Sea State and Boundary Layer Physics of the Emerging Arctic Ocean
Abstract
The Office of Naval Research initiated a Department Research Initiative (DRI) titled Sea State and Boundary Layer Physics of the Emerging Arctic Ocean. The central hypothesis of the Sea State DRI is that surface waves now have a much greater role in the contemporary Arctic Ocean. Indeed, the entire Arctic Ocean in summer may soon resemble a marginal ice zone (MIZ), where waves propagate through the ice pack and affect the evolution of sea ice over large scales. This large-scale pattern feeds back, as wave generation is controlled by the amount of open water fetch. At smaller scales, waves and ice interact to attenuate and scatter the waves while simultaneously fracturing ice into ever changing floe size and thickness distributions. Further complicating these processes are forcing by winds and surface fluxes from the ocean to the atmosphere, which are expected to increase with heightened storm activity in the region. The marginal open seas provide new opportunities and new problems. Navigation and other maritime activities become possible, but waves, storm surges and coastal erosion will likely increase. Air sea interactions enter a completely new regime, with momentum, energy, heat, gas, and moisture fluxes being moderated or produced by the waves, and impacting upper-ocean mixing.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 01, 2013
- Accession Number
- ADA590599
Entities
People
- A. Babanin
- C. Fairall
- E. Rogers
- J. Thomson
- Peter Guest
- Peter Wadhams
- S. Ackley
- S. Stammerjohn
- Ted Maksym
- V. Squire
Organizations
- University of Washington