3 research outputs found
Overview of the MOSAiC expedition: Snow and sea ice
Year-round observations of the physical snow and ice properties and processes that govern the ice pack
evolution and its interaction with the atmosphere and the ocean were conducted during the
Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate (MOSAiC) expedition of the
research vessel Polarstern in the Arctic Ocean from October 2019 to September 2020. This work was
embedded into the interdisciplinary design of the 5 MOSAiC teams, studying the atmosphere, the sea ice,
the ocean, the ecosystem, and biogeochemical processes.The overall aim of the snow and sea ice observations
during MOSAiC was to characterize the physical properties of the snow and ice cover comprehensively in the
central Arctic over an entire annual cycle. This objective was achieved by detailed observations of physical
properties and of energy and mass balance of snow and ice. By studying snow and sea ice dynamics over nested
spatial scales from centimeters to tens of kilometers, the variability across scales can be considered. On-ice
observations of in situ and remote sensing properties of the different surface types over all seasons will help
to improve numerical process and climate models and to establish and validate novel satellite remote sensing
methods; the linkages to accompanying airborne measurements, satellite observations, and results of
numerical models are discussed. We found large spatial variabilities of snow metamorphism and thermal
regimes impacting sea ice growth. We conclude that the highly variable snow cover needs to be considered
in more detail (in observations, remote sensing, and models) to better understand snow-related feedback
processes.The ice pack revealed rapid transformations and motions along the drift in all seasons. The number
of coupled ice–ocean interface processes observed in detail are expected to guide upcoming research with
respect to the changing Arctic sea ice