HR: 0830h
AN: C41C-0990    [PDF]
TI: Assessing, understanding, and conveying the state of the Arctic sea ice cover
AU: * Perovich, D K
EM: donald.k.perovich@erdc.usace.army.mil
AF: ERDC Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory, 72 Lyme Road, Hanover, NH 03755 United States
AU: Richter-Menge, J A
EM: jacqueline.a.richter-menge@erdc.usace.army.mil
AF: ERDC Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory, 72 Lyme Road, Hanover, NH 03755 United States
AU: Rigor, I
EM: ignatius@apl.washington.edu
AF: Polar Science Center University of Washington, 1013 NE 40th Street, Seattle, WA 98105 United States
AU: Parkinson, C L
EM: Claire.L.Parkinson@nasa.gov
AF: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Code 971 NASA GSFC, Greenbelt, MD 20771 United States
AU: Weatherly, J W
EM: john.w.weatherly@erdc.usace.army.mil
AF: ERDC Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory, 72 Lyme Road, Hanover, NH 03755 United States
AU: Nghiem, S V
EM: Son.V.Nghiem@jpl.nasa.gov
AF: Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91109 United States
AU: Proshutinsky, A
EM: aproshutinsky@whoi.educ
AF: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, Mail Stop 29 360 Woods Hole Road, Woods Hole, MA 25430 United States
AU: Overland, J E
EM: overland@pmel.noaa.gove
AF: NOAA - Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, 7600 Sand Point Way NE, Seattle, WA 98115 United States
AB: Recent studies indicate that the Arctic sea ice cover is undergoing significant climate-induced changes, affecting both its extent and thickness. Satellite-derived estimates of Arctic sea ice extent suggest a reduction of about 3% per decade since 1978. Ice thickness data from submarines suggest a net thinning of the sea ice cover since 1958. Changes (including oscillatory changes) in atmospheric circulation and the thermohaline properties of the upper ocean have also been observed. These changes impact not only the Arctic, but the global climate system and are likely accelerated by such processes as the ice-albedo feedback. It is important to continue and expand long-term observations of these changes to (a) improve the fundamental understanding of the role of the sea ice cover in the global climate system and (b) use the changes in the sea ice cover as an early indicator of climate change. This is a formidable task that spans a range of temporal and spatial scales. Fortunately, there are numerous tools that can be brought to bear on this task, including satellite remote sensing, autonomous buoys, ocean moorings, field campaigns and numerical models. We suggest the integrated and coordinated use of these tools during the International Polar Year to monitor the state of the Arctic sea ice cover and investigate its governing processes. For example, satellite remote sensing provides the large-scale snapshots of such basic parameters as ice distribution, melt zone, and cloud fraction at intervals of half a day to a week. Buoys and moorings can contribute high temporal resolution and can measure parameters currently unavailable from space including ice thickness, internal ice temperature, and ocean temperature and salinity. Field campaigns can be used to explore, in detail, the processes that govern the ice cover. Numerical models can be used to assess the character of the changes in the ice cover and predict their impacts on the rest of the climate system. This work affords extraordinary opportunities for outreach activities, because of the public interest in both the Arctic and climate change. Data can be streamed to public web sites in near real time, as can photographs and commentaries from field camps. The breadth of activities affords considerable opportunities to engage the next generation of researchers in such diverse fields as computer science, engineering, and geophysics.
DE: 3349 Polar meteorology
DE: 4275 Remote sensing and electromagnetic processes (0689)
DE: 4540 Ice mechanics and air/sea/ice exchange processes
DE: 6605 Education
SC: Cryosphere [C]
MN: 2003 Fall Meeting