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Snow Dunes: A Controlling Factor of Melt Pond Distribution on Arctic Sea IceThe location of snow dunes over the course of the ice-growth season 2007/08 was mapped on level landfast first-year sea ice near Barrow, Alaska. Landfast ice formed in mid-December and exhibited essentially homogeneous snow depths of 4-6 cm in mid-January; by early February distinct snow dunes were observed. Despite additional snowfall and wind redistribution throughout the season, the location of the dunes was fixed by March, and these locations were highly correlated with the distribution of meltwater ponds at the beginning of June. Our observations, including ground-based light detection and ranging system (lidar) measurements, show that melt ponds initially form in the interstices between snow dunes, and that the outline of the melt ponds is controlled by snow depth contours. The resulting preferential surface ablation of ponded ice creates the surface topography that later determines the melt pond evolution.
Document ID
20140011040
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
External Source(s)
doi:10.1029/2012JC008192
Authors
Petrich, Chris (Alaska Univ. Fairbanks, AK, United States)
Eicken, Hajo (Alaska Univ. Fairbanks, AK, United States)
Polashenski, Christopher M. (Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Lab. Fort Wainright, AK, United States)
Sturm, Matthew (Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Lab. Fort Wainright, AK, United States)
Harbeck, Jeremy P. (Alaska Univ. Fairbanks, AK, United States)
Perovich, Donald K. (Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Lab. Hanover, NH, United States)
Finnegan, David C. (Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Lab. Hanover, NH, United States)
Date Acquired
August 26, 2014
Publication Date
September 25, 2012
Publication Information
Publication: Journal of Geophysical Research
Publisher: American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Volume: 117
Issue: C9
Subject Category
Meteorology And Climatology
Report/Patent Number
GSFC-E-DAA-TN9285
Funding Number(s)
OTHER: OPP-0632398
CONTRACT_GRANT: NNG12PL17C
OTHER: OPP-0856867
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Public Use Permitted.
Keywords
arctic
snow dunes
sea ice

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