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  • 1
    In: Elem Sci Anth, University of California Press, Vol. 10, No. 1 ( 2022-02-07)
    Abstract: Year-round observations of the physical snow and ice properties and processes that govern the ice pack evolution and its interaction with the atmosphere and the ocean were conducted during the Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate (MOSAiC) expedition of the research vessel Polarstern in the Arctic Ocean from October 2019 to September 2020. This work was embedded into the interdisciplinary design of the 5 MOSAiC teams, studying the atmosphere, the sea ice, the ocean, the ecosystem, and biogeochemical processes. The overall aim of the snow and sea ice observations during MOSAiC was to characterize the physical properties of the snow and ice cover comprehensively in the central Arctic over an entire annual cycle. This objective was achieved by detailed observations of physical properties and of energy and mass balance of snow and ice. By studying snow and sea ice dynamics over nested spatial scales from centimeters to tens of kilometers, the variability across scales can be considered. On-ice observations of in situ and remote sensing properties of the different surface types over all seasons will help to improve numerical process and climate models and to establish and validate novel satellite remote sensing methods; the linkages to accompanying airborne measurements, satellite observations, and results of numerical models are discussed. We found large spatial variabilities of snow metamorphism and thermal regimes impacting sea ice growth. We conclude that the highly variable snow cover needs to be considered in more detail (in observations, remote sensing, and models) to better understand snow-related feedback processes. The ice pack revealed rapid transformations and motions along the drift in all seasons. The number of coupled ice–ocean interface processes observed in detail are expected to guide upcoming research with respect to the changing Arctic sea ice.
    Type of Medium: Online Resource
    ISSN: 2325-1026
    Language: English
    Publisher: University of California Press
    Publication Date: 2022
    detail.hit.zdb_id: 2745461-7
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  • 2
    In: Elem Sci Anth, University of California Press, Vol. 10, No. 1 ( 2022-02-07)
    Abstract: Arctic Ocean properties and processes are highly relevant to the regional and global coupled climate system, yet still scarcely observed, especially in winter. Team OCEAN conducted a full year of physical oceanography observations as part of the Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of the Arctic Climate (MOSAiC), a drift with the Arctic sea ice from October 2019 to September 2020. An international team designed and implemented the program to characterize the Arctic Ocean system in unprecedented detail, from the seafloor to the air-sea ice-ocean interface, from sub-mesoscales to pan-Arctic. The oceanographic measurements were coordinated with the other teams to explore the ocean physics and linkages to the climate and ecosystem. This paper introduces the major components of the physical oceanography program and complements the other team overviews of the MOSAiC observational program. Team OCEAN’s sampling strategy was designed around hydrographic ship-, ice- and autonomous platform-based measurements to improve the understanding of regional circulation and mixing processes. Measurements were carried out both routinely, with a regular schedule, and in response to storms or opening leads. Here we present along-drift time series of hydrographic properties, allowing insights into the seasonal and regional evolution of the water column from winter in the Laptev Sea to early summer in Fram Strait: freshening of the surface, deepening of the mixed layer, increase in temperature and salinity of the Atlantic Water. We also highlight the presence of Canada Basin deep water intrusions and a surface meltwater layer in leads. MOSAiC most likely was the most comprehensive program ever conducted over the ice-covered Arctic Ocean. While data analysis and interpretation are ongoing, the acquired datasets will support a wide range of physical oceanography and multi-disciplinary research. They will provide a significant foundation for assessing and advancing modeling capabilities in the Arctic Ocean.
