ALBERT

Description: Arctic sea ice kinematics and deformation play significant roles in heat and momentum exchange between the atmosphere and ocean, and at the same time they have profound impacts on biological processes and biogeochemical cycles. However, the mechanisms regulating their changes on seasonal scales and their spatial variability remain poorly understood. Using position data recorded by 32 buoys in the Pacific sector of the Arctic Ocean (PAO), we characterized the spatiotemporal variations in ice kinematics and deformation for autumn–winter 2018/19, during the transition from a melting sea ice regime to a nearly consolidated ice pack. In autumn, the response of the sea ice drift to wind and inertial forcing was stronger in the southern and western PAO compared to the northern and eastern PAO. These spatial heterogeneities gradually weakened from autumn to winter, in line with the seasonal increases in ice concentration and thickness. Correspondingly, ice deformation became much more localized as the sea ice mechanical strength increased, with the area proportion occupied by the strongest (15 %) ice deformation decreasing by about 50 % from autumn to winter. During the freezing season, ice deformation rate in the northern PAO was about 2.5 times higher than in the western PAO and probably related to the higher spatial heterogeneity of oceanic and atmospheric forcing in the north. North–south and east–west gradients in sea ice kinematics and deformation within the PAO, as observed especially during autumn in this study, are likely to become more pronounced in the future as a result of a longer melt season, especially in the western and southern parts.

Description: Spectral albedo and transmittance in the range 400-900nm were measured on three separate dates on less than 15 cm thick new Arctic sea ice growing on Kongsfjorden, Svalbard at 78: 9 degrees N, 11: 9 degrees E. Inherent optical properties, including absorption coefficients of particulate and dissolved material, were obtained from ice samples and fed into a radiative transfer model, which was used to analyze spectral albedo and transmittance and to study the influence of clouds and snow on these. Integrated albedo and transmittance for photosynthetically active radiation (400-900 nm) were in the range 0.17-0.21 and 0.77-0.86, respectively. The average albedo and transmittance of the total solar radiation energy were 0.16 and 0.51, respectively. Values inferred from the model indicate that the ice contained possibly up to 40% brine and only 0.6% bubbles. Angular redistribution of solar radiation by clouds and snow was found to influence both the wavelength-integrated value and the spectral shape of albedo and transmittance. In particular, local peaks and depressions in the spectral albedo and spectral transmittance were found for wavelengths within atmospheric absorption bands. Simulated and measured transmittance spectra were within 5% for most of the wavelength range, but deviated up to 25% in the vicinity of 800 nm, indicating the need for more optical laboratory measurements of pure ice, or improved modeling of brine optical properties in this near-infrared wavelength region.

Description: The snow/sea-ice albedo was measured over coastal landfast sea ice in Prydz Bay, East Antarctica (off Zhongshan Station) during the austral spring and summer of 2010 and 2011. The variation of the observed albedo was a combination of a gradual seasonal transition from spring to summer and abrupt changes resulting from synoptic events, including snowfall, blowing snow, and overcast skies. The measured albedo ranged from 0.94 over thick fresh snow to 0.36 over melting sea ice. It was found that snow thickness was the most important factor influencing the albedo variation, while synoptic events and overcast skies could increase the albedo by about 0.18 and 0.06, respectively. The in-situ measured albedo and related physical parameters (e.g., snow thickness, ice thickness, surface temperature, and air temperature) were then used to evaluate four different snow/ice albedo parameterizations used in a variety of climate models. The parameterized albedos showed substantial discrepancies compared to the observed albedo, particularly during the summer melt period, even though more complex parameterizations yielded more realistic variations than simple ones. A modified parameterization was developed, which further considered synoptic events, cloud cover, and the local landfast sea-ice surface characteristics. The resulting parameterized albedo showed very good agreement with the observed albedo.

