A new view of the underside of Arctic sea ice

• Published in: Geophysical Research Letters
• Main Authors: Wadhams, P, Wilkinson, JP, McPhail, SD
• Other Authors: Laboratoire d'océanographie de Villefranche (LOV), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de la Mer de Villefranche (IMEV), Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2006
• Subjects: [SDU.STU.OC]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Oceanography; Arctic; Greenland; Sea ice
• Online Access: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03494192; https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03494192/document; https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03494192/file/Geophysical%20Research%20Letters%20-%202006%20-%20Wadhams%20-%20A%20new%20view%20of%20the%20underside%20of%20Arctic%20sea%20ice.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1029/2005GL025131

International audience The Autosub-II autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV), operating off NE Greenland in August 2004, obtained the first successful swath sonar measurements under sea ice, showing in unprecedented detail the three-dimensional nature of the under-ice surface. The vehicle, operated from RRS James Clark Ross, obtained more than 450 track-km of under-ice multibeam data. We show imagery from first- and multiyear ice, including young ridges, old hummocks and undeformed melting ice. In addition, we show how the combination of other on-board sensors enabled the vehicle to obtain detailed information about seabed topography, water structure and current fields in an exploratory mode within a region which is seldom visited because of difficult year-round ice conditions. This included identification of a new current regime in the Norske Trough.