Drifting ice and icebergs present in the Barents Sea are a serious threat to offshore oil and gas development. The dynamic characteristics of the ice drift influence ice loads on potential offshore installations and the organisation of ice management. Ice drift characteristics were monitored using four Indium ice tracking drifters installed on drifting ice during the survey of RV Lance in April 2012. A spectral analysis of the data shows the influence of semidiurnal and diurnal tides on the recorded drift characteristics. The drift speed and curvature of ice trajectories depend on the combined influence of wind and water drag forces. The measurement of vertical profiles of the sea current velocities was performed by three ADCPs with different spatial resolutions during the cruise. The structure of under-ice boundary layers was analysed during two ice stations. CTD profiling performed from the drifting ice at two ice stations and during the passage from Edgoya to the Hopen Island revealed a layer of relatively warm and salty water directly under the ice. The collected data are compared with similar data collected in earlier expeditions in the Northwestern Barents Sea.
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