Description: Sea ice thickness is a key parameter in the polar climate and ecosystem. Thermodynamic and dynamic processes alter the sea ice thickness. The Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate (MOSAiC) expedition provided a unique opportunity to study seasonal sea ice thickness changes of the same sea ice. We analyzed 11 large-scale (∼50 km) airborne electromagnetic sea thickness and surface roughness surveys from October 2019 to September 2020. Data from ice mass balance and position buoys provided additional information. We found that thermodynamic growth and decay dominated the seasonal cycle with a total mean sea ice thickness increase of 1.4 m (October 2019 to June 2020) and decay of 1.2 m (June 2020 to September 2020). Ice dynamics and deformation-related processes, such as thin ice formation in leads and subsequent ridging, broadened the ice thickness distribution and contributed 30% to the increase in mean thickness. These processes caused a 1-month delay between maximum thermodynamic sea ice thickness and maximum mean ice thickness. The airborne EM measurements bridged the scales from local floe-scale measurements to Arctic-wide satellite observations and model grid cells. The spatial differences in mean sea ice thickness between the Central Observatory (〈10 km) of MOSAiC and the Distributed Network (〈50 km) were negligible in fall and only 0.2 m in late winter, but the relative abundance of thin and thick ice varied. One unexpected outcome was the large dynamic thickening in a regime where divergence prevailed on average in the western Nansen Basin in spring. We suggest that the large dynamic thickening was due to the mobile, unconsolidated sea ice pack and periodic, sub-daily motion. We demonstrate that this Lagrangian sea ice thickness data set is well suited for validating the existing redistribution theory in sea ice models. Our comprehensive description of seasonal changes of the sea ice thickness distribution is valuable for interpreting MOSAiC time series across disciplines and can be used as a reference to advance sea ice thickness modeling.

Description: 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.

Description: The fine spatial resolution of the ICESat-2 (IS2) satellite altimeter allows monitoring the evolution of sea ice thickness with detailed dynamic information (e.g. ridges and leads). In this study, we first assess the ability of IS2 to estimate thermodynamic ice growth and dynamic thickening during the ice-growing season in the central Arctic Ocean. As an indicator of the thermodynamic ice growth, we use 10 thermistor string-based sea ice mass balance array (SIMBA) buoys deployed at a scale of ~50 km from the Icebreaker Polarstern during the Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate (MOSAiC) expedition. We collect IS2 data within 20 km buffer distance from the individual buoys, and calculate the mode, median, and mean of the IS2-derived ice thickness. The IS2 modal thickness shows the least bias (−0.169 m) with the buoy ice thickness, representing level ice thickness. In addition, the increasing rate of the IS2 modal thickness is close to the thermodynamic ice growth with a small bias of −0.054 cm/day. However, the increasing rates of the IS2 median and mean thickness are greater than the thermodynamic ice growth by about 0.114 cm/day and 0.198 cm/day, respectively, because they also include ice growth caused by thickness redistribution during dynamic deformation. The dynamic contributions may account for 26.1 ± 10.3% and 34.4 ± 10.1% of the total increase of the IS2 median and mean thickness, respectively. Within a ~ 50 km radius area from the MOSAiC Central Observatory, IS2 measurements exhibit that the ridge fraction increased from 〈2% in November to ~4% in March (~0.029%/day of average increasing rate) and ridge height increased about 0.047 cm/day during the same period. However, lead formation does not show significant contributions to the dynamic ice thickening because leads are temporary features lasting only 2–3 days. Although there are considerable uncertainties in IS2 ice thickness estimation and IS2-buoy thickness comparison, this study emphasizes the importance of combining measurements by IS2 and SIMBA buoys to explain the regional sea ice mass balance with separating the thermodynamic and dynamic contributions.

Description: Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2022. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Geophysical Research Letters 49(2), (2022): e2021GL096216, https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GL096216.

Description: Ocean-to-ice heat flux (OHF) is important in regulating the variability of sea ice mass balance. Using surface drifting buoy observations, we show that during winter in the Arctic Ocean's Beaufort Gyre region, OHF increased from 0.76 ± 0.05 W/m2 over 2006–2012 to 1.63 ± 0.08 W/m2 over 2013–2018. We find that this is a result of thinner and less-compact sea ice that promotes enhanced winter ice growth, stronger ocean vertical convection, and subsurface heat entrainment. In contrast, Ekman upwelling declined over the study period, suggesting it had a secondary contribution to OHF changes. The enhanced ice growth creates a cooler, saltier, and deeper ocean surface mixed layer. In addition, the enhanced vertical temperature gradient near the mixed layer base in later years favors stronger entrainment of subsurface heat. OHF and its increase during 2006–2018 were not geographically uniform, with hot spots found in an upwelling region where ice was most seasonally variable.

Description: This study was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2018YFA0605901), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41941012; 42076225; 41776192; 41976219; 41706211). S. C. was supported by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Early Career Scientist Fund and the Lenfest Fund for Early Career Scientists. J. Z. was supported by U.S. NSF Grants PLR-1603259, PLR-1602985, and NNA-1927785. M. S. was supported by U.S. ONR Grant N00014-17-1-2545, NSF Grants PLR 1603266 and OPP-1751363 and NOAA Grants NA15OAR4320063AM170 and NA20OAR4320271.

