Investigations of the Western Arctic: Variability of Sea Ice Thickness Distribution in Bering Strait and the Chukchi Sea

作为北极系统科学（ARCSS）全球变化研究计划的海洋-大气-冰相互作用（OAII）组成部分，华盛顿大学和阿拉斯加大学的研究人员将进行一项合作研究项目。研究目的是测量通过白令海峡的水的输送，并确定这种输送对北冰洋，特别是表层的物理性质和变率的影响。这些物理性质，如冰盖和厚度、垂直混合和热盐结构影响着北极冰盖的范围。如果不断变化的气候条件导致冰盖缩小或显著变化，那么整个世界的大气和海洋都将感受到这种影响。通过白令海峡流入的水是北冰洋的主要输入之一，因此，如果要了解控制北冰洋物理特征的过程，就必须了解白令海峡的体积和物理性质。三个协调的项目将分别处理该系统的一个或多个方面，并共同提供对北极物理和地球化学过程的更广泛运作的见解。将在关键地点部署系泊设施，为期三年。他们将提供水柱特性的同步时间序列，包括温度、盐度、水流，向上看的声纳（ULS）将进行全年的冰厚观测。一个水文项目还将检查楚科奇海东北部的水柱变化情况，那里是太平洋低盐度流入北冰洋的部分。这项工作建立在ONR和NSF与NOAA/PMEL的物理和化学海洋学项目合作开展的早期工作的基础上。

A collaborative research project will be undertaken by investiga- tors at the University of Washington and the University of Alaska as part of the Ocean-Atmosphere-Ice Interactions (OAII) component of the Arctic System Science (ARCSS) global change research program. The research objective is to measure the transport of water through the Bering Straits and to determine the influence of this transport on the physical properties and variability of the Arctic Ocean, and particularly the surface layer. These physical properties, such as ice cover and thickness, vertical mixing, and thermo-haline structure affect the extent of the Arctic ice pack. If changing climate conditions caused the ice pack to shrink or change significantly, the effect would be felt throughout the world's atmosphere and ocean. The influx of water through the Bering Strait is one of the major inputs to the Arctic Ocean, therefore its volume and physical properties must be known if one is to understand the processes that control the Arctic Ocean's physical features. Three coordinated projects will each deal with one or more aspects of the system, and together provide insight into the broader workings of the Arctic's physical and geochemical processes. Moorings will be deployed for a three-year period at key locations. They will provide concurrent time series of water column properties including temperature, sal- inity, currents and an upward looking sonar (ULS) will make a full year of ice thickness observations. A hydrographic program will also examine water column variability in the northeastern Chukchi Sea, where the low-salinity portion of the Pacific inflow drains into the Arctic Ocean. The work builds on earlier efforts funded by ONR and NSF that were conducted in cooperation with the physical and chemical oceanographic programs of NOAA/PMEL.