HR: 0800h
AN: C11B-0425    [Abstracts]
TI: Sea-Ice Thickness Derived from Ice Charts in the Southern Ocean
AU: * DeLiberty, T L
EM: tracyd@udel.edu
AF: University of Delaware, Department of Geography, Newark, DE 19716, United States
AU: Ackley, S F
EM: sackley@pol.net
AF: University of Texas at San Antonio, Department of Earth and Environmental Science, San Antonio, TX 78249, United States
AU: Geiger, C A
EM: cgeiger@udel.edu
AF: University of Delaware, Department of Geography, Newark, DE 19716, United States
AU: Van Woert, M L
EM: worby@postoffice.utas.edu.au
AF: National Science Foundation, Polar Programs, Arlington, VA 22230, United States
AU: Worby, A P
EM: worby@postoffice.utas.edu.au
AF: Australian Antarctic Division and Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems Cooperative Research Centre, University of Tasmania Private Bag 80, Hobart, AS 7001, Australia
AB: An evaluation of the weekly NIC (National Ice Center) ice chart dataset with in situ sea-ice thickness observations from the ASPeCt (Antarctic Sea Ice Processes and Climate) program during the 1995 to 1998 time period is being extended across the Southern Ocean. Sea-ice thickness calculations from both datasets are temporally joined with spatially averaged in situ observations matching their respective NIC ice chart using a Geographic Information System (GIS). The uncertainties of total ice thickness for both in situ observations and NIC ice charts are obtained through individual calculations and the GIS processing. Weekly ice charts thickness estimates correlate reasonably well with in situ observations during five voyages from May/June 1995, August 1995, May/June 1998, December 1998/January 1999, and December 1999/January 2000 in the Ross Sea. A temporal comparison of the NIC ice chart data along an individual ship track reveal insight into the differences, and these discrepancies are further investigated. Using the NIC charts, the sea-ice seasonal and interannual thickness distribution are derived for the Southern Ocean. The interannual and spatial variability, for example, is evident between years in the Ross Sea, with thinner sea-ice conditions in June 1998 as compared to June 1995, primarily because first-year thick and multi-year sea ice show a larger extent in June 1995 as compared to June 1998.
DE: 0530 Data presentation and visualization
DE: 0750 Sea ice (4540)
DE: 0758 Remote sensing
DE: 0762 Mass balance (1218, 1223)
DE: 0772 Distribution
SC: Cryosphere [C]
MN: 2007 Fall Meeting