C039-03
Snow Accumulation and Redistribution Patterns in the Central Arctic

Friday, 11 December 2020: 05:38
Virtual
David Clemens-Sewall1, Chris Polashenski1,2, Donald K Perovich1, Ian Raphael1, Steven Fons3, Polona Itkin4, Matthias Jaggi5, Arttu Jutila6, Amy Macfarlane5, Ilkka Matero6, Marcel Nicolaus7, Marc Oggier8, Martin Schneebeli9 and David Wagner10, (1)Dartmouth College, Thayer School of Engineering, Hanover, NH, United States, (2)USACE-CRREL, Alaska Projects Office, Ft. Wainwright, AK, United States, (3)NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, United States, (4)UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway, (5)WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF, Davos Dorf, Switzerland, (6)Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz-Center for Polar and Marine Research Bremerhaven, Bremerhaven, Germany, (7)Alfred Wegener Institute, Bremerhaven, Germany, (8)University of Alaska Fairbanks, International Arctic Research Center, Fairbanks, AK, United States, (9)WSL Inst. Snow & Avalanche Research SLF, Davos Dorf, Switzerland, (10)Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne, CRYOS - School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Lausanne, Switzerland
Recorded Presentation
Abstract:
The quantity and distribution of snow on Arctic sea ice impacts heat, mass, and momentum fluxes in the coupled Ice-Atmosphere-Ocean Arctic system. Field observations consistently note the variability of snow distribution on Arctic sea ice, yet many models assume that snow depth is laterally homogenous. We present terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) observations of snow accumulation and redistribution made throughout the 2019-20 winter on the MOSAiC field campaign in the Central Arctic. TLS enabled us to map cm-scale snow surface changes across a several hundred meter scale scan area comprised of various underlying ice types. We mapped these areas every 2-3 weeks throughout the accumulation season and more frequently around specific precipitation or redistribution events. With these data we demonstrate where snow does and does not accumulate, and how the distribution changes over time. We explore the implications of differences in observed and modeled snow distribution, and discuss opportunities for more accurate model representation of snow cover on Arctic sea ice.
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