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Sub‐daily sea ice motion and deformation from RADARSAT observations
Author(s) -
Kwok Ron,
Cunningham Glenn F.,
Hibler William D.
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 - 10.1029/2003gl018723
Subject(s) - sea ice , geology , arctic ice pack , geodesy , arctic , climatology , drift ice , atmospheric sciences , oceanography
We find a persistent level of oscillatory sea ice motion and deformation, superimposed on the large‐scale wind‐driven field, in May 2002 (spring) and February 2003 (mid‐winter), in the high Arctic over a region centered at ∼(85°N, 135°W). At this latitude, the RADARSAT wide‐swath SAR coverage provides 4–5 sequential observations every day, for ice motion retrieval, with a sampling interval at the orbital period of ∼101 minutes. Periodic correlations in ice motion and deformation can be seen in length scales from 10 km and above, and suggest a 12‐hr oscillation that is more likely associated with inertial rather than tidal frequencies. Divergence/convergence of ∼0.1–0.2% peak‐to‐peak or rates of ∼10 −7 /s is seen in both datasets, with the mid‐winter dataset having smaller values. These observations are remarkable in that short‐period ice motion is previously believed to be inhibited by the strength of the ice pack in the high Arctic during winter. New ice production due to the recurrent openings and closings at these temporal scales, if ubiquitous, could be significant within the winter pack.