Use of synthetic aperture radar‐derived kinematics in mapping mesoscale ocean structure within the interior marginal ice zone

Abstract

Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery of the marginal ice zone over the western sector of the Yermak Plateau defined a region of anomalous ice motion that could not be accounted for by simple free‐drift movement of the sea ice based on daily averaged winds over the same time period from June 29 to July 6, 1984. Sea ice trajectories within this anomalous region are, however, consistent with oceanic forcing of the pack ice by a mesoscale eddy that had recently formed off the Polar Front. Although the use of such imagery has already been shown to be a diagnostic tool in mapping ocean features at the ice edge, the observed correlation 50 to 70 km behind the local ice edge indicates that SAR imagery has the potential to define energetic mesoscale and larger oceanic features well within the polar pack ice.