Scaling Observations of Surface Waves in the Beaufort Sea

• Main Authors: Smith,Madison, Thomson,James
• Other Authors: University of Washington Applied Physics Laboratory Seattle United States
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 2016
• Subjects: Physical and Dynamic Oceanography; Snow; Ice and Permafrost; ocean waves; surface waves; marginal ice zones; Beaufort Sea; turbulence; AIR SEA INTERACTIONS; algorithms; ocean surface waves; sea ice; fetch; wave generation; miz (marginal ice zones); swift (Surface Wave Instrument Floats with Tracking); Open water distance; Wave evolution; partial ice cover; ice concentration; wave energy; Arctic; Arctic Ocean; Ice; permafrost; Sea ice
• Online Access: http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/AD1035129; http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=AD1035129

The rapidly changing Arctic sea ice cover affects surface wave growth across all scales. Here, in situ measurements of waves, observed from freely-drifting buoys during the 2014 open water season, are interpreted using open water distances determined from satellite ice products and wind forcing time series measured in situ with the buoys. A significant portion of the wave observations were found to be limited by open water distance(fetch) when the wind duration was sufficient for the conditions to be considered stationary. The scaling of wave energy and frequency with open water distance demonstrated the indirect effects of ice cover on regional wave evolution. Waves in partial ice cover could be similarly categorized as distance-limited by applying the same open water scaling to determine an effective fetch. The process of local wave generation in ice appeared to be a strong function of the ice concentration, wherein the ice cover severely reduces the effective fetch. The wave field in the Beaufort Sea is thus a function of the sea ice both locally, where wave growth primarily occurs in the open water between floes, and regionally, where the ice edge may provide a more classic fetch limitation. Observations of waves in recent years may be indicative of an emerging trend in the Arctic Ocean, where we will observe increasing wave energy with decreasing sea ice extent. Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene , 4, 97, 01 Jan 0001, 01 Jan 0001