Method of investigation of internal structure of ice hummocks and stamukhas using the thermal drilling technique

Computer recording of thermal drilling rate of ice hummocks and stamukhas gives the objective information on their internal structure and basic morphometric characteristics. Methods of determination of the consolidation layer of ice hummocks and stamukhas and the thermal drilling data processing technique are considered in the paper. The reliability of determination of consolidated layer boundaries on the basis of the thermal drilling rate should be corroborated by the temperature measurements. To estimate the time spent for the ice hummock temperature measurement using the polyethylene tubes which are put into the boreholes and filled with the antifreeze, the experimental study of the borehole freezing rate was carried out depending on the temperature and salinity of ice. The results of experiments corroborating the existence of convection in the antifreeze are given. The used methods of ice hummock temperature measurement are discussed. The method of investigation of ice formations combining the thermal drilling technique and ice temperature measurement on the borehole wall enables to obtain the accurate data on the position of the lower boundary of consolidated layer, although it results in a smaller number of the boreholes.     

Complex studies of hydrometeorological and ice conditions on the northwestern shelf of the Caspian Sea based on satellite and expedition observational data and model calculations

In accordance with the contract of the LUKOIL Oil Company, a cooperation of the Roshydromet organizations (Planeta Research Center for Space Hydrometeorology, a main contractor, Hydrometeorological Research Center of the Russian Federation, Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute, and State Oceanographic Institute) carried out in 2008 complex studies of the hydrometeorological and ice conditions for the Filanovskii oil- and gas-field facility construction on the northwestern shelf of the Caspian Sea. Three expeditions were organized and conducted within that project: a helicopter ice research expedition (specialists from the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute carried out a huge volume of measurements of physicomechanic properties of level, rafted and hummocked ice, and morphometric characteristics of ice piling, hummocks, and stamukhas); specialists from the State Oceanographic Institute organized a ship expedition on studying sea ground exaration formed due to impacts of ice formations (hummocks and stamukhas) using hydro-radar and echo-sounder surveys as well as a complex hydrometeorological and hydrochemical expedition with five autonomous buoy stations mounted in two months. From the moment of ice formation to the end of the expedition activity, an operational space monitoring of the northwestern Caspian Sea was carried out at the Planeta Research Center for Space Hydrometeorology. Based on the NOAA, TERRA, and AQUA satellite data, corrected and geographically fixed satellite images of the area of activity were issued with a periodicity of 6 times per day; index maps on the ice situation (twice a week) and ice situation forecasts (lead-time of 1–7 days). Besides, long-term series of satellite data on the northwestern Caspian Sea are collected and processed: their results are used for estimating seasonal and interannual variability of the drift ice and fast ice. Specialists of the Hydrometeorological Research Center of the Russian Federation completed the work on processing and analysis of library materials, research/technical reports, handbooks, expedition observational data, and on hydrodynamic and probability modeling of long-term series of hydrological, meteorological, and partly ice data. In particular, basic characteristics of the hydrological regime (sea level, currents, and waving) are calculated for the place of the oil platform location and along the pipeline routing. Tentative local specifications on the hydrometeorological regime in the Filanovskii field are worked out based on the results of the work performed.     

Some features of one-year ice hummock formation at multiple ice field motions

Some features of external and internal structures of one-year hummocks formed as a result of multiple interaction of ice fields in various time intervals are considered. Using the concrete results of field researches of ice hummocks as examples, both the main differences in their structure as compared with the single hummocks and common features arisen under certain hydrometeorological and ice conditions are demonstrated.     

Modeling of freezing and melting hummocks on shelf of Sakhalin Island

In this paper, results of numerical experiments based on the one-dimensional thermodynamic model of hummock formations evolution, which has been developed by the authors, are analysed. This model has been used for computation of relative rates of freezing and melting of hummocks in typical conditions of the northeastern shelf of Sakhalin Island; then obtained values were compared with the plain sea ice cover parameters simulated by using climate and actual meteorological data. It is shown that obtained results well comply with observational data collected during expeditions in this region.     

