Examination of Sea Ice Cover in Norwegian Fjords

Presented are two steps being taken to examine sea ice coverage in Norwegian fjords as part of a larger study to improve our understanding of ice formation and breakup processes in these regions and implications for oil spill response. First, working with Google Earth Engine, MODIS images will be analyzed to determine where and when seasonal ice formation occurred along the Norwegian coastline since 2000. Here we summarize a simple method developed to quantify ice area in these regions to examine trends through the ice season and between years. While the larger study will cover a number of fjords, as an example focus is placed on Efjord, located in Nordland county, which has experienced large variations in ice coverage between years. We discuss the use of other datasets to determine the causes of such fluctuations focusing on the close relationship between run-off and ice cover in Efjord. Second, measurements of water temperature and salinity and ice thickness, stratigraphy, and salinity will be gathered over a three year period to better understand the ice observed in the MODIS images. The first set of measurements collected in November 2017 before freeze up are discussed below. In addition, initial images collected from time lapse cameras positioned to observe general weather and ocean conditions and the initial freeze up of ice are presented.submittedVersio

Observations of Ice Conditions and Properties in Norwegian Fjords during the Winter of 2018 and Implications for Oil Spill Response

As the arctic opens to more development and increasing ship traffic, coastlines are at greater risk of oil pollution resulting from these operations. Fjords are one feature common throughout the arctic, with many dotting the coast of Norway. While these fjords often remain ice free year-round, some fjords in both southern and northern Norway can experience variations in ice extent from year to year. The properties of this ice, including porosity, can differ from that of the sea ice found in the open ocean given the influence of various factors including freshwater input, bathemetry, and climatic and oceanographic conditions. Given these variations, oil would likely interact with the ice in a way different from that expected with either sea ice or fresh water ice. To begin understanding the causes and extent of these variations and their potential impact on oil movement through the ice, observations of ice conditions and measurement of ice properties were made in fjords throughout northern Norway between January and May 2018. Results reveal significant variations in ice properties between fjords located geographically near to each other. The data provide a starting point to improve our understanding of why ice extent and properties vary between fjords and our ability to predict ice conditions on a more detailed scale in fjords and along arctic coastlines.Observations of Ice Conditions and Properties in Norwegian Fjords during the Winter of 2018 and Implications for Oil Spill ResponseacceptedVersio

Observations of Ice Conditions and Properties in Norwegian Fjords during the Winter of 2018 and Implications for Oil Spill Response

As the arctic opens to more development and increasing ship traffic, coastlines are at greater risk of oil pollution resulting from these operations. Fjords are one feature common throughout the arctic, with many dotting the coast of Norway. While these fjords often remain ice free year-round, some fjords in both southern and northern Norway can experience variations in ice extent from year to year. The properties of this ice, including porosity, can differ from that of the sea ice found in the open ocean given the influence of various factors including freshwater input, bathemetry, and climatic and oceanographic conditions. Given these variations, oil would likely interact with the ice in a way different from that expected with either sea ice or fresh water ice. To begin understanding the causes and extent of these variations and their potential impact on oil movement through the ice, observations of ice conditions and measurement of ice properties were made in fjords throughout northern Norway between January and May 2018. Results reveal significant variations in ice properties between fjords located geographically near to each other. The data provide a starting point to improve our understanding of why ice extent and properties vary between fjords and our ability to predict ice conditions on a more detailed scale in fjords and along arctic coastlines

Observations of Ice Conditions and Properties in Norwegian Fjords during the Winter of 2018 and Implications for Oil Spill Response

