Arctic Ice-Ocean Interaction in a Time of Rapid Change

该奖项是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案（公法111-5）资助的。“提供资金来探索总体假设，即冰-海洋边界层（IOBL）对大尺度强迫的响应的相对较小的方面在理解北极淡水含量的增加和重新分布方面发挥着关键作用。1990年代开始的淡水化导致的更强的分层导致了更浅的混合层，大大增加了淡水的流动性，降低了其与下面更多盐水直接混合的能力。近年来夏季的大气环流往往会导致淡水在加拿大盆地汇聚，并伴随着埃克曼泵送的下降流。这里支持的工作包括三个相互依存的活动：（i）利用广泛的浮标方案提供的上层海洋数据（冰系剖面仪、北冰洋通量浮标、冰量平衡浮标），其中许多最近得到了北极观测网络的支持，在一个模拟研究，旨在回答有关湍流混合的基本问题，并衡量总的和淡水运输的IOBL;（ii）调查的具体缺陷，在我们的理解IOBL过程中，特别是那些与第一年与多年浮冰，水平异质性，极端分层;以及（iii）执行以特定流程为重点的实地项目。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5)."Funds are provided to explore the overarching hypothesis that relatively small-scale aspects of the response of the ice-ocean boundary layer (IOBL) to large-scale forcing play a critical role in understanding the increase and redistribution of Arctic fresh water content. Stronger stratification from freshening that began in the 1990s has resulted in shallower well mixed layers, greatly increasing the mobility of fresh water and reducing its capacity to mix directly with more saline water below. Atmospheric circulation in recent summers has tended to cause fresh water to converge in the Canada Basin, with associated downwelling from Ekman pumping.The work supported here includes three interdependent activities: (i) utilization of upper ocean data from extensive buoy programs (ice-tethered profilers, Arctic Ocean flux buoys, ice mass balance buoys), many recently supported by the Arctic Observing Network, in a modeling study designed to answer fundamental questions regarding turbulent mixing, and to gauge total and fresh water transport in the IOBL; (ii) investigation of specific deficiencies in our understanding of IOBL processes, especially those associated with first year versus multiyear pack ice, horizontal heterogeneity, and extreme stratification; and (iii) execution of field projects focused on particular processes.