HR: 0800h
AN: C11B-0435    [Abstracts]
TI: Atmospheric and Oceanic forcing of sea ice drift and deformation during the SEDNA field campaign
AU: * Roberts, A
EM: aroberts@arsc.edu
AF: Arctic Region Supercomputing Center, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK 99775, United States
AU: * Roberts, A
EM: aroberts@arsc.edu
AF: International Arctic Research Center, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK 99775, United States
AU: Hutchings, J
EM: jenny@iarc.uaf.edu
AF: International Arctic Research Center, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK 99775, United States
AU: Hibler, W D
EM: billh@iarc.uaf.edu
AF: International Arctic Research Center, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK 99775, United States
AU: Seefeldt, M
EM: mark.seefeldt@colorado.edu
AF: Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309, United States
AB: This paper provides a synopsis of the surface atmospheric and oceanic forcing of sea ice drift and deformation during the Sea ice Experiment: Dynamical Nature of the Arctic (SEDNA) Beaufort Sea campaign of April 2007. During the campaign two hexagonal arrays of GPS buoys were deployed with maximum diameters of 10km and 70km, respectively, providing an excellent record of sea ice drift and deformation. This record is analyzed in light of in situ surface wind and current measurements, high resolution Weather Research and Forecast Model (WRF) simulations focussed on the Beaufort Sea, and pan-arctic synoptic weather events represented in NCEP II atmospheric analyses. Analysis of the drift track and wind-forcing in the time domain suggests little trace of inertial or tidally induced motion during the field camp. A broader understanding of the relative contribution of semi-diurnal motion to Beaufort Sea ice drift and deformation is gained by comparing barotropic ice-tide model output with a 12-month Beaufort Sea ice-drift time series of buoys deployed in August 2006. Spectral comparisons of the buoy-drift with our model's output reveal that semi-diurnal deformation spectra does not always result from strong local surface winds, regardless of sea ice concentration. This result is particularly significant because the ice camp was located close to the latitude at which the M2 tide oscillates at the resonant inertial frequency, potentially making excitation of the oceanic boundary layer by storms more likely. One interpretation of this result is that specific ice-ocean boundary layer treatments in ocean models may have some baring on their estimates of the ice mass balance of the Arctic Ocean.
DE: 0750 Sea ice (4540)
DE: 4540 Ice mechanics and air/sea/ice exchange processes (0700, 0750, 0752, 0754)
DE: 4560 Surface waves and tides (1222)
DE: 4572 Upper ocean and mixed layer processes
SC: Cryosphere [C]
MN: 2007 Fall Meeting