RAPID: International Collaborative Research into Ice-ocean Iteractions & Fractures at Thwaites (ICE-RIFT)

多个独立的卫星遥感数据集表明，南极西部冰盖（WAIS）的阿蒙森海海湾（ASE）部分的质量损失速度比南极洲其他任何地方都快。思韦茨冰川仅从它的集水区就消耗了超过半米的全球海平面潜势，是东南亚地区退缩最快的冰川之一。虽然人们普遍认为海洋推动了东南亚冰川的快速融化，但大多数大型冰川附近的海洋状态和海底形状仍然很少采样。这些未知因素对验证预测未来冰融化和海平面上升所需的海洋和冰盖耦合数值模型的努力提出了挑战。该项目将从机载平台获取Thwaites冰川舌（TGT）附近海洋温度、盐度和深度的关键新剖面。以前与韩国极地研究所（KOPRI）合作收集的数据表明，在Thwaites冰川附近的300米水柱上游，冰川融水浓度更高，温度更高。在这些结果的激励下，该项目将在2023/24年继续利用RV Araon破冰船进行直升机海洋测量，以获得Thwaites接地线附近的水柱剖面。这些新的海洋状态数据将使研究小组能够确认他们之前的结果，确定该地区的年际变化量，并评估TCT附近更广泛区域的海洋状况。此外，观测之间两年的冰的运动将使机载消耗性电导率温度和深度（AXCTD）传感器能够进行新的海底深度观测，从而增加对改进重力衍生水深模型有用的约束数据库。通过与KOPRI的深化合作，该项目将在南极洲展示基于直升机的机载海洋学的改进程序和测试新能力。PI将与加州大学圣地亚哥分校桦树水族馆合作，创建新的极地展览，旨在提供新型的沉浸式和互动体验，捕捉在研究船上和极地野外站的活跃探险。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Multiple independent satellite remote sensing datasets indicate that the Amundsen Sea Embayment (ASE) sector of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) is losing mass faster than anywhere else in Antarctica. Thwaites Glacier, which drains over a half a meter of global sea level potential from its catchment alone, is one of the fastest retreating glaciers in the ASE. Although the ocean is generally understood to drive rapid melting of glaciers in the ASE, the ocean state and sea floor shape near most of the largest glaciers remains sparsely sampled. These unknowns challenge efforts to validate coupled numerical ocean and ice sheet models needed to predict future ice melt and sea level rise. This project will acquire key new profiles of ocean temperature, salinity, and depth near the Thwaites Glacier Tongue (TGT) from airborne platforms.Data collected during previous collaborations with the Korea Polar Research Institute (KOPRI) indicate higher concentrations of glacial meltwater and warmer temperatures in the upper 300 meters of the water column near Thwaites Glacier. Motivated by these results, this project will continue these helicopter-based oceanographic measurements from the RV Araon icebreaker in 2023/24 to obtain water column profiles near Thwaites’ grounding line. These new ocean state data will enable the team to confirm their previous results, determine the amount of interannual variability in this region, and evaluate ocean conditions in a wider area near the TCT. Additionally, movement of ice in the two years between observations will enable new seafloor depth observations from Airborne Expendable Conductivity Temperature and Depth (AXCTD) sensors, adding to a growing database of constraints useful for improving gravity-derived bathymetry models. Through this deepened collaboration with KOPRI, the project will demonstrate refined procedures and test new capabilities for helicopter-based airborne oceanography in Antarctica. The PI will partner with the UC San Diego Birch Aquarium in the creation of new polar exhibits designed to offer new types of immersive and interactive experiences that capture active expeditions aboard research vessels and at polar field stations.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.