Sea ice Processes and Mass Balance in the Bellingshausen Sea

Antarctic sea ice thickness is arguably the largest gap in our knowledge of the climate system. While rapid changes in ice extent are evident in satellite imagery collected over the last three decades, we have little information with which to assess the thickness of the ice. Knowledge of the thickness distribution of sea ice and its snow cover is critical in understanding a wide range of air-sea-ice interactions. It's evolution over time provides a sensitive measure of the response of the polar regions to climate change and variability, and it controls the fluxes of heat, salt, and freshwater that govern air-sea interactions and water mass transformation. Whilst we are moving closer to the 'holy grail' of measuring Arctic sea ice thickness from space, such methods are severely limited in the Antarctic due to the deep snow cover. Moreover, our understanding of the processes that control Antarctic snow and ice thickness is inadequate. This proposal has two complementary lines of investigation: (1) To determine robust statistical relationships between snow depth, ice thickness, and freeboard distribution for a range of ice classes. Understanding these relationships is critical if we are to be able to determine either snow depth or ice thickness from space - the only viable means of determining large-scale snow and sea ice thickness, trends, and variability. (2) To quantify the role that key Antarctic sea ice processes play in controlling the ice thickness evolution and its response to climate forcing. This can only be achieved through detailed simultaneous measurements of both the surface topography and ice underside. We will obtain, for the first time anywhere, coincident 3D topography maps of both the surface (from airborne Lidar) and underside (from AUV mounted multibeam sonar) for a variety of ice types and conditions. With over 1 million individual measurements per sampling station, the richness of the data set will be several orders of magnitude more than is possible with traditional methods. This will allow us to determine, for the first time, robust statistical relationships between snow depth and ice thickness spatial variability. These data will allow a definitive assessment of the feasibility and accuracy of satellite methods for estimating Antarctic sea ice thickness and snow depth for a range of ice conditions. In addition we will deploy an unprecedented number (20) of novel ice mass balance buoys (IMBs) to monitor the evolution of the snow and sea ice throughout the annual sea ice cycle. The large number of IMB deployments will allow the first regional assessment of snow accumulation rates and ice mass balance of Antarctic sea ice. To achieve these goals we have secured a 30-day dedicated cruise aboard the James Clark Ross, scheduled for November 2010, as well as use of a BAS Twin Otter for airborne Lidar missions over ice stations and the surrounding region. These platforms, provided as part of the BAS core programme, along with support and instrumentation provided by project partners at no cost, represent a unique opportunity, and a significant leverage of over £1,000,000 of in-kind contribution. This is an unprecedented opportunity for the UK to lead a coordinated campaign to produce a definitive picture of snow and sea ice thickness distribution, and to continuously monitor the processes that control these distributions throughout the annual cycle. Our programme will deliver a major step forward in our knowledge of the snow and ice thickness distribution. It will advance our understanding of Antarctic sea ice processes and improve our ability to monitor the evolution of the ice cover and air-ice-ocean interactions on a large scale. This will allow improved representation of sea ice in large-scale and global climate models, and ultimately improve our understanding of the response of the Antarctic ice cover to current and future climate change and variability.