SEA CURRENTS AND ICE DRIFT IN WESTERN PART OF BARENTS SEA. A COMPARISON OF DATA FROM FLOATING AND FIXED ON ICE BUOYS

摘要

Characteristics of ice drift and surface currents in the north-west Barents Sea and Svalbard region are investigated and compared using the data from ice trackers deployed on drift ice and icebergs, and the data of floating buoys provided by NOAA. Ice trackers deployed by a UNIS group provide GPS data with small sampling intervals of 10 or 20 minutes while NOAA buoys deliver the data with a six hour sampling interval. The influence of the sampling interval on statistical characteristics of ice drift speed and direction is analyzed and compared with statistical characteristics of surface water motion. It is shown that maximal speed of drift ice decreases 20-30% when the sampling interval of GPS data increases from 10 minutes to six hours.