Abstract
Analysis of high-resolution imagery acquired by the Digital Mapping System during annual, late-winter NASA Operation IceBridge surveys of Arctic sea ice between 2010 and 2018 reveals that pressure ridge sail heights ( H <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><b>S</b></sub> ) vary regionally and interannually. We find distinct differences in H <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><b>S</b></sub> distributions between the central Arctic (CA) and the Beaufort/Chukchi Seas region. Our results show that differences with respect to ice type occur within the tails of the H <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><b>S</b></sub> distributions and that the 95th and 99th percentiles of H <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><b>S</b></sub> are strong indicators of the predominant ice type in which the pressure ridge formed. During the first part of the study period H <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><b>S</b></sub> increased, with the largest sails observed in the winters of 2015 and 2016, after which H <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><b>S</b></sub> declined, suggesting that the most heavily deformed sea ice may have drifted beyond the area surveyed and exited the CA. Our analysis of the interannual and regional variability in sea ice deformation in the western Arctic during the last decade provides an improved understanding of sail height that will help advance ridge parameterizations in sea ice models.
Highlights
T HE drift velocity and thickness of Earth’s sea ice cover are considered essential climate variables, which provide the necessary evidence to understand the evolution of the climate system and guide mitigation and adaptation measures
Sail heights are derived by measuring the length of shadows cast by pressure ridges, as observed in high-resolution Digital Mapping System (DMS) visible imagery gathered during Operation IceBridge (OIB) flights over sea ice
During the late-winter OIB sea ice campaigns between 2010 and 2018, a total of 156 749 DMS images were acquired Of these, 67720 (43.2%) were used for analysis, 70493 (45%) were obscured by polar darkness and/or clouds, and 18536 (11.8%) were discarded due to contamination by sea ice leads which are difficult to distinguish from ridge shadows
Summary
T HE drift velocity and thickness of Earth’s sea ice cover are considered essential climate variables, which provide the necessary evidence to understand the evolution of the climate system and guide mitigation and adaptation measures. Widespread observations of pressure ridges, and the regional and temporal variability in their sail. We present results describing sea ice pressure ridge sail height across the Arctic Ocean toward the end of the winter growth season, over a nine-year period (2010–2018). Sail heights are derived by measuring the length of shadows cast by pressure ridges, as observed in high-resolution Digital Mapping System (DMS) visible imagery gathered during OIB flights over sea ice. We assess interannual variability in sail height within two regions sampled by OIB and delineate results with respect to the predominant ice type in these regions
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