Fundamentals of Ocean Freezing

• Main Author: Wettlaufer, John S
• Other Authors: WASHINGTON UNIV SEATTLE POLAR SCIENCE CENTER
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 2001
• Subjects: Physical and Dynamic Oceanography; Snow; Ice and Permafrost; Thermodynamics; *FREEZING; *ICE FORMATION; *SEA ICE; *THERMODYNAMICS; ARCTIC OCEAN; BUOYANCY; CONTINENTAL SHELVES; COUPLING(INTERACTION); FLUX(RATE); HEAT BALANCE; ICE FORECASTING; OCEAN MODELS; SALINITY; SEASONAL VARIATIONS; SIGNATURES; ELECTROMAGNETIC SIGNATURES; SURFACE HEAT BALANCE; BUOYANCY FLUX; SEASONAL ICE ZONES; BUOYANCY FORCING; *OCEAN FREEZING; Arctic; Arctic Ocean; Ice; permafrost; Sea ice
• Online Access: http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA626109; http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA626109

For the last 10 years my goal has been to construct a quantitative understanding of the physical mechanisms responsible for the creation and evolution of the volumetric phase fraction of sea ice. Substantial advances in this regard have been made. In parallel with this direction, I have aimed to advance the coupling and interaction with electromagnetic signature modeling and to provide the basis upon which one can understand the assumptions made in thermodynamic modelling of sea ice. In particular, thin sea ice captures our interest because (a) of its central role in the wintertime surface heat balance and the salinity driven buoyancy flux, (b) shelf regions of the Arctic which are seasonal ice zones wherein dense water is formed over vast regions through freezing, and (c) sea ice models do not treat the buoyancy forcing caused by ice formation in a proper manner. Hence our refined understanding of the basic phase dynamics of the process underlies improving forecasting efforts.