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Atmospheric parameters affecting sea ice losses in the context of gravity desalination

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Abstract

Gravity desalination is an important method for obtaining fresh water from sea ice; however, the large amount of ice that is exposed to air for long periods of time sublimates and evaporates, which results in a reduction of the freshwater resource. This paper describes a study of sea ice sublimation and evaporation performed during the winter of 2013 at the western shore of Bohai Bay, China, to determine the relationship between the amount of sublimation and evaporation and the atmospheric parameters. Substantial amounts of the Bohai sea ice sublimated and evaporated, ranging from 15 to 35 % of the total. The sublimation and evaporation amount was significantly different between the day and night and was greater in the daytime because of the relative humidity difference. Sublimation and evaporation is primarily affected by atmospheric parameters, and the amount of sublimation and evaporation exhibits a good linear relationship with the relative humidity and the wind speed; a comprehensive parameters formula was determined for the Bohai Rim in China. A 10 % increase of daily relative humidity will reduce approximately 1.5 kg/m2/day of the sublimation and evaporation, and the amount of sublimation and evaporation increases by 1.76 kg/m2/day when the daily wind speed increases by 1 m/s. To reduce the sublimation and evaporation and maximize the amount of this freshwater resource, gravity desalination sites should be selected where the wind speed is low and the relative humidity is high, i.e., the sea ice should be configured to reduce the adverse effects of sunlight, low humidity, and air turbulence.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the National 863 Key Project of China (No. 2011AA100505) and the projects of the State Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Progresses and Resource Ecology (2014-ZY-01). We thank the individuals in the working group for their help during the research. Cordial thanks should give to the editors and two anonymous reviewers for their constructive suggestions and comments that improved the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Resource Ecology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China

    Ying Li, Wei Gu, Jinlong Chao, Lantao Li, Yinjun Xu, Zhiyun Chang, Linhong Wu & Jie Chen

  2. Academy of Disaster Reduction and Emergency Management, Ministry of Civil Affairs and Ministry of Education, Beijing, China

    Ying Li, Jinlong Chao, Zhiyun Chang, Linhong Wu & Jie Chen

  3. Shanghai Institute of Technical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China

    Chengyu Liu

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  1. Ying Li
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  2. Wei Gu
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  3. Jinlong Chao
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  4. Lantao Li
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  5. Chengyu Liu
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  6. Yinjun Xu
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  7. Zhiyun Chang
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  8. Linhong Wu
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  9. Jie Chen
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Correspondence to Wei Gu.

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Li, Y., Gu, W., Chao, J. et al. Atmospheric parameters affecting sea ice losses in the context of gravity desalination. Theor Appl Climatol 121, 685–693 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-014-1264-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-014-1264-2

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