Arctic Sea Ice Monitoring by Marine Radar

The Arctic has been undergoing drastic changes in recent decades. A summer ice-free Arctic within this century is increasingly likely. A science marine X-band radar (MR) has been installed on the ice-capable R/V Sikuliaq for monitoring sea ice. The oceanographic use of MRs is well established in more temperate climates, but applications to the Arctic have been sparse. This presentation reports on MR data collected by R/V Sikuliaq in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas during the ONR Arctic Sea State cruise from 1 Oct to 10 Nov 2015. A new method to automatically retrieve the sea ice floe size distribution and open water fraction within a ~ 10 km radius from the vessel is introduced. Results are validated using satellite-borne remote sensing techniques. In addition, the system's capability to monitor ice drift and retrieve surface wave spectra as well as near-surface currents is demonstrated. The goal of this research is to improve navigation safety in ice and provide insights into scientific questions, for example the influence of sea ice on surface wave propagation.