Characteristics of Arctic Sea Ice From Remote-Sensing Data and Their Relationship to Atmospheric Processes

Abstract

New data on leads and surface-melt phenomena in the Arctic, based on mapping of DMSP visible images, are presented. Lead orientations in the Beaufort Sea are broadly correlated with geostrophic wind direction and show similar synoptic scale patterns. Preliminary results of airborne 1.06 μm lidar transects over Baffin Bay demonstrate its great potential for high-resolution mapping of open-water areas and, in winter/spring, their ice-crystal plumes. Some of these sub-visible plumes are observed to penetrate the Arctic inversion. Snow-melt maps for the entire Arctic prepared for four summer seasons have been used to derive surface-albedo data. From these data the variability of the surface-energy balance is estimated to be equivalent to 0.6 m of ice melt.