Snow thickness measurements on young ice in the Central Arctic during the 2019-2020 Multidisciplinary Drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate expedition

• Main Author: David Clemens-Sewall
• Format: Dataset
• Language: unknown
• Published: Arctic Data Center 2021
• Subjects: EARTH SCIENCE > CRYOSPHERE > SEA ICE > SNOW DEPTH; Arctic; albedo; Sea ice
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.18739/A2HT2GD01

Snow is important for sea ice thermodynamics due to its role as an insulator and its high albedo. This dataset comprises direct observations of snow accumulation on young ice (ice that has recently frozen from sea water) in the Central Arctic. They were collected for the purpose of quantifying snow redistribution on Arctic sea ice. Researchers in the field noted the dates on which five different open water leads froze over into new ice and subsequently measured the snow thickness at several locations on this young ice manually (with a snow ruler). The edges of leads can cause snow drifts to form. In this dataset, it is noted whether a measurement was made in the snow drift at the edge of the lead or not.