Abstract
Abstract. Satellite altimetry has been used to observe the Arctic sea ice in long term and large scale, and the records show a continued decline for Arctic sea ice thickness over decades. In this study, the sea ice freeboard in Beaufort Sea of Arctic have been estimated using CryoSat-2 data, and validated with Upward Looking Sonar (ULS) data of Beaufort Gyre Exploration Project (BGEP). The results show an obvious seasonal variation of the Beaufort Sea with a high reliability estimation of the sea ice freeboard. The average height of the sea ice freeboard increase from January to March and achieve the maximum value 0.38 m in March. The sea ice melts after March and the average height of the sea ice freeboard reduces to the minimum 0.12 m in August. In the next few months the sea water begins to freeze and the average height of the sea ice freeboard will increase to the maximum value.
Highlights
Sea ice plays a very important role in Earth’s radiation balance because of the high reflectivity of sea ice
It’s very important to figure out the sea ice change in Beaufort Sea and its impacts on Beaufort Gyre and Arctic sea ice change
The freeboard distribution from January to March is shown in the first row of Figure 4, sea ice covers the whole Beaufort Sea and the height of freeboard is growing
Summary
Sea ice plays a very important role in Earth’s radiation balance because of the high reflectivity of sea ice. Arctic sea ice is a significant component of the global climate system. Ocean, and atmosphere, is the three components of Arctic climate. The heart of this system is one of the least studied bodies of water on the planet: the Beaufort Gyre, a slowly swirling bowl of icy water. Microwave remote sensing and satellite altimetry methods are used to estimating sea ice thickness at large scale with lower accuracy than direct field measurements (Zygmuntowska et al, 2014). Laxon et al (2003) estimated Arctic sea ice thickness distribution using ERS-1 and ERS-2 data. Kwok et al (2009, 2014) used ICESat and CryoSat data to estimate Arctic sea ice thickness.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