Model of space-time dynamics of the Japan Sea ice cover

A model of space-time dynamics of the sea ice cover in which individual ice floes undergo a successive change in size is considered. The formation and melting of ice floes, their aggregation, and the formation of hummocks are taken into account. A parametric model identification is done based on a sample of ice cover area and thickness distribution in the Japan Sea.     

Temporal and Spatial Variations of the Aerodynamic Roughness Length in the Ablation Zone of the Greenland Ice Sheet

To understand the response of the Greenland ice sheet to climate change the so-called ablation zone is of particular importance, since it accommodates the yearly net surface ice loss. In numerical models and for data analysis, the bulk aerodynamic method is often used to calculate the turbulent surface fluxes, for which the aerodynamic roughness length (z ₀) is a key parameter. We present, for the first time, spatial and temporal variations of z ₀ in the ablation area of the Greenland ice sheet using year-round data from three automatic weather stations and one eddy-correlation mast. The temporal variation of z ₀ is found to be very high in the lower ablation area (factor 500) with, at the end of the summer melt, a maximum in spatial variation for the whole ablation area of a factor 1000. The variation in time matches the onset of the accumulation and ablation season as recovered by sonic height rangers. During winter, snow accumulation and redistribution by snow drift lead to a uniform value of z ₀≈ 10⁻⁴ m throughout the ablation area. At the beginning of summer, snow melt uncovers ice hummocks and z ₀ quickly increases well above 10⁻² m in the lower ablation area. At the end of summer melt, hummocky ice dominates the surface with z ₀ > 5  ×  10⁻³ m up to 60 km from the ice edge. At the same time, the area close to the equilibrium line (about 90 km from the ice edge) remains very smooth with z ₀ = 10⁻⁵ m. At the beginning of winter, we observed that single snow events have the potential to lower z ₀ for a very rough ice surface by a factor of 20 to 50. The total surface drag of the abundant small-scale ice hummocks apparently dominates over the less frequent large domes and deep gullies. The latter results are verified by studying the individual drag contributions of hummocks and domes with a drag partition model.     

Information analysis of ice conditions in the water area for determining the monitoring quality and risk of ice formation collision with marine structures

A potential risk is considered for the marine structures caused by the collision with drifting ice formations (icebergs, stamukhas, and pack ice). An informational assessment is applied to the estimation of the ice threat risk. Informational entropy of the system of random influencing factors is assumed as a quantitative measure of uncertainty. It enables to estimate quantitatively the risks within the complex of various critical circumstances. The characteristics of the complex information system consisting of four elementary information systems with different variants of negative circumstances are considered and the information analysis of the risk category for the marine structures of the Barents Sea water area caused by the collision with icebergs is given. It is demonstrated that the reality of the threat of the collision of icebergs with marine structures is significantly lower because the probability of this event q = 1.57 × 10⁻³ is much smaller than the probability of the fatal threat settled “by lot” p* = 0.0625.     

Some formation peculiarities of physical and mechanical ice characteristics in hummocky formations

Main differences are considered in the formation of physical and mechanical ice properties in hummocky formations as compared with level areas of the ice cover. The results of laboratory and field investigations demonstrate that these differences are caused both by dynamometamorphic transformations of crystal ice structure as a result of the compression of ice fields before the beginning of hummocky ice formation and in the process of consolidation of ice blocks within the ice hummocks formed during the winter-spring period.     

Satellite Monitoring of Sea Ice Cover and Water Parameters for the Caspian Sea

A number of technologies have been developed in the Planeta Research Center for Space Hydrometeorology to provide the satellite monitoring of sea ice cover and water parameters for the Caspian Sea. These technologies produce maps of sea ice, sea ice drift, tracking of near-surface water fluxes, automated classification of ice and water objects, surface wind, and sea surface temperature. Satellite-based products are used for operational hydrometeorology and climate studies of the Caspian Sea environment. A specialized web service for the preparation and comprehensive analysis of satellite data on hydrometeorological and ice conditions in the Caspian Sea was developed to provide information on ice cover characteristics, surface wind, and sea surface temperature.     

