Sea ice plays an important role in the Earth's climate system. Due to its reflecting and insulating properties, the comparably thin sheet of ice strongly affects the exchange between ocean and atmosphere. Within the project 'Atmosphere-Ice-Ocean interaction studies' (duration 2003-2006) we used the seasonal ice cover on Svalbard fjords as a natural laboratory for investigating some of the processes that are important to the growth and decay of sea ice. Extensive field campaigns were carried out during freezing and melting periods 2003 - 2005 on Kongsfjorden and Van Mijenfjorden on the west coast of the island Spitsbergen. The main focus of my PhD project was the interaction between the ice and the turbulent under-ice (oceanic) boundary layer. Direct (eddy-correlation) measurements of the turbulent fluxes of heat, salt and momentum were combined with other measurements from the ice, ocean and atmosphere. Among other things, we observed large salt release from the ice during a period when melting was expected. The salt flux was correlated to increased oceanic heat flux, indicating that turbulent heat forcing from below may play a key role in the desalination of first-year sea ice, reported in Widell et al. (2006). The project finished in June 2006.
Widell, K. (2006): Ice--ocean interaction and the under-ice boundary layer in an Arctic fjord. PhD thesis, University of Bergen and University Centre in Svalbard.
Widell, K., Østerhus, S. and Gammelsrød, T. (2003). Sea ice velocity in the Fram Strait monitored by moored instruments. Geophys. Res. Lett., 30(19), 1982, doi: 10.1029/ 2003GL018119.
