PRELIMINARY RESULTS OF SEA ICE FREEBOARD MEASUREMENTS OF BEAUFORT SEA FROM CRYOSAT-2 ALTIMETRY

摘要

Satellite altimetry has been used to observe the Arctic sea ice in long term and large scale, and the records show a continued decline for Arctic sea ice thickness over decades. In this study, the sea ice freeboard in Beaufort Sea of Arctic have been estimated using CryoSat-2 data, and validated with Upward Looking Sonar (ULS) data of Beaufort Gyre Exploration Project (BGEP). The results show an obvious seasonal variation of the Beaufort Sea with a high reliability estimation of the sea ice freeboard. The average height of the sea ice freeboard increase from January to March and achieve the maximum value 0.38?m in March. The sea ice melts after March and the average height of the sea ice freeboard reduces to the minimum 0.12?m in August. In the next few months the sea water begins to freeze and the average height of the sea ice freeboard will increase to the maximum value.