Local and regional albedo observations of arctic first‐year sea ice during melt ponding

Hanesiak, John; Barber, David G.; Abreu, R.A. De; Yackel, John J.

doi:10.1029/1999jc000068

Cited by 73 publications

(75 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…The f p of an area comprising a mixture of FYI and MYI ice may vary from 10 to 70 % at one time (Derksen et al, 1997;Eicken et al, 2004;Polashenski et al, 2012). Seasonal variations up to 50 % on FYI are typical , with variations > 75 % observed on level FYI (Hanesiak et al, 2001a;Scharien and Yackel, 2005). Diurnal variations as high as 35 % have been observed on level FYI (Scharien and Yackel, 2005).…”

Section: R K Scharien Et Al: Part 2: Scaling In Situ To Radarsat-2mentioning

confidence: 98%

“…During the summer melt season, FYI has a greater areal fraction of melt ponds, termed pond fraction (f p ), than MYI due to a relative lack of topographical controls on melt water flow (Fetterer and Untersteiner, 1998;Barber and Yackel, 1999;Eicken et al, 2002Eicken et al, , 2004Freitag and Eicken, 2003;Polashenski et al, 2012). Melt ponds have a lower albedo (∼ 0.2 to 0.4) compared to ice (∼ 0.6 to 0.8) (Perovich, 1996;Hanesiak et al, 2001a), which promotes shortwave energy absorption into the ice volume and accelerates decay (Maykut, 1985;Hanesiak et al, 2001b). Accelerated heat uptake by pond-covered ice increases the rate at which its temperature related brine volume fraction increases to the point at which the fluid permeability threshold is crossed (Golden et al, 1998) and biogeochemical exchanges with the underlying ocean become possible (see Vancoppenolle et al, 2013, for a review).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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First-year sea ice melt pond fraction estimation from dual-polarisation C-band SAR – Part 2: Scaling in situ to Radarsat-2

et al. 2014

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Abstract. Sea ice melt pond fraction (f p ), linked with lower sea ice surface albedo and increased light transmittance to the ocean, is inadequately parameterised in sea ice models due to a lack of observations. In this paper, results from a multiscale remote-sensing program dedicated to the retrieval of level first-year sea ice (FYI) f p from dual co-and crosspolarisation C-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) backscatter are detailed. Models which utilise the dominant effect of free-water melt ponds on the VV/HH (vertical transmit and vertical receive/horizontal transmit and horizontal receive) polarisation ratio at high incidence angles are tested for their ability to provide estimates of the subscale f p . Retrieved f p from noise-corrected Radarsat-2 quad-polarisation scenes are in good agreement with observations from coincident aerial survey data, with root mean square errors (RMSEs) of 0.05-0.07 obtained during intermediate and late stages of ponding. Weak model performance is attributed to the presence of wet snow and slush during initial ponding, and a synoptically driven freezing event causing ice lids to form on ponds. The HV/HH (horizontal transmit and vertical receive/horizontal transmit and horizontal receive) ratio explains a greater portion of variability in f p , compared to VV/HH, when ice lids are present. Generally low HV channel intensity suggests limited applications using dual crosspolarisation data, except with systems that have exceptionally low noise floors. Results demonstrate the overall potential of dual-polarisation SAR for standalone or complementary observations of f p for process-scale studies and improvements to model parameterisations.

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Section: R K Scharien Et Al: Part 2: Scaling In Situ To Radarsat-2mentioning

confidence: 98%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

First-year sea ice melt pond fraction estimation from dual-polarisation C-band SAR – Part 2: Scaling in situ to Radarsat-2

et al. 2014

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“…A further example for a physical sea ice process, which differs in the Arctic from the Antarctic, is the melting process of the ice. In the Arctic extensive melt ponds can be observed on sea ice during summer (Hanesiak et al, 2001;Perovich et al, 2002). The inclusion of melt ponds in the albedo scheme is therefore important for the Arctic sea ice areas, because the melt ponds absorb a large portion of solar energy (Pedersen et al, 2009).…”

