This website brings news from a group of scientists measuring the morphology and optical properties of sea ice across the Arctic Basin during August and September 2005. This work is being carried out aboard the US Coast Guard Icebreaker Healy as part of a trans-Arctic expedition.

The full title of our project is: Collaborative Research on observing the morphological and optical characteristics of the summer Arctic ice cover during the 2005 Trans-Arctic Expedition. The objective of this project is to survey the morphological and optical properties of the Arctic ice cover. The morphological properties of the ice cover will be characterized through a set of surveys conducted on and above the ice. Surface surveys will examine ice thickness, surface topography, pond area and depth. Aerial surveys will examine ice concentration, pond areal fraction, and size distributions of ponds, floes, and leads. A temporal component will be provided by deploying 3 – 5 autonomous buoys that will monitor ice mass balance for up to three years.

Site specific optical studies will be conducted to investigate spectral albedo and transmittance, as well as irradiance profiles within the ice. This component of the study will broaden our concept of the “ice-albedo” feedback to include the effects of solar radiation transmitted through the ice cover, an “ice-albedo-transmission” feedback, with significant implications for ocean heat flux.

By providing data to compare the current state of the ice cover with the historical record, this study will provide valuable information towards understanding the extent to which the Arctic sea ice cover is undergoing change.