A concept for autonomous and continuous observation of melt pond morphology: Instrument design and test trail during the 4th CHINARE-Arctic in 2010

Abstract

Accelerated decline of summer and winter Arctic sea ice has been demonstrated progressively. Meltponds play a key role in enhancing the feedback of solar radiation in the ice/ocean-atmosphere system, andhave thus been a focus of researchers and modelers. A new melt pond investigation system was designed todetermine morphologic and hydrologic features, and their evolution. This system consists of three major parts:Temperature-salinity measuring, surface morphology monitoring, and water depth monitoring units. The setupwas deployed during the ice camp period of the fourth Chinese National Arctic Research Expedition in summer2010. The evolution of a typical Arctic melt pond was documented in terms of pond depth, shape and surfacecondition. These datasets are presented to scientifically reveal how involved parameters change, contributing tobetter understanding of the evolution mechanism of the melt pond. The main advantage of this system is itssuitability for autonomous and long-term observation, over and within a melt pond. Further, the setup is portableand robust. It can be easily and quickly installed, which is most valuable for deployment under harsh conditions.