    Type of Medium: Online Resource
    ISSN: 2325-1026
    Language: English
    Publisher: University of California Press
    Publication Date: 2022
    detail.hit.zdb_id: 2745461-7
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  • 3
    In: Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, American Geophysical Union (AGU), Vol. 127, No. 8 ( 2022-08)
    Abstract: Enhanced ice drift and near‐surface freshened water jointly promoted early termination of basal melting and preconditioning of refreezing Turbulent dissipation rate can be scaled by 1.4–1.7 times of the " Law of the Wall " criterion, with surface buoyancy flux being negligible Near‐inertial wave was trapped by weakly stratified water in lower mixed layer, which produced turbulence by the Holmboe instability
    Type of Medium: Online Resource
    ISSN: 2169-9275 , 2169-9291
    Language: English
    Publisher: American Geophysical Union (AGU)
    Publication Date: 2022
    detail.hit.zdb_id: 2016804-4
    detail.hit.zdb_id: 161667-5
    detail.hit.zdb_id: 3094219-6
    SSG: 16,13
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  • 4
    In: Annals of Glaciology, International Glaciological Society, Vol. 56, No. 69 ( 2015), p. 175-190
    Abstract: Basal melt of ice shelves may lead to an accumulation of disc-shaped ice platelets underneath nearby sea ice, to form a sub-ice platelet layer. Here we present the seasonal cycle of sea ice attached to the Ekström Ice Shelf, Antarctica, and the underlying platelet layer in 2012. Ice platelets emerged from the cavity and interacted with the fast-ice cover of Atka Bay as early as June. Episodic accumulations throughout winter and spring led to an average platelet-layer thickness of 4 m by December 2012, with local maxima of up to 10 m. The additional buoyancy partly prevented surface flooding and snow-ice formation, despite a thick snow cover. Subsequent thinning of the platelet layer from December onwards was associated with an inflow of warm surface water. The combination of model studies with observed fast-ice thickness revealed an average ice-volume fraction in the platelet layer of 0.25 ± 0.1. We found that nearly half of the combined solid sea-ice and ice-platelet volume in this area is generated by heat transfer to the ocean rather than to the atmosphere. The total ice-platelet volume underlying Atka Bay fast ice was equivalent to more than one-fifth of the annual basal melt volume under the Ekström Ice Shelf.
    Type of Medium: Online Resource
    ISSN: 0260-3055 , 1727-5644
    Language: English
    Publisher: International Glaciological Society
    Publication Date: 2015
    detail.hit.zdb_id: 2122400-6
    SSG: 14
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  • 5
    In: Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene, University of California Press, Vol. 10, No. 1 ( 2022-07-12)
    Abstract: Sea ice growth and decay are critical processes in the Arctic climate system, but comprehensive observations are very sparse. We analyzed data from 23 sea ice mass balance buoys (IMBs) deployed during the Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate (MOSAiC) expedition in 2019–2020 to investigate the seasonality and timing of sea ice thermodynamic mass balance in the Arctic Transpolar Drift. The data reveal four stages of the ice season: (I) onset of ice basal freezing, mid-October to November; (II) rapid ice growth, December–March; (III) slow ice growth, April–May; and (IV) melting, June onward. Ice basal growth ranged from 0.64 to 1.38 m at a rate of 0.004–0.006 m d–1, depending mainly on initial ice thickness. Compared to a buoy deployed close to the MOSAiC setup site in September 2012, total ice growth was about twice as high, due to the relatively thin initial ice thickness at the MOSAiC sites. Ice growth from the top, caused by surface flooding and subsequent snow-ice formation, was observed at two sites and likely linked to dynamic processes. Snow reached a maximum depth of 0.25 ± 0.08 m by May 2, 2020, and had melted completely by June 25, 2020. The relatively early onset of ice basal melt on June 7 (±10 d), 2019, can be partly attributed to the unusually rapid advection of the MOSAiC floes towards Fram Strait. The oceanic heat flux, calculated based on the heat balance at the ice bottom, was 2.8 ± 1.1 W m–2 in December–April, and increased gradually from May onward, reaching 10.0 ± 2.6 W m–2 by mid-June 2020. Subsequently, under-ice melt ponds formed at most sites in connection with increasing ice permeability. Our analysis provides crucial information on the Arctic sea ice mass balance for future studies related to MOSAiC and beyond.
