Observing and Modeling the Surface Scattering Layer of First-Year Arctic Sea Ice

• Main Authors: Moritz, Richard E, Light, Bonnie
• Other Authors: WASHINGTON UNIV SEATTLE APPLIED PHYSICS LAB
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 2006
• Subjects: Snow; Ice and Permafrost; *SCATTERING; *SEA ICE; *SURFACE WATERS; ALBEDO; ARCTIC OCEAN; ICE FORMATION; MECHANICAL PROPERTIES; OCEAN SURFACE; OPTICAL PROPERTIES; PHYSICAL PROPERTIES; PONDS; SHORT WAVELENGTHS; SNOW COVER; SOLAR RADIATION; THICKNESS; UNDERICE; ICE COVER; IOP(INHERENT OPTICAL PROPERTIES); LIGHT PENETRATION; SPECTRAL TRANSMISSION; Arctic; Arctic Ocean; albedo; Ice; permafrost; Sea ice
• Online Access: http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA612676; http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA612676

The long-term goal of this work is to increase the quantitative understanding of the partitioning of incident solar radiation by sea ice. The partitioning of shortwave radiation into components backscattered to the atmosphere, absorbed by the ice, and transmitted to the ocean is central to ice-albedo feedback, the mean annual cycle of ice thickness, mechanical properties of the ice, and the quality and quantity of light available to under-ice biological communities. This partitioning is known to depend strongly on the physical properties of the ice cover, including ice concentration, snow cover, depth and size of surface liquid water ponds, and the presence of surface scattering layers. The focus of this research is to address the impact of surface scattering layers on the partitioning of incident solar radiation at the atmosphere-sea ice-ocean interface.