Collaborative Research: Seasonal Sea Ice Production in the Ross Sea, Antarctica

提案标题：合作研究：南极洲罗斯海的季节性海冰生产(暂定名称由提交的标题更改)机构：德克萨斯大学圣安东尼奥分校；哥伦比亚大学；海军研究生院；伍兹霍尔海洋研究所；UC@Boulder地球上唯一一个海冰面积、持续时间和密度不断增加的地方是南极洲的罗斯海。卫星图像显示，罗斯海大约一半的海平面上升与南半球秋季的变化有关，当时新的海冰正在形成。最显著的变化也发生在波尼亚附近，波尼亚是被海冰包围的开阔海域。为了了解推动海冰增加的过程，并确定海冰面积的增加是否也伴随着冰层厚度的变化，该项目将在2017年4月和5月，也就是南半球的秋季，对罗斯海的波尼亚进行一次海洋巡航。该团队将部署最先进的研究工具，包括无人驾驶机载系统(UAS，俗称无人机)、自主水下航行器(AUV)和遥控水下航行器(ROV)。使用这些工具和其他工具，该团队将同时研究大气、海洋和海冰的属性和过程。海冰产量的变化必然会改变下面的海水，这可能会对全球海洋环流模式产生重大影响，这是一个具有国际重要性的话题。所有参与的机构都将培训学生，所有机构都有一个共同的目标，那就是扩大美国的气候知识，强调高纬度地区在地球动态气候中所起的作用。该项目的主要目标是改善对罗斯海海冰产量和水团转化的估计。该团队将全面捕捉空气-冰-海洋相互作用在南半球秋季启动时的时空变化，然后使用冰浮标跟踪冬季和春季的变化，并使用新投入使用的冰舱仪器系统进行空中测绘，该仪器系统部署在美国南极计划的LC-130机队上。海洋邮轮将包括Terra Nova Bay和Ross Ice Shelf Polynyas内外的站点。将进行的测量包括海气边界层的热量、淡水和微量气体、辐射和空气中的气象通量；海冰形成过程、冰厚度、雪深、物质平衡和海冰漂移；以及下面海洋的温度、盐度和动量。在收集现场数据后，该小组将改进气-海-冰相互作用的模型参数化和遥感算法。需要模式参数来确定关键地区的海冰产量是否增加，如果是，原因是什么(例如，风更大或海洋更新鲜)。遥感验证将促进更广泛区域的变化检测，并随着时间的推移验证模型预测。因此，该项目将有助于实现国际南大洋观测系统的目标，即持续测量基本气候变量，以监测未来海洋和冰盖的状况。

Proposal Title: Collaborative Research: Seasonal Sea Ice Production in the Ross Sea, Antarctica (working title changed from submitted title)Institutions: UT-San Antonio; Columbia University; Naval Postgraduate School; Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute; UC@BoulderThe one place on Earth consistently showing increases in sea ice area, duration, and concentration is the Ross Sea in Antarctica. Satellite imagery shows about half of the Ross Sea increases are associated with changes in the austral fall, when the new sea ice is forming. The most pronounced changes are also located near polynyas, which are areas of open ocean surrounded by sea ice. To understand the processes driving the sea ice increase, and to determine if the increase in sea ice area is also accompanied by a change in ice thickness, this project will conduct an oceanographic cruise to the polynyas of the Ross Sea in April and May, 2017, which is the austral fall. The team will deploy state of the art research tools including unmanned airborne systems (UASs, commonly called drones), autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), and remotely operated underwater vehicles (ROVs). Using these tools and others, the team will study atmospheric, oceanic, and sea ice properties and processes concurrently. A change in sea ice production will necessarily change the ocean water below, which may have significant consequences for global ocean circulation patterns, a topic of international importance. All the involved institutions will be training students, and all share the goal of expanding climate literacy in the US, emphasizing the role high latitudes play in the Earth's dynamic climate.The main goal of the project is to improve estimates of sea ice production and water mass transformation in the Ross Sea. The team will fully capture the spatial and temporal changes in air-ice-ocean interactions when they are initiated in the austral fall, and then track the changes into the winter and spring using ice buoys, and airborne mapping with the newly commissioned IcePod instrument system, which is deployed on the US Antarctic Program's LC-130 fleet. The oceanographic cruise will include stations in and outside of both the Terra Nova Bay and Ross Ice Shelf polynyas. Measurements to be made include air-sea boundary layer fluxes of heat, freshwater, and trace gases, radiation, and meteorology in the air; ice formation processes, ice thickness, snow depth, mass balance, and ice drift within the sea ice zone; and temperature, salinity, and momentum in the ocean below. Following collection of the field data, the team will improve both model parameterizations of air-sea-ice interactions and remote sensing algorithms. Model parameterizations are needed to determine if sea-ice production has increased in crucial areas, and if so, why (e.g., stronger winds or fresher oceans). The remote sensing validation will facilitate change detection over wider areas and verify model predictions over time. Accordingly this project will contribute to the international Southern Ocean Observing System (SOOS) goal of measuring essential climate variables continuously to monitor the state of the ocean and ice cover into the future.