Description: The Author(s), 2022. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Rabe, B., Heuze, C., Regnery, J., Aksenov, Y., Allerholt, J., Athanase, M., Bai, Y., Basque, C., Bauch, D., Baumann, T. M., Chen, D., Cole, S. T., Craw, L., Davies, A., Damm, E., Dethloff, K., Divine, D., Doglioni, F., Ebert, F., Fang, Y-C., Fer, I., Fong, A. A., Gradinger, R., Granskog, M. A., Graupner, R., Haas, C., He, H., He, Y., Hoppmann, M., Janout, M., Kadko, D., Kanzow, T., Karam, S., Kawaguchi, Y., Koenig, Z., Kong, B., Krishfield, R. A., Krumpen, T., Kuhlmey, D., Kuznetsov, I., Lan, M., Laukert, G., Lei, R., Li, T., Torres-Valdés, S., Lin, L,. Lin, L., Liu, H., Liu, N., Loose, B., Ma, X., MacKay, R., Mallet, M., Mallett, R. D. C., Maslowski, W., Mertens, C., Mohrholz, V., Muilwijk, M., Nicolaus, M., O’Brien, J. K., Perovich, D., Ren, J., Rex, M., Ribeiro, N., Rinke, A., Schaffer, J., Schuffenhauer, I., Schulz, K., Shupe, M. D., Shaw, W., Sokolov, V., Sommerfeld, A., Spreen, G., Stanton, T., Stephens, M., Su, J., Sukhikh, N., Sundfjord, A., Thomisch, K., Tippenhauer, S., Toole, J. M., Vredenborg, M., Walter, M., Wang, H., Wang, L., Wang, Y., Wendisch, M., Zhao, J., Zhou, M., & Zhu, J. Overview of the MOSAiC expedition: physical oceanography. Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene, 10(1), (2022): 1, https://doi.org/10.1525/elementa.2021.00062.

Description: 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.

Description: The following projects and funding agencies contributed to this work: Why is the deep Arctic Ocean Warming is funded by the Swedish Research Council, project number 2018-03859, and berth fees for this project were covered by the Swedish Polar Research Secretariat; The Changing Arctic Ocean (CAO) program, jointly funded by the United Kingdom Research and Innovation (UKRI) Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and the Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF), in particular, the CAO projects Advective Pathways of nutrients and key Ecological substances in the ARctic (APEAR) grants NE/R012865/1, NE/R012865/2, and #03V01461, and the project Primary productivity driven by Escalating Arctic NUTrient fluxeS grant #03F0804A; The Research Council of Norway (AROMA, grant no 294396; HAVOC, grant no 280292; and CAATEX, grant no 280531); Collaborative Research: Thermodynamics and Dynamic Drivers of the Arctic Sea Ice Mass Budget at Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of the Arctic Climate; National Science Foundation (NSF) projects 1723400, Stanton; OPP-1724551, Shupe; The Helmholtz society strategic investment Frontiers in Arctic Marine monitoring (FRAM); Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Research Foundation) through the Transregional Collaborative Research Centre TRR 172 “ArctiC Amplification: Climate Relevant Atmospheric and SurfaCe Processes, and Feedback Mechanisms (AC)3” (grant 268020496); The Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (grant numbers JP18H03745, JP18KK0292, and JP17KK0083) and the COLE grant of U. Tokyo; National Key Research and Development Plan Sub-Project of Ministry of Science and Technology of China (2016YFA0601804), “Simulation, Prediction and Regional Climate Response of Global Warming Hiatus”, 2016/07-2021/06; National Science Foundation grant number OPP-1756100 which funded two of the Ice-Tethered Profilers and all the Ice-Tethered Profiler deployments; Chinese Polar Environmental Comprehensive Investigation and Assessment Programs, funded by the Chinese Arctic and Antarctic Administration; Marine Science and Technology Fund of Shandong Province for Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology (Grant: 2018SDKJ0104-1) and Chinese Natural Science Foundation (Grant: 41941012); UK NERC Long-term Science Multiple Centre National Capability Programme “North Atlantic Climate System Integrated Study (ACSIS)”, grant NE/N018044/1; The London NERC Doctoral Training Partnership grant (NE/L002485/1) which funded RDCM; NSF grant number OPP-1753423, which funded the 7Be tracer –measurements; and The Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung (AWI) through its projects: AWI_OCEAN, AWI_ROV, AWI_ICE, AWI_SNOW, AWI_ECO, AWI_ATMO, and AWI_BGC.