Abstract
For the summer Beaufort, Chukchi, and East Siberian Seas a variety of active and passive microwave satellite data are used to determine the response of the ice edge and interior to a storm. Specifically, the study concentrates on a low‐pressure system that passed over the region between August 14 and 20, 1992, with peak geostrophic winds of about 18 m s−1. Through the use of the ERS‐1 imaging radar and the Special Sensor Microwave/Imager the ice response is examined at two locations: at the ice edge for a nearly stationary location in the Chukchi Sea and in the ice interior along three swaths in the Beaufort, Chukchi, and East Siberian Seas. The ice edge observations show that the storm fractures the large floes into small floes, some of which are advected into the adjacent warm water. The ice interior observations show that the storm caused an increase in the open water amount and a shift in the floe size distribution toward smaller floes. In the ice interior, application of the cumulative number distribution N(d), where N is the number of floes per unit area that are no smaller than some floe diameter d, shows that for d>1 km, N behaves like d−α, where α lies in the range 1.8–2.9. Our analysis also shows that this slope is not affected by the storm and is slightly larger near the ice edge.
Published Version
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