Overview of the MOSAiC expedition: Snow and sea ice
Document Type
Article
Date of Original Version
2-7-2022
Abstract
Year-round observations of the physical snow and ice properties and processes that govern the ice pack evolution and its interaction with the atmosphere and the ocean were conducted during the Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate (MOSAiC) expedition of the research vessel Polarstern in the Arctic Ocean from October 2019 to September 2020. This work was embedded into the interdisciplinary design of the 5 MOSAiC teams, studying the atmosphere, the sea ice, the ocean, the ecosystem, and biogeochemical processes. The overall aim of the snow and sea ice observations during MOSAiC was to characterize the physical properties of the snow and ice cover comprehensively in the central Arctic over an entire annual cycle. This objective was achieved by detailed observations of physical properties and of energy and mass balance of snow and ice. By studying snow and sea ice dynamics over nested spatial scales from centimeters to tens of kilometers, the variability across scales can be considered. On-ice observations of in situ and remote sensing properties of the different surface types over all seasons will help to improve numerical process and climate models and to establish and validate novel satellite remote sensing methods; the linkages to accompanying airborne measurements, satellite observations, and results of numerical models are discussed. We found large spatial variabilities of snow metamorphism and thermal regimes impacting sea ice growth. We conclude that the highly variable snow cover needs to be considered in more detail (in observations, remote sensing, and models) to better understand snow-related feedback processes. The ice pack revealed rapid transformations and motions along the drift in all seasons. The number of coupled ice–ocean interface processes observed in detail are expected to guide upcoming research with respect to the changing Arctic sea ice.
Publication Title, e.g., Journal
Elementa
Volume
10
Issue
1
Citation/Publisher Attribution
Nicolaus, Marcel, Donald K. Perovich, Gunnar Spreen, Mats A. Granskog, Luisa von Albedyll, Michael Angelopoulos, Philipp Anhaus, Stefanie Arndt, H. Jakob Belter, Vladimir Bessonov, Gerit Birnbaum, Jörg Brauchle, Radiance Calmer, Estel Cardellach, Bin Cheng, David Clemens-Sewall, Ruzica Dadic, Ellen Damm, Gijs de Boer, Oguz Demir, Klaus Dethloff, Dmitry V. Divine, Allison A. Fong, Steven Fons, Markus M. Frey, Niels Fuchs, Carolina Gabarró, Sebastian Gerland, Helge F. Goessling, Rolf Gradinger, Jari Haapala, Christian Haas, Jonathan Hamilton, Henna R. Hannula, Stefan Hendricks, and Andreas Herber. "Overview of the MOSAiC expedition: Snow and sea ice." Elementa 10, 1 (2022). doi: 10.1525/elementa.2021.000046.