HR: 0800h
AN: C11B-0423    [Abstracts]
TI: Antarctic fast-ice thickness
AU: * Heil, P -
EM: petra.heil@utas.edu.au
AF: Australian Antarctic Division and ACE CRC, Private Bag 80, Hobart, TAS 7001, Australia
AB: Fast ice makes up about 10 % by area (or 14 - 20 % by volume) of the total Antarctic pack. Its growth is largely determined by thermodynamics processes, which makes it a valuable tool to monitor changes in the polar climate system. Time series of fast-ice properties, especially when viewed with concurrent meteorological or oceanic data, contain clues on interactions and changes between climatic components. In contrast to the Arctic, there are few Antarctic locations, at which fast-ice conditions have been recorded. Antarctic data are often intermittent and generally limited to the few most recent decades. As part of SIMBA, the IPY Antarctic sea-ice mass balance investigation, the Antarctic Fast-Ice Network (AFIN) has been instigated. The aim is to establish a network of sites around the Antarctic coast at which regular and ongoing fast-ice measurements are carried out. AFIN seeks to utilize previous as well as existing fast-ice measurement sites, and to add new locations to collect baseline data on the seasonal evolution of the fast ice. The data collection is planned to continue beyond the IPY years. To enable the expansion of AFIN, autonomous instrumentation has been developed, including a fast-ice mass-balance station. This station is currently deployed at Davis, East Antarctica, and consists of a thermistor rod with 0.02 m vertical resolution, air-temperature and air-pressure sensors, and acoustic pingers above and below the fast ice. Initial results of measurements collected during austral winter 2007 will be presented here.
DE: 0750 Sea ice (4540)
DE: 1616 Climate variability (1635, 3305, 3309, 4215, 4513)
DE: 4540 Ice mechanics and air/sea/ice exchange processes (0700, 0750, 0752, 0754)
SC: Cryosphere [C]
MN: 2007 Fall Meeting