Tuesday, 24 January 2017: 2:00 PM
Conference Center: Skagit 3 (Washington State Convention Center )
The Norwegian Young Sea Ice experiment (N-ICE2015) was conducted from January to June 2015 north of Svalbard. This is the first experiment to make comprehensive measurements of the surface energy balance during the seasonal transition from winter to summer since the 1997/1998 SHEBA campaign. N-ICE2015 is also the first experiment to measure the surface energy balance over thin, young sea ice during this seasonal transition. Here we present measurements of all of the components of the surface energy balance, including the net radiative flux, and the sensible and latent heat fluxes, as well as the stability of the lowest 2 meters of the atmosphere over the sea ice. The near-surface atmosphere is mostly stable in winter, but unstable conditions occur at times. Conversely, conditions are mostly unstable in spring and summer, but significant periods of stability occur. The surface energy balance is negative in winter, but there is a progression towards larger values as solar radiation begins to dominate in spring and summer. Two case studies are examined: 1) the winter case highlights a unique storm that greatly affects the surface and atmospheric conditions over young, thin sea ice, and demonstrates the complex interplay of wind, clouds, and heat and moisture advection over sea ice, 2) the spring case highlights a rare period of 24 hours of clear sky conditions, and shows the impact that clouds have on solar radiation and the surface energy budget over young, thin sea ice.
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