    Type of Medium: Online Resource
    ISSN: 2325-1026
    Language: English
    Publisher: University of California Press
    Publication Date: 2022
    detail.hit.zdb_id: 2745461-7
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  • 6
    In: Elem Sci Anth, University of California Press, Vol. 11, No. 1 ( 2023-09-07)
    Abstract: The rapid melt of snow and sea ice during the Arctic summer provides a significant source of low-salinity meltwater to the surface ocean on the local scale. The accumulation of this meltwater on, under, and around sea ice floes can result in relatively thin meltwater layers in the upper ocean. Due to the small-scale nature of these upper-ocean features, typically on the order of 1 m thick or less, they are rarely detected by standard methods, but are nevertheless pervasive and critically important in Arctic summer. Observations during the Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate (MOSAiC) expedition in summer 2020 focused on the evolution of such layers and made significant advancements in understanding their role in the coupled Arctic system. Here we provide a review of thin meltwater layers in the Arctic, with emphasis on the new findings from MOSAiC. Both prior and recent observational datasets indicate an intermittent yet long-lasting (weeks to months) meltwater layer in the upper ocean on the order of 0.1 m to 1.0 m in thickness, with a large spatial range. The presence of meltwater layers impacts the physical system by reducing bottom ice melt and allowing new ice formation via false bottom growth. Collectively, the meltwater layer and false bottoms reduce atmosphere-ocean exchanges of momentum, energy, and material. The impacts on the coupled Arctic system are far-reaching, including acting as a barrier for nutrient and gas exchange and impacting ecosystem diversity and productivity.
    Type of Medium: Online Resource
    ISSN: 2325-1026
    Language: English
    Publisher: University of California Press
    Publication Date: 2023
    detail.hit.zdb_id: 2745461-7
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  • 7
    In: Geophysical Research Letters, American Geophysical Union (AGU), Vol. 47, No. 16 ( 2020-08-28)
    Abstract: Here we present extensive observations of platelet ice formation under Arctic winter sea ice The subice platelet layer appears to form locally due to seed crystals in ocean surface supercooling
    Type of Medium: Online Resource
    ISSN: 0094-8276 , 1944-8007
    Language: English
    Publisher: American Geophysical Union (AGU)
    Publication Date: 2020
    detail.hit.zdb_id: 2021599-X
    detail.hit.zdb_id: 7403-2
    SSG: 16,13
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  • 8
    In: The Cryosphere, Copernicus GmbH, Vol. 14, No. 7 ( 2020-07-06), p. 2173-2187
    Abstract: Abstract. In September 2019, the research icebreaker Polarstern started the largest multidisciplinary Arctic expedition to date, the MOSAiC (Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate) drift experiment. Being moored to an ice floe for a whole year, thus including the winter season, the declared goal of the expedition is to better understand and quantify relevant processes within the atmosphere–ice–ocean system that impact the sea ice mass and energy budget, ultimately leading to much improved climate models. Satellite observations, atmospheric reanalysis data, and readings from a nearby meteorological station indicate that the interplay of high ice export in late winter and exceptionally high air temperatures resulted in the longest ice-free summer period since reliable instrumental records began. We show, using a Lagrangian tracking tool and a thermodynamic sea ice model, that the MOSAiC floe carrying the Central Observatory (CO) formed in a polynya event north of the New Siberian Islands at the beginning of December 2018. The results further indicate that sea ice in the vicinity of the CO (〈40 km distance) was younger and 36 % thinner than the surrounding ice with potential consequences for ice dynamics and momentum and heat transfer between ocean and atmosphere. Sea ice surveys carried out on various reference floes in autumn 2019 verify this gradient in ice thickness, and sediments discovered in ice cores (so-called dirty sea ice) around the CO confirm contact with shallow waters in an early phase of growth, consistent with the tracking analysis. Since less and less ice from the Siberian shelves survives its first summer (Krumpen et al., 2019), the MOSAiC experiment provides the unique opportunity to study the role of sea ice as a transport medium for gases, macronutrients, iron, organic matter, sediments and pollutants from shelf areas to the central Arctic Ocean and beyond. Compared to data for the past 26 years, the sea ice encountered at the end of September 2019 can already be classified as exceptionally thin, and further predicted changes towards a seasonally ice-free ocean will likely cut off the long-range transport of ice-rafted materials by the Transpolar Drift in the future. A reduced long-range transport of sea ice would have strong implications for the redistribution of biogeochemical matter in the central Arctic Ocean, with consequences for the balance of climate-relevant trace gases, primary production and biodiversity in the Arctic Ocean.
