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Variability of sea‐ice draft off Hokkaido in the Sea of Okhotsk revealed by a moored ice‐profiling sonar in winter of 1999
Author(s) -
Fukamachi Y.,
Mizuta G.,
Ohshima K. I.,
Melling H.,
Fissel D.,
Wakatsuchi M.
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2002gl016197
Subject(s) - sea ice , geology , oceanography , climatology , arctic ice pack , antarctic sea ice
Using a moored ice‐profiling sonar along with an ADCP, a spatial section of draft across 855 km of sea ice was obtained for the first time in the southwestern part of the Okhotsk Sea near Hokkaido in winter of 1999. The draft evolved from 0.20 m in mid‐February to 1.45 m in late March with the overall value of 0.72 m. The draft characteristics were quite different between February and March before and after the period of strong winds. The increase of the mean draft from February to March was associated with the increase of deformed ice. The maximum draft observed was ∼17 m. Ice volume was dominated by the contribution from portions of deformed ice especially in March. These results suggest that deformed ice dominated in the region of observation and dynamical processes were mainly responsible for the evolution of draft.