Dynamic and thermodynamic processes of snow covered sea ice

北极冰川正在迅速地从以常年冰盖为主转变为季节性海冰覆盖。自最早的卫星记录以来，北极海冰夏季最小范围下降了50%，2012年9月达到创纪录的最小范围。这些变化对整个北冰洋-海冰-大气(OSA)界面以及通过遥相关到地球低纬地区都有重大影响。海冰的面积范围、厚度和环流的变化对物理、生物和大气的大多数组成部分都有不同和重大的影响。和北极海洋环境的生物地球化学方面。还有许多与气候有关的问题，影响着北极冰川的本地使用和海洋工业的安全运营，目前正在竞相开发北极新的可获得的资源。我的长期目标是了解大气和海洋如何影响海冰动态和热力学过程；根据这一知识预测未来海冰的变化；并检查这种变化对跨OSA界面运行的生物地球化学循环的各个方面的影响。为了实现这一点，我打算利用现场实验、模型开发和假设形成、测试和重新制定的循环，在一系列空间和时间尺度上检查这些相互作用的系统。在NSERC的这笔赠款过程中，我打算审查四个短期目标： 1)宏观尺度--审查区域至半球尺度海洋和大气对海冰动力和热力过程的强迫作用。 2)微观尺度--研究海洋观测系统界面上从微观到局部的质量和能量交换过程，特别强调高频大气和海洋事件。 3)技术--开发利用微波散射和发射观测、电热物理、正向和反向散射模型估计雪/海冰系统地球物理和热力学状态的技术。 4)生态系统--利用目标3中开发的技术，结合目标1和目标2(上文)中的知识，审查海冰作为一系列营养水平上的栖息地的性质。 我将结合实地实验、中观研究、模拟实验和电磁(EM)相互作用研究来阐述这项提议的目标。 我计划进行年度海冰场项目，这些项目以陆地为基础，既位于流动的多年海冰上，也位于陆地上的第一年海冰上，来自我们的研究破冰船(NGCC Amundsen)。我们的野外团队的多学科性质使我们能够以真正的“系统方法”了解北极冰盖是如何变化的，并与生物学家、地球化学家和海洋学家合作，了解观测到的海冰变化对海洋生态系统各种要素的影响。

The Arctic icescape is transforming rapidly from one dominated by a perennial to a seasonal sea ice cover.  The summer minimum extent of Arctic sea ice has declined by 50% since the earliest satellite records, with a record minimum in September 2012.  These changes have significant implications throughout the Arctic ocean-sea ice-atmosphere (OSA) interface, and through teleconnections to lower latitudes of our planet.  The impacts of changes in the areal extent, thickness and circulation of sea ice are varied and significant throughout most components of the physical, biological, and biogeochemical aspects of the Arctic marine environment.  There are also many climate related issues affecting indigenous use of the icescape and safe operation of maritime industries now jockeying to develop newly accessible resources in the Arctic.  My long-term objectives are to understand how the atmosphere and ocean affect sea ice dynamic and thermodynamic processes; to predict future changes in sea ice based on this knowledge; and to examine the consequences of this change on various aspects of biogeochemical cycles operating across the OSA interface.  To accomplish this I intend to examine these interacting systems at a range of space and time scales, taking advantage of in situ experimentation, model development and a cycle of hypothesis formation, testing and reformulation. Over the course of this NSERC grant I intend to examine four short-term objectives: 1) Macro-scale - Examine the role of regional to hemispheric scale oceanic and atmospheric forcing of sea ice dynamic and thermodynamic processes. 2) Micro-scale - Investigate the exchange processes at the micro- to local-scale of mass and energy across the OSA interface with a particular emphasis on high frequency atmospheric and oceanic events. 3) Technology - Develop techniques to estimate the geophysical and thermodynamic state of the snow/sea ice system using microwave scattering and emission observations, electro-thermophysical, forward and inverse scattering models. 4) Ecosystem - Examine the nature of sea ice as a habitat over a range of trophic levels combining knowledge from objectives 1 and 2 (above) using technology developed in objective 3. I will address the objectives of this proposal using a combination of field experiments, mesocosm research, modelling experiments, and electromagnetic (EM) interaction studies.  I plan to conduct annual sea ice field programs that are land-based, located on both mobile multiyear and landfast first-year sea ice, and from our research icebreaker (NGCC Amundsen).   The multidisciplinary nature of our field teams allows for a true ‘systems approach’ to understanding how the Arctic ice cover is changing and to work with biologists, geochemists and oceanographers to understand the impacts of observed changes in sea ice on various elements of the marine ecosystem.