Marginal Ice Zone (MIZ) Program: Science and Experiment Plan

• Main Authors: Lee, Craig M, Cole, Sylvia, Doble, Martin, Freitag, Lee, Hwang, Phil, Jayne, Steve, Jeffries, Martin, Krishfield, Rick, Maksym, Ted, Maslowski, Wieslaw
• Other Authors: WASHINGTON UNIV SEATTLE APPLIED PHYSICS LAB
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 2012
• Subjects: Snow; Ice and Permafrost; *ICE; *MARGINAL ICE ZONES; ALASKA; BEAUFORT SEA; COASTAL REGIONS; DEPLOYMENT; ENDURANCE(PHYSIOLOGY); EVOLUTION(BIOLOGY); GLIDERS; ICE FORMATION; OCEANOGRAPHIC EQUIPMENT; OPEN WATER; SELF OPERATION; PHYSICAL OCEANOGRAPHY; OBSERVATIONAL OCEANOGRAPHY; SEA ICE; POLAR SCIENCE; AUTONOMOUS UNDERWATER VEHICLES; AIR-SEA INTERACTION; REMOTE SENSING; Beaufort Sea; Ice; permafrost; Sea ice; Alaska
• Online Access: http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA566290; http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA566290

The Marginal Ice Zone (MIZ) intensive field program will employ an array of cutting-edge autonomous platforms to characterize the processes that govern Beaufort Sea MIZ evolution from initial breakup and MIZ formation though the course of the summertime sea ice retreat. Instruments will be deployed on and under the ice prior to initial formation of the MIZ along the Alaska coast, and will continue sampling from open water, across the MIZ, and into full ice cover, as the ice edge retreats northward through the summer. The flexible nature of ice-mounted and mobile, autonomous oceanographic platforms (e.g., gliders and floats) facilitates access to regions of both full ice cover and riskier MIZ regions. This approach exploits the extended endurance of modern autonomous platforms to maintain a persistent presence throughout the entire northward retreat. It also takes advantage of the inherent scalability of these instruments to sample over a broad range of spatial and temporal scales. Sponsored in part by grant nos. N000141210346, N000141210110, N0001412WX20737, N000141210113, N000141210140, N000141210130, N000141210359, N000141210112