Abstracts
SEARCH Open Science Meeting
October 27, 2003
Seattle, Washington, USA
Laboratory-Based Studies of the Physical and Biological Properties of Sea Ice: A Tool for Understanding Physical Processes and Feedback Mechanisms in the Arctic
Bonnie Light1, Christopher Krembs2
1Polar Science Center, Applied Physics Laboratory, University of Washington, Box 355640, Seattle, WA, 98105, USA, Phone 206-543-9824, Fax 206-616-3142, bonnie@apl.washington.edu
2Polar Science Center, Applied Physics Laboratory, Box 355640, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, 98105, USA, Phone 206-685-0272, Fax 206-616-3142, ckrembs@apl.washington.edu
Laboratory-based studies of the physical and biological properties of sea ice are an essential tool for understanding interactions between the structure of the ice, the biological communities it supports, and the partitioning of shortwave radiation at the atmosphere-ice-ocean interfaces. Environmentally controlled studies promote improved understanding of the impact of climatic variability on sea ice properties and ice-dependent ecological processes. Experiments spanning a wide range of environmental conditions can help identify feedback mechanisms between physical and biological processes and their response to climate fluctuations, both established and postulated.
Climatically sensitive processes that occur across the atmosphere-ice-ocean interfaces can determine surface radiative energy fluxes and the transfer of nutrients and mass across these boundaries. High temporally and spatially resolved laboratory analyses over a wide range of environmental conditions lend insight to the physics that drive these transfer processes. Sensitive detection techniques and in situ measurements not feasible in the field can be used to study natural sea ice core samples and laboratory-grown ice. Such experiments yield insight on small-scale processes from the microscopic to the meter scale and can be powerful interdisciplinary tools.
Abstract Categories: Physical Feedbacks
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