TIFAX 2010 Summer Campaign - Sea ice thickness measurements with Polar 5 from Station Nord and Svalbard

• Main Authors: Krumpen, Thomas, Gerdes, Rüdiger, Herber, Andreas
• Format: Other/Unknown Material
• Language: unknown
• Published: 2010
• Subjects: Fram Strait; Greenland; Sea ice; Svalbard
• Online Access: https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/48451/; https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/48451/1/TIFAX2010_HEMdatareport_updateNov2018.pdf; https://hdl.handle.net/10013/epic.60db78d6-a091-4061-9022-caa96cae57ef

Transport of sea ice through Fram Strait affects the global climate through its influence on the thermohaline circulation. In recognition of its importance, the ice thickness distribution across Fram Strait and in the area north of Greenland was subject of the TIFAX 2010 field campaign. The ice thickness was investigated by means of an airborne electromagnetic (EM) system with a single-frequency of 4.08 kHz. The instrument was towed by a research aircraft (Polar 5) 15 meters above the ice surface. The method utilizes the contrast of electrical conductivity between sea water and sea ice to determine the distance to the ice-water interface. An additional laser altimeter yields the distance to the uppermost reflecting surface, hence ice thickness is obtained as the ice- plus snow thickness from the difference between the laser range and the EM derived distance. In this data report, all tracks/profiles taken during TIFAX 2010 are presented.