Section: Relation Between Albedo and Temperaturementioning

confidence: 99%

Albedo of the ice covered Weddell and Bellingshausen Seas

et al. 2012

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Abstract. This study investigates the surface albedo of the sea ice areas adjacent to the Antarctic Peninsula during the austral summer. Aircraft measurements of the surface albedo, which were conducted in the sea ice areas of the Weddell and Bellingshausen Seas show significant differences between these two regions. The averaged surface albedo varied between 0.13 and 0.81. The ice cover of the Bellingshausen Sea consisted mainly of first year ice and the sea surface showed an averaged sea ice albedo of α i = 0.64 ± 0.2 (±standard deviation). The mean sea ice albedo of the pack ice area in the western Weddell Sea was α i = 0.75 ± 0.05. In the southern Weddell Sea, where new, young sea ice prevailed, a mean albedo value of α i = 0.38 ± 0.08 was observed. Relatively warm open water and thin, newly formed ice had the lowest albedo values, whereas relatively cold and snow covered pack ice had the highest albedo values. All sea ice areas consisted of a mixture of a large range of different sea ice types. An investigation of commonly used parameterizations of albedo as a function of surface temperature in the Weddell and Bellingshausen Sea ice areas showed that the albedo parameterizations do not work well for areas with new, young ice.

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“…We use the bottom heat flux inferred from measurements of ice bottom ablation during the SHEBA mission (Perovich et al, 2003). The albedo of bare ice can vary between 0.5 and 0.7 (Hanesiak et al, 2001), while the albedo of melt ponds can vary between 0.1 and 0.6, depending on pond depth and conditions of ice at the pond bottom (Morassutti and Ledrew, 1996;Perovich et al, 1998;Perovich, 1996). Here we prescribe a default bare ice albedo of 0.55 and a default pond albedo of 0.2.…”

Section: Numerical Solutionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A simple model for the evolution of melt pond coverage on permeable Arctic sea ice

Popović

Abbot

2017

The Cryosphere

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Abstract. As the melt season progresses, sea ice in the Arctic often becomes permeable enough to allow for nearly complete drainage of meltwater that has collected on the ice surface. Melt ponds that remain after drainage are hydraulically connected to the ocean and correspond to regions of sea ice whose surface is below sea level. We present a simple model for the evolution of melt pond coverage on such permeable sea ice floes in which we allow for spatially varying ice melt rates and assume the whole floe is in hydrostatic balance. The model is represented by two simple ordinary differential equations, where the rate of change of pond coverage depends on the pond coverage. All the physical parameters of the system are summarized by four strengths that control the relative importance of the terms in the equations. The model both fits observations and allows us to understand the behavior of melt ponds in a way that is often not possible with more complex models. Examples of insights we can gain from the model are that (1) the pond growth rate is more sensitive to changes in bare sea ice albedo than changes in pond albedo, (2) ponds grow slower on smoother ice, and (3) ponds respond strongest to freeboard sinking on first-year ice and sidewall melting on multiyear ice. We also show that under a global warming scenario, pond coverage would increase, decreasing the overall ice albedo and leading to ice thinning that is likely comparable to thinning due to direct forcing. Since melt pond coverage is one of the key parameters controlling the albedo of sea ice, understanding the mechanisms that control the distribution of pond coverage will help improve large-scale model parameterizations and sea ice forecasts in a warming climate.

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Local and regional albedo observations of arctic first‐year sea ice during melt ponding

Cited by 73 publications

References 22 publications

First-year sea ice melt pond fraction estimation from dual-polarisation C-band SAR – Part 2: Scaling in situ to Radarsat-2

First-year sea ice melt pond fraction estimation from dual-polarisation C-band SAR – Part 2: Scaling in situ to Radarsat-2

Albedo of the ice covered Weddell and Bellingshausen Seas

A simple model for the evolution of melt pond coverage on permeable Arctic sea ice

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