As the arctic opens to more development and increasing ship traffic, coastlines are at greater risk of oil pollution resulting from these operations. Fjords are one feature common throughout the arctic, with many dotting the coast of Norway. While these fjords often remain ice free year-round, some fjords in both southern and northern Norway can experience variations in ice extent from year to year. The properties of this ice, including porosity, can differ from that of the sea ice found in the open ocean given the influence of various factors including freshwater input, bathemetry, and climatic and oceanographic conditions. Given these variations, oil would likely interact with the ice in a way different from that expected with either sea ice or fresh water ice. To begin understanding the causes and extent of these variations and their potential impact on oil movement through the ice, observations of ice conditions and measurement of ice properties were made in fjords throughout northern Norway between January and May 2018. Results reveal significant variations in ice properties between fjords located geographically near to each other. The data provide a starting point to improve our understanding of why ice extent and properties vary between fjords and our ability to predict ice conditions on a more detailed scale in fjords and along arctic coastlines.Observations of Ice Conditions and Properties in Norwegian Fjords during the Winter of 2018 and Implications for Oil Spill ResponseacceptedVersio

Closing the loop Approaches to monitoring the state of the Arctic Mediterranean during the International Polar Year 20072008

During the 4th International Polar Year 2007–2009 (IPY), it has become increasingly obvious that we need to prepare for a new era in the Arctic. IPY occurred during the time of the largest retreat of Arctic sea ice since satellite observations started in 1979. This minimum in September sea ice coverage was accompanied by other signs of a changing Arctic, including the unexpectedly rapid transpolar drift of the Tara schooner, a general thinning of Arctic sea ice and a double-dip minimum of the Arctic Oscillation at the end of 2009. Thanks to the lucky timing of the IPY, those recent phenomena are well documented as they have been scrutinized by the international research community, taking advantage of the dedicated observing systems that were deployed during IPY. However, understanding changes in the Arctic System likely requires monitoring over decades, not years. Many IPY projects have contributed to the pilot phase of a future, sustained, observing system for the Arctic. We now know that many of the technical challenges can be overcome. The Norwegian projects iAOOS-Norway, POLEWARD and MEOP were significant ocean monitoring/research contributions during the IPY. A large variety of techniques were used in these programs, ranging from oceanographic cruises to animal-borne platforms, autonomous gliders, helicopter surveys, surface drifters and current meter arrays. Our research approach was interdisciplinary from the outset, merging ocean dynamics, hydrography, biology, sea ice studies, as well as forecasting. The datasets are tremendously rich, and they will surely yield numerous findings in the years to come. Here, we present a status report at the end of the official period for IPY. Highlights of the research include: a quantification of the Meridional Overturning Circulation in the Nordic Seas (“the loop”) in thermal space, based on a set of up to 15-year-long series of current measurements; a detailed map of the surface circulation as well as characterization of eddy dispersion based on drifter data; transport monitoring of Atlantic Water using gliders; a view of the water mass exchanges in the Norwegian Atlantic Current from both Eulerian and Lagrangian data; an integrated physical–biological view of the ice-influenced ecosystem in the East Greenland Current, showing for instance nutrient-limited primary production as a consequence of decreasing ice cover for larger regions of the Arctic Ocean. Our sea ice studies show that the albedo of snow on ice is lower when snow cover is thinner and suggest that reductions in sea ice thickness, without changes in sea ice extent, will have a significant impact on the arctic atmosphere. We present up-to-date freshwater transport numbers for the East Greenland Current in the Fram Strait, as well as the first map of the annual cycle of freshwater layer thickness in the East Greenland Current along the east coast of Greenland, from data obtained by CTDs mounted on seals that traveled back and forth across the Nordic Seas. We have taken advantage of the real-time transmission of some of these platforms and demonstrate the use of ice-tethered profilers in validating satellite products of sea ice motion, as well as the use of Seagliders in validating ocean forecasts, and we present a sea ice drift product – significantly improved both in space and time – for use in operational ice-forecasting applications. We consider real-time acquisition of data from the ocean interior to be a vital component of a sustained Arctic Ocean Observing System, and we conclude by presenting an outline for an observing system for the European sector of the Arctic Ocean

Ecotoxicological mechanisms and models in an impact analysis tool for oil spills

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