High-resolution repeat topography of drifting ice floes in the Arctic Ocean from terrestrial laser scanning

Abstract Snow and ice topography impact and are impacted by fluxes of mass, energy, and momentum in Arctic sea ice. We measured the topography on approximately a 0.5 km2 drifting parcel of Arctic sea ice on 42 separate days from 18 October 2019 to 9 May 2020 via Terrestrial Laser Scanning (TLS). The...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Scientific Data
Main Authors: David Clemens-Sewall, Chris Polashenski, Ian A. Raphael, Matthew Parno, Don Perovich, Polona Itkin, Matthias Jaggi, Arttu Jutila, Amy R. Macfarlane, Ilkka S. O. Matero, Marc Oggier, Ronald J. W. Visser, David N. Wagner
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2024
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Q
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-023-02882-w
https://doaj.org/article/2fa502b0aaf14fdaaa97249f28a61b43
Description
Summary:Abstract Snow and ice topography impact and are impacted by fluxes of mass, energy, and momentum in Arctic sea ice. We measured the topography on approximately a 0.5 km2 drifting parcel of Arctic sea ice on 42 separate days from 18 October 2019 to 9 May 2020 via Terrestrial Laser Scanning (TLS). These data are aligned into an ice-fixed, lagrangian reference frame such that topographic changes (e.g., snow accumulation) can be observed for time periods of up to six months. Using in-situ measurements, we have validated the vertical accuracy of the alignment to ± 0.011 m. This data collection and processing workflow is the culmination of several prior measurement campaigns and may be generally applied for repeat TLS measurements on drifting sea ice. We present a description of the data, a software package written to process and align these data, and the philosophy of the data processing. These data can be used to investigate snow accumulation and redistribution, ice dynamics, surface roughness, and they can provide valuable context for co-located measurements.