Marginal Ice Zone Experiment Iii

The main goal of the marginal ice zone experiment (MIZEX) is to understand the processes that dictate the advance and retreat of the ice margin. Mechanistic model sensitivity studies can greatly aid in this goal by identifying the relative importance of different processes in the total system. In addition, more complete simulation models can be used both to test the adequacy of current understanding of the marginal ice zone and to serve as an integrating device for complex data sets. This volume contains the main results from a MIZEX modeling workshop held 18-20 October in Hanover, New Hampshire. Modelers interested in both Arctic and Antarctic sea ice were present. The purpose of the workshop was to determine the status of marginal ice zone modeling and to discuss different views on modeling processes in the MIZ. Results from full simulation models, mechanistic models, and empirical statistical models were presented and discussed. In addition, recommendations relevant to experimental measurements were made. The recommendations were divided into ocean, ice, and atmospheric categories; these were also the three main subject areas covered by the presentations. Overall, the workshop helped to identify areas where further simulations are needed to test our understanding and where knowledge of certain processes is lacking.

The primary objective of our research program is to understand the spatial and temporal behavior of the finestructure in the upper ocean of the marginal ice zone and, in particular, to determine the role that internal waves play in determining the behavior of that finestructure. A secondary objective is to provide high quality temperature and salinity profiles from the surface to the bottom in order to supplement the general hydrography of the region and to provide calibration data for other investigators.

Despite the significance of the marginal ice zones of the Arctic Ocean, basic parameters such as sea surface temperature (SST) and a range of sea-ice characteristics are still insufficiently understood in these areas, and especially so during the summer melt period. The field campaigns summarized here, identified collectively as the "Marginal Ice Zone Ocean and Ice Observations and Processes Experiment" (MIZOPEX), were funded by U.S. National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA) with the intent of helping to address these information gaps through a targeted, intensive observation field campaign that tested and exploited unique capabilities of multiple classes of unmanned aerial systems (UASs). MIZOPEX was conceived and carried out in response to NASA's request for research efforts that would address a key area of science while also helping to advance the application of UASs in a manner useful to NASA for assessing the relative merits of different UASs. To further exercise the potential of unmanned systems and to expand the science value of the effort, the field campaign added further challenges such as air deployment of miniaturized buoys and coordinating missions involving multiple aircraft. Specific research areas that MIZOPEX data were designed to address include relationships between ocean skin temperatures and subsurface temperatures and how these evolve over time in an Arctic environment during summer; variability in sea-ice conditions such as thickness, age, and albedo within the marginal ice zone (MIZ); interactions of SST, salinity, and ice conditions during the melt cycle; and validation of satellite-derived SST and ice concentration fields provided by satellite imagery and models.

Contents: Significance of the marginal ice zone; MIZ processes, models and scientific questions; Remote sensing; Strategy of the experiment; Collateral programs; Appendix A: Detailed plan of the air-ice-ocean experiment; Appendix B: Acoustics and MIZEX; Appendix C: Biological program; Appendix D: MIZEX organization.