We have been monitoring land-fast, first-year sea ice conditions with
automated instrument sites, called Mass Balance Sites
in the Barrow
area since 1999-2000. Since 2006, we transmit results off the ice by
radio, process them and post them to the internet less than an hour
after measurement. Ice conditions are baseline data for various science
projects, and the online delivery helps research planning. Sea level
fluctuations are of interest to both local residents and researchers,
including how they may relate to ice break-out events. We measure temperature profiles through the ice, from sea water below
to snow and/ or air above, as well as air temperature 2m above the
surface. We measure ice and snow thickness. The floating ice moves
vertically due to tides, atmospheric pressure and other ocean changes.
We measure this response as the local water depth, or distance to the
sea floor. Before 2006, only ocean-ice-air temperatures and snow depth
were measured.
Full details of measurements, instruments, accuracy and other information related to the
data sets for each year and location can be found in the meta data
files,
http://www.gi.alaska.edu/snowice/sea-lake-ice/Data/MetaDataBarrowSeaIceDat.doc.
|
