A concept for autonomous and continuous observation of melt pond morphology: Instrument design and test trail during the 4th CHINARE-Arctic in 2010

• Main Authors: Wenfeng, Huang, Zhijun, Li, Yongxue, Wang, Ruibo, Lei
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Polar Research Institute of China - PRIC 2011
• Subjects: Atmosphere; Oceans; Arctic; Advances in Polar Science; Polar Science; Sea ice
• Online Access: http://library.arcticportal.org/2438/; http://library.arcticportal.org/2438/1/A20110409.pdf

Accelerated decline of summer and winter Arctic sea ice has been demonstrated progressively. Melt ponds play a key role in enhancing the feedback of solar radiation in the ice/ocean-atmosphere system, and have thus been a focus of researchers and modelers. A new melt pond investigation system was designed to determine morphologic and hydrologic features, and their evolution. This system consists of three major parts: Temperature-salinity measuring, surface morphology monitoring, and water depth monitoring units. The setup was deployed during the ice camp period of the fourth Chinese National Arctic Research Expedition in summer 2010. The evolution of a typical Arctic melt pond was documented in terms of pond depth, shape and surface condition. These datasets are presented to scientifically reveal how involved parameters change, contributing to better understanding of the evolution mechanism of the melt pond. The main advantage of this system is its suitability for autonomous and long-term observation, over and within a melt pond. Further, the setup is portable and robust. It can be easily and quickly installed, which is most valuable for deployment under harsh conditions.