    Type of Medium: Online Resource
    ISSN: 1994-0424
    Language: English
    Publisher: Copernicus GmbH
    Publication Date: 2020
    detail.hit.zdb_id: 2393169-3
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  • 9
    Online Resource
    Online Resource
    Copernicus GmbH ; 2020
    In:  The Cryosphere Vol. 14, No. 9 ( 2020-08-31), p. 2775-2793
    In: The Cryosphere, Copernicus GmbH, Vol. 14, No. 9 ( 2020-08-31), p. 2775-2793
    Abstract: Abstract. Landfast sea ice (fast ice) attached to Antarctic (near-)coastal elements is a critical component of the local physical and ecological systems. Through its direct coupling with the atmosphere and ocean, fast-ice properties are also a potential indicator of processes related to a changing climate. However, in situ fast-ice observations in Antarctica are extremely sparse because of logistical challenges and harsh environmental conditions. Since 2010, a monitoring program observing the seasonal evolution of fast ice in Atka Bay has been conducted as part of the Antarctic Fast Ice Network (AFIN). The bay is located on the northeastern edge of Ekström Ice Shelf in the eastern Weddell Sea, close to the German wintering station Neumayer III. A number of sampling sites have been regularly revisited each year between annual ice formation and breakup to obtain a continuous record of sea-ice and sub-ice platelet-layer thickness, as well as snow depth and freeboard across the bay. Here, we present the time series of these measurements over the last 9 years. Combining them with observations from the nearby Neumayer III meteorological observatory as well as auxiliary satellite images enables us to relate the seasonal and interannual fast-ice cycle to the factors that influence their evolution. On average, the annual consolidated fast-ice thickness at the end of the growth season is about 2 m, with a loose platelet layer of 4 m thickness beneath and 0.70 m thick snow on top. Results highlight the predominately seasonal character of the fast-ice regime in Atka Bay without a significant interannual trend in any of the observed variables over the 9-year observation period. Also, no changes are evident when comparing with sporadic measurements in the 1980s and 1990s. It is shown that strong easterly winds in the area govern the year-round snow distribution and also trigger the breakup of fast ice in the bay during summer months. Due to the substantial snow accumulation on the fast ice, a characteristic feature is frequent negative freeboard, associated flooding of the snow–ice interface, and a likely subsequent snow ice formation. The buoyant platelet layer beneath negates the snow weight to some extent, but snow thermodynamics is identified as the main driver of the energy and mass budgets for the fast-ice cover in Atka Bay. The new knowledge of the seasonal and interannual variability of fast-ice properties from the present study helps to improve our understanding of interactions between atmosphere, fast ice, ocean, and ice shelves in one of the key regions of Antarctica and calls for intensified multidisciplinary studies in this region.
    Type of Medium: Online Resource
    ISSN: 1994-0424
    Language: English
    Publisher: Copernicus GmbH
    Publication Date: 2020
    detail.hit.zdb_id: 2393169-3
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  • 10
    In: Annals of Glaciology, International Glaciological Society, Vol. 56, No. 69 ( 2015), p. 263-273
    Abstract: Up to now, snow cover on Antarctic sea ice and its impact on radar backscatter, particularly after the onset of freeze/thaw processes, are not well understood. Here we present a combined analysis of in situ observations of snow properties from the landfast sea ice in Atka Bay, Antarctica, and high-resolution TerraSAR-X backscatter data, for the transition from austral spring (November 2012) to summer (January 2013). The physical changes in the seasonal snow cover during that time are reflected in the evolution of TerraSAR-X backscatter. We are able to explain 76-93% of the spatio-temporal variability of the TerraSAR-X backscatter signal with up to four snowpack parameters with a root-mean-squared error of 0.87-1.62 dB, using a simple multiple linear model. Over the complete study, and especially after the onset of early-melt processes and freeze/thaw cycles, the majority of variability in the backscatter is influenced by changes in snow/ice interface temperature, snow depth and top-layer grain size. This suggests it may be possible to retrieve snow physical properties over Antarctic sea ice from X-band SAR backscatter.
    Type of Medium: Online Resource
    ISSN: 0260-3055 , 1727-5644
    Language: English
    Publisher: International Glaciological Society
    Publication Date: 2015
    detail.hit.zdb_id: 2122400-6
    SSG: 14
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