A Large Surface Wave Event Observed in Arctic Sea Ice
Clarence O Collins III, John C. Stennis Space Center, Stennis Space Center, MS, United States; Naval Research Laboratory, ASEE Postdoctoral Fellow, Stennis Space Center, MS, United States, William Rogers, Naval Research Laboratory, Oceanography Division, Stennis Space Center, MS, United States, Aleksey V Marchenko, University Center in Svlabard, Department of Arctic Technology, Longyearbyen, Denmark and Alexander V Babanin, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia
Abstract:
A highly energetic surface wave event, the largest ever recorded in Arctic sea ice, is reported. R/V Lance was moored to pack-ice in the vicinity of Hopen Island off the coast of Svalbard, near latitude 77˚ N. Scientists from the University Center in Svalbard were attempting field work related to drifting ice studies when cracks appeared in the ice indicating unstable ice and unsafe working conditions. At first they were determined to move deeper into the ice field, but they soon encountered energetic low frequency swell. Over the course of an hour, the ice near the ship broke up and swell grew to 4 m in height. The ship fled to the swell shadow of nearby Hopen Island, but luckily the data collected beforehand provided an opportunity to compare with a wave model and study the wave - ice interaction. Before the breakup of the ice, the pack-ice effectively blocked all incoming wave energy. After the breakup, the low frequency swell height matched that of a 3G spectral wave model without ice representation, indicating little or no attenuation at these frequencies. Higher frequency, lower energy waves were attenuated, and there was evidence of low pass filtering which appeared to depend on the local floe size distribution.
