Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Aerial observations of sea ice and melt ponds near the North Pole during CHINARE2010

  • Published:
Acta Oceanologica Sinica Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

An aerial photography has been used to provide validation data on sea ice near the North Pole where most polar orbiting satellites cannot cover. This kind of data can also be used as a supplement for missing data and for reducing the uncertainty of data interpolation. The aerial photos are analyzed near the North Pole collected during the Chinese national arctic research expedition in the summer of 2010 (CHINARE2010). The result shows that the average fraction of open water increases from the ice camp at approximately 87°N to the North Pole, resulting in the decrease in the sea ice. The average sea ice concentration is only 62.0% for the two flights (16 and 19 August 2010). The average albedo (0.42) estimated from the area ratios among snow-covered ice, melt pond and water is slightly lower than the 0.49 of HOTRAX 2005. The data on 19 August 2010 shows that the albedo decreases from the ice camp at approximately 87°N to the North Pole, primarily due to the decrease in the fraction of snow-covered ice and the increase in fractions of melt-pond and open-water. The ice concentration from the aerial photos and AMSR-E (The Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer-Earth Observing System) images at 87.0°–87.5°N exhibits similar spatial patterns, although the AMSR-E concentration is approximately 18.0% (on average) higher than aerial photos. This can be attributed to the 6.25 km resolution of AMSR-E, which cannot separate melt ponds/submerged ice from ice and cannot detect the small leads between floes. Thus, the aerial photos would play an important role in providing high-resolution independent estimates of the ice concentration and the fraction of melt pond cover to validate and/or supplement space-borne remote sensing products near the North Pole.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Boé J, Hall A, Qu Xin. 2009. September sea-ice cover in the Arctic Ocean projected to vanish by 2100. Nature Geoscience, 2(5): 341–343

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cavalieri D J, Parkinson C L, Vinnikov K Y. 2003. 30-year satellite record reveals contrasting arctic and antarctic decadal sea ice variability. Geophysical Research Letters, 30(18): 1970

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cavalieri D J, Parkinson C L. 2012. Arctic sea ice variability and trends, 1979–2010. The Cryosphere, 6(4): 881–889

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen Hongxia, Liu Na, Zhang Zhanhai. 2013. Severe winter weather as a response to the lowest Arctic sea-ice anomalies. Acta Oceanologica Sinica, 32(10): 11–15

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Comiso J C. 2003. Warming trends in the arctic from clear sky satellite observations. Journal of Climate, 16(21): 3498–3510

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Conese C, Maselli F. 1992. Use of error matrices to improve area estimates with maximum likelihood classification procedures. Remote Sensing of Environment, 40(2): 113–124

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Congalton R G. 1991. A review of assessing the accuracy of classifications of remotely sensed data. Remote Sensing of Environment, 37(1): 35–46

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Connor L N, Laxon S W, Ridout A L, et al. 2009. Comparison of Envisat radar and airborne laser altimeter measurements over arctic sea ice. Remote Sensing of Environment, 113(3): 563–570

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cui Hongyan, Qiao Fangli, Shu Qi, et al. 2015. Causes for different spatial distributions of minimum arctic sea-ice extent in 2007 and 2012. Acta Oceanologica Sinica, 34(9): 94–101

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Darby D A, Jakobsson M, Polyak L. 2005. Icebreaker expedition collects key Arctic seafloor and ice data. EOS Transactions American Geophysical Union, 86(52): 549–552

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Derksen C, Piwowar J, Le Drew E. 1997. Sea-ice melt-pond fraction as determined from low level aerial photographs. Arctic and Alpine Research, 29(3): 345–351

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grenfell T C, Maykut G A. 1977. The optical properties of ice and snow in the Arctic Basin. Journal of Glaciology, 18(80): 445–463

    Google Scholar 

  • Grenfell T C, Perovich D K. 2004. Seasonal and spatial evolution of albedo in a snow-ice-land-ocean environment. Journal of Geophysical Research, 109(C1): C01001

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Haas C, Hendricks S, Eicken H, et al. 2010. Synoptic airborne thickness surveys reveal state of Arctic sea ice cover. Geophysical Research Letters, 37(9): L09501

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Haas C, Pfaffling A, Hendricks S, et al. 2008. Reduced ice thickness in arctic transpolar drift favors rapid ice retreat. Geophysical Research Letters, 35(17): L17501

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hall D K, Box J E, Casey K A, et al. 2008. Comparison of satellite-derived and in-situ observations of ice and snow surface temperature over Greeland. Remote Sensing of Environment, 112(10): 3739–3749, doi: 10.1016/j.rse.2008.05.007

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heygster G, Wiebe H, Spreen G, et al. 2009. AMSR-E geolocation and validation of sea ice concentrations based on 89 GHz data. Journal of Remote Sensing Society of Japan, 29(1): 226–235

    Google Scholar 

  • Hudson S R. 2011. Estimating the global radiative impact of the sea ice-albedo feedback in the arctic. Journal of Geophysical Research, 116(D16): D16102

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Inoue J, Curry J A, Maslanik J A. 2008. Application of aerosondes to melt-pond observations over arctic sea ice. Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanographic Technology, 25(2): 327–334

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kawaguchi Y, Hutchings J K, Kikuchi T, et al. 2012. Anomalous seaice reduction in the Eurasian Basin of the Arctic Ocean during summer 2010. Polar Science, 6(1): 39–53

