Helicopter-borne sea ice thickness measurements during cruises ARK-XX/2 and ARK-XXII/2 (SPACE) in the Arctic Ocean ...

• Main Authors: Haas, Christian, Pfaffling, Andreas, Hendricks, Stefan, Rabenstein, Lasse, Etienne, Jean-Louis, Rigor, Ignatius
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: PANGAEA 2008
• Subjects: Electro-magnetic Bird EM-Bird; ARK-XX/2; ARK-XXII/2; Total_Pole_Airship_2007; Polarstern; Airship; International Polar Year 2007-2008 IPY; Sea Ice Physics @ AWI AWI_SeaIce; Arctic; Arctic Ocean; North Pole; International Polar Year; IPY; Sea ice
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.1594/pangaea.778336; https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.778336

Helicopter-borne electromagnetic sea ice thickness measurements were performed over the Transpolar Drift in late summers of 2001, 2004, and 2007, continuing ground-based measurements since 1991. These show an ongoing reduction of modal and mean ice thicknesses in the region of the North Pole of up to 53 and 44%, respectively, since 2001. A buoy derived ice age model showed that the thinning was mainly due to a regime shift from predominantly multi- and second-year ice in earlier years to first-year ice in 2007, which had modal and mean summer thicknesses of 0.9 and 1.27 m. Measurements of second-year ice which still persisted at the North Pole in April 2007 indicate a reduction of late-summer second-year modal and mean ice thicknesses since 2001 of 20 and 25% to 1.65 and 1.81 m, respectively. The regime shift to younger and thinner ice could soon result in an ice free North Pole during summer. ... : Data included in the frame of a joint ICSTI/PANGAEA IPY effort, see http://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.150150 ...