Scientists Can Now Monitor Thinning Sea Ice Year-Round

Researchers may be able to keep better tabs on the melting ice. Scientists have devised a way to monitor the thickness of the sea ice year-round, even in the summer.

There is a longstanding gap in the satellite record when it comes to sea ice thickness.

Scientists use satellites to keep an eye on the ice. Satellite images show how the sea ice coverage area has been decreasing as the planet warms.

Satellites have special instruments that can measure the thickness of sea ice. The records show that the sea ice is getting thinner as the temperature warms.

There is a major problem with the thickness record. The summer months are mostly excluded.

Liquid water starts to pool on the surface of the sea ice during the warmest time of the year. The melt ponds make it difficult for the radar systems to distinguish ice from the ocean.

Scientists can use other methods to measure ice thickness. They can either fly planes over the ocean or send researchers into the field on ships. There are special scientific buoy that can be used to keep an eye on the ice.

None of these methods can provide a complete, continuous picture of the ocean. During the summer, there is always a gap in the thickness record.

From a scientific point of view, that is a problem. For building climate models that can make long-term predictions about its future, complete, nonstop records are the best.

Jack Landy has pondered the problem for a long time.

Landy was looking for new projects after finishing his PhD. After moving back to the United Kingdom, he found that there were less opportunities for field-based research he had done while he was overseas. He began to think about problems that could be solved far away.

Landy said that this was one of the gaps in the knowledge that they had. There has been a gap in summer thickness observations for more than two decades. It seemed like an interesting project to target.

The challenge was a major one.

It has taken so long because it is a very difficult project to get good results on.

More people got involved with the project over time. A dozen authors from institutions across Europe and North America wrote the paper.

Machine learning was used for the solution. Measuring ice thickness in the summer is difficult due to the fact that melt pools on the ice are different from the ocean. The researchers used a machine learning technique to figure out what the ice was made of.

They built a model of the radar system's response to the melting ice and compared it with satellite data, which allowed them to make adjustments to the radar system's measurement as needed. They used this method to build an accurate summer record of sea ice thickness.

The scientists found that sea ice thickness is a good indicator of sea ice extent. Thinner ice is more likely to melt and disappear quicker.

Data on sea ice thickness during the summer can be used to predict the total area of ice left over in September, according to the study. It is useful when forecasting shipping traffic.

The new method could be used in other ways.

Scientists use model simulations to make predictions about the future of the north. The human societies who depend on sea ice are at risk. The rate at which the northern part of the planet warms is affected by it. Studies suggest that the speed of warming in the northern part of the planet can affect weather in other parts of the world. It's important that these projections are important for the whole world.

One of the most exciting potential impacts of the study is improving the models. Most of the ice thickness data used to build models comes from winter observations. It is possible to use the best data from all the years.

Landy said that all the processes that control how the ice breaks up in the summer have no thickness data to test against. The rate of sea ice melting, how much it breaks up and shatters, all these things have not been observed.

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