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kwok R, Rothrock D A. 2009. Decline in arctic sea ice thickness from submarine and ICESat records: 1958–2008. Geophysical Research Letters, 36(15): L15501

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lei Ruibo, Xie Hongjie, Wang Jia, et al. 2015. Changes in sea ice conditions along the Arctic Northeast Passage from 1979 to 2012. Cold Regions Science and Technology, 119: 132–144

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li Tao, Zhao Jinping. 2014. An impact assessment of sea ice on ocean optics observations in the marginal ice zone of the Arctic. Acta Oceanologica Sinica, 33(12): 24–31

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liu Jiping, Curry J A, Hu Yongyun. 2004. Recent arctic sea ice variability: connections to the Arctic Oscillation and the ENSO. Geophysical Research Letters, 31(9): L09211

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lu Peng, Li Zhijun, Cheng Bin, et al. 2010. Sea ice surface features in arctic summer 2008: aerial observations. Remote Sensing of Environment, 114(4): 693–699

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Markus T, Cavalieri D J. 2000. An enhancement of the NASA team sea ice algorithm. IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing, 38(3): 1387–1398

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miao Xin, Xie Hongjie, Ackley S F, et al. 2015. Object-based detection of Arctic sea ice and melt ponds using high spatial resolution aerial photographs. Cold Regions Science and Technology, 119: 211–222

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Perovich D K, Grenfell T C, Light B, et al. 2009. Transpolar observations of the morphological properties of arctic sea ice. Journal of Geophysical Research, 114(C1): C00A40

    Google Scholar 

  • Perovich D K, Tucker III W B, Ligett K A. 2002. Aerial observations of the evolution of ice surface conditions during summer. Journal of Geophysical Research, 107(C10): SHE 24–1-SHE 24–14

    Google Scholar 

  • Rabenstein L, Hendricks S, Martin T, et al. 2010. Thickness and surface- properties of different sea-ice regimes within the arctic trans polar drift: data from summers 2001, 2004 and 2007. Journal of Geophysical Research, 115(C12): doi: 10.1029/2009JC005846

    Google Scholar 

  • Rothrock D A, Percival D B, Wensnahan M. 2008. The decline in arctic sea-ice thickness: separating the spatial, annual, and interannual variability in a quarter century of submarine data. Journal of Geophysical Research, 113(C5): C05003

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scott Pegau W, Paulson C A. 2001. The albedo of arctic leads in summer. Annals of Glaciology, 33(1): 221–224

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Screen J A, Simmonds I, Deser C, et al. 2013. The atmospheric response to three decades of observed Arctic Sea ice loss. Journal of Climate, 26(4): 1230–1248

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sedlácek J, Knutti R, Martius O, et al. 2012. Impact of a reduced Arctic sea ice cover on ocean and atmospheric properties. Journal of Climate, 25(1): 307–319

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Spreen G, Kaleschke L, Heygster G. 2008. Sea ice remote sensing using AMSR-E 89-GHz channels. Journal of Geophysical Research, 113(C2): C02S03

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stanton T P, Shaw W J, Hutchings J K. 2012. Observational study of relationships between incoming radiation, open water fraction, and ocean-to-ice heat flux in the transpolar drift: 2002-2010. Journal of Geophysical Research, 117(C17): doi: 10.1029/2011JC007871

    Google Scholar 

  • Timmermans M L, Proshutinsky A, Krishfield R A, et al. 2011. Surface freshening in the Arctic Ocean's Eurasian Basin: an apparent consequence of recent change in the wind-driven circulation. Journal of Geophysical Research, 116(C8): C00D03

    Google Scholar 

  • Tschudi M A, Curry J A, Maslanik J A. 2001. Airborne observations of summertime surface features and their effect on surface albedo during FIRE/SHEBA. Journal of Geophysical Research, 106(D14): 15335–15344

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tucker III W B, Gow A J, Meese D A, et al. 1999. Physical characteristics of summer sea ice across the Arctic Ocean. Journal of Geophysical Research, 104(C1): 1489–1504

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang Muyin, Overland J E. 2009. A sea ice free summer arctic within 30 years?. Geophysical Research Letters, 36(7): doi: 10.1029/2009GL037820

    Google Scholar 

  • Xie Hongjie, Lei Ruibo, Ke Changqing, et al. 2013. Summer sea ice characteristics and morphology in the Pacific Arctic sector as observed during the CHINARE 2010 cruise. The Cryosphere, 7(4): 1057–1072

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Jiangsu Provincial Key Laboratory of Geographic Information Science and Technology, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210023, China

    Lanyu Li, Changqing Ke & Anqi Tao

  2. Department of Geological Sciences, University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas, 78249, USA

    Hongjie Xie

  3. Polar Research Institute of China, State Oceanic Administration, Shanghai, 200136, China

    Ruibo Lei

Authors
  1. Lanyu Li
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Changqing Ke
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Hongjie Xie
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Ruibo Lei
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Anqi Tao
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Changqing Ke.

Additional information

Foundation item: The National Natural Science Foundation of China under contract No. 41371391; the Program for Foreign Cooperation of Chinese Arctic and Antarctic Administration, State Oceanic Administration of China under contract No. IC201301; the National Key Research and Development Program of China under contract No. 2016YFA0600102.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Li, L., Ke, C., Xie, H. et al. Aerial observations of sea ice and melt ponds near the North Pole during CHINARE2010. Acta Oceanol. Sin. 36, 64–72 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13131-017-0994-2

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13131-017-0994-2

Key words

Search

Navigation