Formation and consolidation of hummocks on the Arctic seas’ one-year ice cover as a result of laboratory and field researches

Structural-genetic types of hummocks formed on the Arctic seas’ ice cover are considered. A method of the laboratory physical modeling was used for understanding kinematic schemes of the hummocks’ formation processes. A methodology of computation of the hummock consolidation intensity for different hummocks’ structural types was proposed. The performed computations showed good coherence of the laboratory experiments results and field studies of hummocks’ structure in the Barents and Kara seas.     

The Parameterisation of Scalar Transfer over Rough Ice

We test a surface renewal model that is widely used over snow and ice surfaces to calculate the scalar roughness length (z _s ), one of the key parameters in the bulk aerodynamic method. For the first time, the model is tested against observations that cover a wide range of aerodynamic roughness lengths (z ₀). During the experiments, performed in the ablation areas of the Greenland ice sheet and the Vatnajökull ice cap in Iceland, the surface varied from smooth snow to very rough hummocky ice. Over relatively smooth snow and ice with z ₀ below a threshold value of approximately 10^?3 m, the model performs well and in accord with earlier studies. However, with growing hummock size, z ₀ increases well above the threshold and the bulk aerodynamic flux becomes significantly smaller than the eddy-correlation flux (e.g. for z ₀ = 0.01 m, the bulk aerodynamic flux is about 50% smaller). Apparently, the model severely underpredicts z _s over hummocky ice. We argue that the surface renewal model does not account for the deep inhomogeneous roughness sublayer (RSL) that is generated by the hummocks. As a consequence, the homogeneous substrate ice grain cover becomes more efficiently ‘ventilated’. Calculations with an alternative model that includes the RSL and was adapted for use over hummocky ice, qualitatively confirms our observations. We suggest that, whenever exceedance of the threshold occurs (z ₀  >  10^?3 m, i.e., an ice surface covered with at least 0.3-m high hummocks), the following relation should be used to calculate scalar roughness lengths, ln (z _s /z ₀)  =  1.5  ? 0.2 ln (Re _*)  ? 0.11(ln (Re _*))².     

A review of applications of microwave radiometry to oceanography

The thermal microwave radiation from the ocean surface as seen from space is a function of the surface temperature and wind speed and is modified by liquid water and water vapor in the intervening atmosphere. Further, if the ocean surface is frozen, the emissivity is drastically increased and the effect of the intervening atmosphere is generally negligible. The emissivity of first-year ice is somewhat larger than that of multi-year ice.The data from the Electrically Scanning Microwave Radiometers (ESMR's) on the Nimbus-5 and —6 satellites operating at wavelengths of 1.55 cm and 8 mm, respectively, can be interpreted in terms of rain rate, ice coverage and first-year versus multi-year ice determination. The rain-rate data are being used to establish a climatology of rainfall over the oceans. The ice data are being used by the United States Navy in support of international scientific efforts in the Antactic region. Both ice and rain data sets have been generated for the Global Atmospheric Research Project Data Systems Test.It is possible, by making multifrequency measurements, to separate the surface and atmospheric effects and to make useful measurements of sea surface temperature, surface wind speed, and atmospheric parameters along with improved measurements of rain and ice.     

The use of one-dimensional thermodynamic model for computing the level ice thickness and hummock freezing intensity in the Northern Caspian Sea

The results are analyzed of numerical experiments obtained using a one-dimensional thermodynamic model of the sea ice developed by the authors. The computations of the level-ice (fast-ice) evolution and ice hummock consolidation layer formation in different climatic situations (anomalously cold and anomalously warm winters) are carried out within the frameworks of the proposed model for the conditions being typical of the Northern Caspian Sea. The results of model computations are compared with the data of field researches carried out by the specialists of the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute in 2003–2008. A good correspondence is demonstrated between the model computations and expeditionary data. A conclusion is made on the prospectivity of using the model for design engineering.     

