Scaling properties of the deformation of Arctic sea ice

The Arctic sea ice cover fractures as it drifts on the Arctic Ocean. The RADARSAT Geophysical Processor System (RGPS) observes the fracture patterns in sequential synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images. We use the RGPS data products to compute the deformation of the sea ice on spatial scales from 10 to 500 km. We find a power law relationship between the deformation rate and the spatial scale, with an exponent of about -1/5 in fall, winter, and spring. In summer, when the ice is nearly in free drift, the exponent is more negative and the deformation rate is higher. Power law distributions are associated with scale invariance. We examine the implications of the scaling properties of the deformation of sea ice in terms of ice rheology and models of sea ice dynamics.