Instrumentation for sea ice mass balance measurements int the Artic Ocean

北冰洋海冰质量平衡测量仪器

• 批准号: 422367-2012
• 负责人: Haas, Christian
• 金额: $ 9.45万
• 依托单位: University of Alberta
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Research Tools and Instruments - Category 1 (<$150,000)
• 财政年份: 2011
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2011-01-01 至 2012-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=495777
• 关键词: Instrumentation; sea; ice; mass; balance

Funds are requested to purchase meteorological buoys and one weather, radiation, and ice mass balance station to be deployed on sea ice floes to track ice motion, to observe meteorological conditions, and to study thermodynamic ice growth and snow accumulation. The requested instrumentation is essential to support long-term in-situ and satellite observations of the sea ice mass balance in the Arctic Ocean. These observations are the key component of a comprehensive research program carried out at the University of Alberta since 2004 to study changes of Arctic sea ice, in particular changes of ice thickness, in relation to variations of other climate parameters, by means of in-situ, airborne, satellite remote sensing and modeling work. The main study area is the region of thick multi-year ice of the Arctic Ocean between the coast of Canada and the North Pole. However, we will increasingly include the Beaufort Sea and the straits and sounds of the Northwest Passage in our airborne surveys. The research is significant as the areal coverage of Arctic sea ice is strongly decreasing, at a pace much faster than predicted by any climate model. This demonstrates our poor understanding of climate processes and feedbacks in the Arctic. The disagreement can partially be explained by a misrepresentation of the sea ice mass balance in those models, which is largely due to a general lack of systematic ice thickness observations in the Arctic Ocean. Ice thickness information is also increasingly required to inform decisions and regulations about shipping and offshore resource exploration in ice covered waters. The initiated work is unique worldwide, and will contribute to systematic observations of changes of ice thickness and ice dynamics, and to the establishment of a future collaborative Canadian Arctic Sea Ice Mass Balance Observatory (CASIMBO) by leading Canadian universities and government agencies.

需要资金购买气象浮标和一个气象、辐射和冰质量平衡站，部署在浮冰上，跟踪冰的运动，观察气象条件，研究冰的热力生长和积雪。所要求的仪器对于支持对北冰洋海冰质量平衡进行长期的现场观测和卫星观测至关重要。这些观测是阿尔伯塔大学自2004年以来开展的一项综合研究方案的关键组成部分，该方案的目的是通过现场、空中、卫星遥感和建模工作，研究北极海冰的变化，特别是冰层厚度的变化与其他气候参数的变化之间的关系。主要研究区域是加拿大海岸和北极之间的北冰洋多年厚冰区域。然而，我们将越来越多地将博福特海和西北航道的海峡和声音包括在我们的空中调查中。这项研究意义重大，因为北极海冰的面积覆盖率正在急剧下降，其速度远远快于任何气候模型的预测。这表明我们对北极的气候过程和反馈的理解不足。这种分歧的部分原因是这些模型对海冰质量平衡的错误描述，这主要是由于北冰洋普遍缺乏系统的冰厚观测。冰厚信息也越来越多地被要求为有关在冰覆盖的沃茨中的航运和近海资源勘探的决策和法规提供信息。这项工作在世界范围内是独一无二的，将有助于对冰厚和冰动态变化进行系统观测，并有助于加拿大主要大学和政府机构今后合作建立加拿大北极海冰质量平衡观测站。