deformed ice. On level SYI, spatial signatures of refrozen melt ponds remained detectable in January. At the beginning of winter the thinnest ice also had the thinnest snow, with winter growth rates of thin ice (0.33 m month−1 for FYI, 0.24 m month−1 for previously ponded SYI) exceeding that of thick ice (0.2 m month−1). By January, FYI already had a greater modal ice thickness (1.1 m) than previously ponded SYI (0.9 m). By February, modal thickness of all SYI and FYI became indistinguishable at about 1.4 m. The largest modal thicknesses were measured in May at 1.7 m. Transects included deformed ice, where largest volumes of snow accumulated by April. The remaining snow on level ice exhibited typical spatial heterogeneity in the form of snow dunes. Spatial correlation length scales for snow and sea ice ranged from 20 to 40 m or 60 to 90 m, depending on the sampling direction, which suggests that the known anisotropy of snow dunes also manifests in spatial patterns in sea ice thickness. The diverse snow and ice thickness data obtained from the MOSAiC transects represent an invaluable resource for model and remote sensing product development. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Sea ice University of California Press Arctic Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene 11 1 |
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Open Polar |
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University of California Press |
op_collection_id |
crunicaliforniap |
language |
English |
description |
Repeated transects have become the backbone of spatially distributed ice and snow thickness measurements crucial for understanding of ice mass balance. Here we detail the transects at the Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate (MOSAiC) 2019–2020, which represent the first such measurements collected across an entire season. Compared with similar historical transects, the snow at MOSAiC was thin (mean depths of approximately 0.1–0.3 m), while the sea ice was relatively thick first-year ice (FYI) and second-year ice (SYI). SYI was of two distinct types: relatively thin level ice formed from surfaces with extensive melt pond cover, and relatively thick deformed ice. On level SYI, spatial signatures of refrozen melt ponds remained detectable in January. At the beginning of winter the thinnest ice also had the thinnest snow, with winter growth rates of thin ice (0.33 m month−1 for FYI, 0.24 m month−1 for previously ponded SYI) exceeding that of thick ice (0.2 m month−1). By January, FYI already had a greater modal ice thickness (1.1 m) than previously ponded SYI (0.9 m). By February, modal thickness of all SYI and FYI became indistinguishable at about 1.4 m. The largest modal thicknesses were measured in May at 1.7 m. Transects included deformed ice, where largest volumes of snow accumulated by April. The remaining snow on level ice exhibited typical spatial heterogeneity in the form of snow dunes. Spatial correlation length scales for snow and sea ice ranged from 20 to 40 m or 60 to 90 m, depending on the sampling direction, which suggests that the known anisotropy of snow dunes also manifests in spatial patterns in sea ice thickness. The diverse snow and ice thickness data obtained from the MOSAiC transects represent an invaluable resource for model and remote sensing product development. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Itkin, Polona Hendricks, Stefan Webster, Melinda von Albedyll, Luisa Arndt, Stefanie Divine, Dmitry Jaggi, Matthias Oggier, Marc Raphael, Ian Ricker, Robert Rohde, Jan Schneebeli, Martin Liston, Glen E. |
spellingShingle |
Itkin, Polona Hendricks, Stefan Webster, Melinda von Albedyll, Luisa Arndt, Stefanie Divine, Dmitry Jaggi, Matthias Oggier, Marc Raphael, Ian Ricker, Robert Rohde, Jan Schneebeli, Martin Liston, Glen E. Sea ice and snow characteristics from year-long transects at the MOSAiC Central Observatory |
author_facet |
Itkin, Polona Hendricks, Stefan Webster, Melinda von Albedyll, Luisa Arndt, Stefanie Divine, Dmitry Jaggi, Matthias Oggier, Marc Raphael, Ian Ricker, Robert Rohde, Jan Schneebeli, Martin Liston, Glen E. |
author_sort |
Itkin, Polona |
title |
Sea ice and snow characteristics from year-long transects at the MOSAiC Central Observatory |
title_short |
Sea ice and snow characteristics from year-long transects at the MOSAiC Central Observatory |
title_full |
Sea ice and snow characteristics from year-long transects at the MOSAiC Central Observatory |
title_fullStr |
Sea ice and snow characteristics from year-long transects at the MOSAiC Central Observatory |
title_full_unstemmed |
Sea ice and snow characteristics from year-long transects at the MOSAiC Central Observatory |
title_sort |
sea ice and snow characteristics from year-long transects at the mosaic central observatory |
publisher |
University of California Press |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1525/elementa.2022.00048 https://online.ucpress.edu/elementa/article-pdf/doi/10.1525/elementa.2022.00048/770519/elementa.2022.00048.pdf |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic Sea ice |
genre_facet |
Arctic Sea ice |
op_source |
Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene volume 11, issue 1 ISSN 2325-1026 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1525/elementa.2022.00048 |
container_title |
Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene |
container_volume |
11 |
container_issue |
1 |
_version_ |
1802641821539500032 |