SIPEX-2: A study of sea-ice physical, biochemical and ecosystem processes off East Antarctica during spring 2012

This editorial introduces a suite of articles resulting from the second Sea Ice Physics and Ecosystems eXperiment(SIPEX-2) voyage by presenting some background information on the study areaandAntarcticsea-ice conditions,and summarising the key findings from the project.Using the Australian iceb reak...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography
Main Authors: Meiners, Klaus M., Golden, Ken M., Heil, Petra, Lieser, Jan L., Massom, Rob, Meyer, Bettina, Williams, Guy D.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:unknown
Published: PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD 2016
Subjects:
Online Access:https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/41780/
https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/41780/1/Meinersetal2016.pdf
https://hdl.handle.net/10013/epic.48880
https://hdl.handle.net/10013/epic.48880.d001
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Summary:This editorial introduces a suite of articles resulting from the second Sea Ice Physics and Ecosystems eXperiment(SIPEX-2) voyage by presenting some background information on the study areaandAntarcticsea-ice conditions,and summarising the key findings from the project.Using the Australian iceb reaker RV Aurora Australis, SIPEX-2 was conducted in the area between 115–125°E and 62–66°S off East Antarctica during September to November 2012. This region had been sampled during two previous experiments,i.e. ARISE in 2003 (Massom etal.,2006a) and SIPEX in 2007(Worbyetal.,2011a). The 2012 voyage combined traditional and newly developed sampling methods with satellite and other data to measure sea-ice physical properties and pro- cesses on large scales,which provided context for bio geochemical and ecological case studies. Thes pecific goals of the SIPEX-2 project were to:(i)measure the spatial variability in sea-ice and snow-cover properties over small-to regional-length scales;(ii) improve understanding of sea-ice kinematic processes;and(iii) advance knowledge of the links between sea-ice physical characteristics,sea-ice biogeochemical cycling and ice-associated food-web dynamics.Our field-based activities were designed to inform modelling approaches and to improve our capability to assess impacts of predicted changes in Antarctic sea ice on Southern Ocean biogeochemical cycles and ecosystem function.