Atmospheric Profiles, Clouds, and the Evolution of Sea Ice Cover in the Beaufort Sea Atmospheric Observations and Modeling as Part of the Seasonal Ice Zone Reconnaissance Surveys
Abstract
The proposed work will extend atmospheric measurements, modeling experiments and technology development as part of the Seasonal Ice Zone Reconnaissance Survey (SIZRS). The goal of the SIZRS project is to provide a better understanding of the physical processes associated with the transition of the Atmosphere-Ice-Ocean system in the seasonal ice zone as the sea ice retreats. .Seasonally changing surface conditions are expected to provide a present day analog for expected future ice retreat. A better understanding is a fundamental requirement for increasing the confidence in models that provide predictions about future changes. As sea ice retreats further, changes in lower atmospheric temperature, humidity, winds, and clouds are likely to result from changed sea ice concentrations and ocean temperatures. These changes in turn will affect the evolution of the SIZ. The project will continue to take advantage of routine Coast Guard C-130 domain awareness missions that take place at monthly intervals from June through October. The atmospheric observation component of SIZRS will deploy dropsondes to obtain atmospheric profiles of temperature, humidity, and winds. Cloud top heights will be retrieved using infrared imagers and LIDAR deployed aboard the SIZRS aircraft by other SIZRS projects. Transects following 150W and 140W from 72N to 76N are typically obtained. In addition enhanced dropsondes which utilize IR sensors to obtain cloud margins will be further developed and deployed. Sea surface temperatures, ice concentrations, and floe size distributions will be measured by other components of the SIZRS project as well. Our atmospheric observations will be utilized to increase our understanding of atmosphere-ice-ocean interactions and to initialize, validate, and improve our meso-scale atmospheric model as well as larger scale atmospheric and coupled models. In particular our ability to properly model the changes that occur across the ice edge will be addressed. Our results will be partitioned by synoptic weather situations. In addition, we will contribute to technology development by adapting and deploying a new generation of truly expendable (<$700) micro-aerial vehicles. An unpowered GliderSonde and a powered SmartSonde are being designed to obtain detailed highvertical- resolution temperature, humidity and wind profiles and cloud layering information that cannot be obtained with traditional dropsondes. Our vision is that these vehicles will deliver new, inexpensive measurement capabilities for research and operational purposes in the data sparse region of the SIZ as well as other regions of the globe. Our central objective are to 1) Assess the ability of global atmospheric reanalyses and forecast models to reflect the details of the seasonal evolution of atmosphere-ice-ocean interactions in the Beaufort Sea SIZ through the use coordinated multi-year atmospheric, ice, ocean measurements, 2) investigate how regional models can improve the representation of atmosphere-ice interactions in the SIZ, 4) determine how changes in sea ice and sea surface conditions in the SIZ affect changes in cloud properties and cover, 5) develop novel instrumentation including low cost, expendable, air-deployed microaircraft to obtain temperature and humidity profiles and cloud top and base heights. The SIZRS concept provides a unique and cost-effective opportunity to establish a fully integrated observation and modeling program that builds on existing experience and data in a region that already has undergone significant change and is expected to see yet more.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Jan 04, 2017
- Source ID
- N000141713162
Entities
People
- Axel Schweiger
Organizations
- Office of Naval Research
- United States Navy
- University of Washington