The formation and maintenance of the North Water Polynya

Abstract

This paper investigates the formation and maintenance of the North Water Polynya, Baffin Bay in winter using a multi‐category sea‐ice model coupled with the Princeton ocean model. Monthly climatological atmospheric data from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction/National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCEP/NCAR) reanalysis provides the forcing. An objectively‐analysed climatology provides the initial ocean temperature and salinity. Wind stress drives the ice in a cyclonic gyre around northern Baffin Bay. Localized regions of thin ice form where wind drives ice away from coastlines or fast ice. The regions of thin ice are characterized by enhanced ice growth, exceeding 1.2 m mo^?1. In the regions of thin ice, surface ocean heat flux is also enhanced and is between 30–60 W m^?2. Surface heat flux is, in part, attributable to convective mixing and entrainment driven by ice growth. The surface heat flux reflects advection of the warm West Greenland Current. Heat and salt balances show that horizontal advective exchange counterbalances surface fluxes of heat and salt.     

Specific features of ice conditions in the Sea of Azov and the Kerch Strait in the winter season of 2005/06

Peculiarities of the ice situation in the Sea of Azov and the Kerch Strait during the cold winter of 2005/06 are considered using a set of satellite images in the visible range, accumulated at the Southern Research Institute of Marine Fisheries and Oceanography (in Kerch). The ice conditions of the water area over the last years are examined and compared to the climatic data.     

CICE海冰模式中反照率相关参数对北极海冰模拟的影响

国家气候中心气候系统模式BCC_CSM2.0最新耦合了美国Los Alamos国家实验室发展的海冰模式CICE5.0,为试验模式中与反照率相关参数的敏感性及其对模拟结果的影响,提高模式对北极海冰的模拟能力,选取海冰模式中3个主要参数进行了敏感性试验。利用以BCC_CSM2.0耦合框架为基础建立的海冰-海洋耦合模式,选取CORE资料为大气强迫场开展试验,试验的3个参数分别为冰/雪表面反射率、雪粒半径和雪粒半径参考温度。结果表明,参数取值的不同对北极海冰的模拟有显著的影响,优化后的取值组合极大提高了模式的模拟能力,主要表现在:（1）改善了对北极冬季海冰厚度的模拟,海冰厚度增大,与观测资料更为吻合;（2）显著提高了对北极夏季海冰密集度的模拟能力,从而模拟的北极海冰范围年际循环与观测更为一致。参数取值的优化改进了模式对海冰反照率的模拟,进而影响了冰面短波辐射的吸收和海冰表层的融化,最终提高了模式对海冰密集度和厚度的模拟效果。      

Hummocks near the North Pole 35 drifting station

Study of hummocks is a very important applied and scientific problem. The main objective of this work is representing new information on structure of hummocks that were studied in the spring time at the North Pole 35 drifting station. In this paper, methodology and results of studying several hummocks with different morphology are considered. The maximum hummock keel draft varied from 3.5 to 14 m, while the maximum sail height was between 2.5 and 3.9 m. The hummock porosity and porosity of the unconsolidated part of its keel varied in the range of 6–18 and 4–26%, respectively. The average thickness of the hummock consolidated layer stayed in the range from 1.8 to 2.4 m. It was found that relatively small sail heights do not affect the consolidated layer thickness, however higher sails influence on the consolidated layer size. The higher the hummock sail, the less its consolidated layer thickness is.     

WRF-WSM3微物理方案在青藏高原地区暴雪模拟中的改进及试验

通过青藏高原一次暴雪过程的模拟试验,对WRF模式中的WSM3微物理方案中的降水模拟偏差原因进行了分析,并根据观测试验结果,提出了改进WSM3微物理方案中冰核浓度的2种计算方案。通过调整温度和冰核浓度之间的关系,检验了冰核浓度Pigen过程对降水的影响。结果显示,WSM3方案对青藏高原地区的冰核浓度估计过高;当考虑了冰面过饱和度随温度区间的变化后,计算的冰核浓度可以改进降水的模拟效果;但通过温度的变化和冰面过饱和度二者的调整,降水模拟的效果并不明显。冰核浓度对温度变化的敏感存在着一个范围,冰面过饱和度和温度区间的大小存在一定关系。通过另外2个个例和敏感性试验的研究结果表明,对于温度较高的固态降水,冰核浓度的变化对降水模拟的改进不显著。