Interdecadal Changes in Snow Depth on Arctic Sea Ice
Snow plays a key role in the growth and decay of Arctic sea ice. In winter, it insulates sea ice from cold air temperatures, slowing sea ice growth. From spring to summer, the albedo of snow determines how much insolation is absorbed by the sea ice and underlying ocean, impacting ice melt processes....
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ftnasantrs:oai:casi.ntrs.nasa.gov:20150014251 2023-05-15T13:11:06+02:00 Interdecadal Changes in Snow Depth on Arctic Sea Ice Webster, Melinda A. Perovich, Donald K. Kurtz, Nathan T. Rigor, Ignatius G. Sturm, Matthew Farrell, Sinead L. Nghiem, Son V. Unclassified, Unlimited, Publicly available August 22, 2014 application/pdf http://hdl.handle.net/2060/20150014251 unknown Document ID: 20150014251 http://hdl.handle.net/2060/20150014251 Copyright, Distribution as joint owner in the copyright CASI Meteorology and Climatology GSFC-E-DAA-TN21997 Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans(ISSN 2169-9291); Volume 119; Issue 8; 5395-5406 2014 ftnasantrs 2016-03-12T23:55:02Z Snow plays a key role in the growth and decay of Arctic sea ice. In winter, it insulates sea ice from cold air temperatures, slowing sea ice growth. From spring to summer, the albedo of snow determines how much insolation is absorbed by the sea ice and underlying ocean, impacting ice melt processes. Knowledge of the contemporary snow depth distribution is essential for estimating sea ice thickness and volume, and for understanding and modeling sea ice thermodynamics in the changing Arctic. This study assesses spring snow depth distribution on Arctic sea ice using airborne radar observations from Operation IceBridge for 2009-2013. Data were validated using coordinated in situ measurements taken in March 2012 during the Bromine, Ozone, and Mercury Experiment (BROMEX) field campaign. We find a correlation of 0.59 and root-mean-square error of 5.8 cm between the airborne and in situ data. Using this relationship and Ice- Bridge snow thickness products, we compared the recent results with data from the 1937, 1954-1991 Soviet drifting ice stations. The comparison shows thinning of the snowpack, from 35.169.4 to 22.261.9 cm in the western Arctic, and from 32.869.4 to 14.561.9 cm in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas. These changes suggest a snow depth decline of 37629% in the western Arctic and 56633% in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas. Thinning is negatively correlated with the delayed onset of sea ice freezeup during autumn. Other/Unknown Material albedo Arctic Chukchi Sea ice NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS) Arctic |
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Open Polar |
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NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS) |
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ftnasantrs |
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topic |
Meteorology and Climatology |
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Meteorology and Climatology Webster, Melinda A. Perovich, Donald K. Kurtz, Nathan T. Rigor, Ignatius G. Sturm, Matthew Farrell, Sinead L. Nghiem, Son V. Interdecadal Changes in Snow Depth on Arctic Sea Ice |
topic_facet |
Meteorology and Climatology |
description |
Snow plays a key role in the growth and decay of Arctic sea ice. In winter, it insulates sea ice from cold air temperatures, slowing sea ice growth. From spring to summer, the albedo of snow determines how much insolation is absorbed by the sea ice and underlying ocean, impacting ice melt processes. Knowledge of the contemporary snow depth distribution is essential for estimating sea ice thickness and volume, and for understanding and modeling sea ice thermodynamics in the changing Arctic. This study assesses spring snow depth distribution on Arctic sea ice using airborne radar observations from Operation IceBridge for 2009-2013. Data were validated using coordinated in situ measurements taken in March 2012 during the Bromine, Ozone, and Mercury Experiment (BROMEX) field campaign. We find a correlation of 0.59 and root-mean-square error of 5.8 cm between the airborne and in situ data. Using this relationship and Ice- Bridge snow thickness products, we compared the recent results with data from the 1937, 1954-1991 Soviet drifting ice stations. The comparison shows thinning of the snowpack, from 35.169.4 to 22.261.9 cm in the western Arctic, and from 32.869.4 to 14.561.9 cm in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas. These changes suggest a snow depth decline of 37629% in the western Arctic and 56633% in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas. Thinning is negatively correlated with the delayed onset of sea ice freezeup during autumn. |
format |
Other/Unknown Material |
author |
Webster, Melinda A. Perovich, Donald K. Kurtz, Nathan T. Rigor, Ignatius G. Sturm, Matthew Farrell, Sinead L. Nghiem, Son V. |
author_facet |
Webster, Melinda A. Perovich, Donald K. Kurtz, Nathan T. Rigor, Ignatius G. Sturm, Matthew Farrell, Sinead L. Nghiem, Son V. |
author_sort |
Webster, Melinda A. |
title |
Interdecadal Changes in Snow Depth on Arctic Sea Ice |
title_short |
Interdecadal Changes in Snow Depth on Arctic Sea Ice |
title_full |
Interdecadal Changes in Snow Depth on Arctic Sea Ice |
title_fullStr |
Interdecadal Changes in Snow Depth on Arctic Sea Ice |
title_full_unstemmed |
Interdecadal Changes in Snow Depth on Arctic Sea Ice |
title_sort |
interdecadal changes in snow depth on arctic sea ice |
publishDate |
2014 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/2060/20150014251 |
op_coverage |
Unclassified, Unlimited, Publicly available |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
albedo Arctic Chukchi Sea ice |
genre_facet |
albedo Arctic Chukchi Sea ice |
op_source |
CASI |
op_relation |
Document ID: 20150014251 http://hdl.handle.net/2060/20150014251 |
op_rights |
Copyright, Distribution as joint owner in the copyright |
_version_ |
1766245949729931264 |