Surface Wave Properties at the Marginal Ice Zone – Observed with TerraSAR-X

The reduction of the sea ice coverage during the boreal summer will lead to an increased importance of wind waves for the dynamic processes of the Arctic Seas. Larger ice free areas lead to longer fetch and thus longer and higher sea state. Wind waves will enhance upper-ocean mixing, may affect the breakup of ice sheets, and will likely lead to increased coastal erosion.

A detailed understanding of the two-way interaction of waves and sea-ice, in order to improve wave and ice models applicable to a changing Arctic, requires wave observations on a spatial scale equivalent to these interactions.

Wind, wave and ice information has been retrieved from space-borne SAR imagery (TerraSAR-X) collected at various locations within the Arctic. The data coverage is approximately 30 km wide and 50 - 300 km long, spanning the seasonal marginal ice zone and the adjacent open waters. This large spatial coverage allows us to analyze the modulation of wave field properties due to ice-wave interaction. Examples for on and off ice wave conditions, for different wind forcing, and melt and freeze-up conditions will be discussed.