|
Home | Warfighter Support | Installations | Environment | Water Resources | Information Technology | About Us | Partnering Opportunities |
Home from the North Pole
CRREL researchers Dr. Donald Perovich and Bruce Elder were aboard the Healy, leading studies of the morphological and optical properties of the Arctic sea ice cover. Arctic temperatures are so cold the ocean surface freezes. Sea ice covers an area comparable to the size of the United States, but is only a veneer several feet thick floating on the ocean. Scientists believe this sea ice cover is a key indicator and potential amplifier of global climate change. Perovich, a senior research geophysicist, and Elder, a physical scientist are veterans of dozens of polar field campaigns, but this was their first trip to the pole. Their goal was to determine the state of the sea ice cover, how much of the ocean was ice-covered, how thick the ice was, and what the ice surface conditions were.
The Arctic sea ice cover may amplify climate change through positive feedbacks such as the ice-albedo feedback. The albedo is simply the fraction of sunlight reflected by the surface. The snow-covered sea ice reflects most (more than 80 percent) of the incident sunlight, but some is absorbed. This absorbed sunlight leads to melting, which in turn lowers the albedo, resulting in more absorbed sunlight, increasing melting, and lowering the albedo even more. Perovich and Elder made extensive measurements of the albedo examining variations both in space and time. Even though the experiment has ended, the measurements will continue. The team left four autonomous buoys to measure air temperature, ice drift, and ice growth and melting for the next three years. "The buoys can last three years, sending us data by satellite every day. It's the next best thing to being there," Elder, the builder of the buoys, said. To learn more about and view the images of this National Science Foundation-funded project, visit the Ice Team's Trans-Arctic Expedition webpage at http://psc.apl.washington.edu/arctic_basin/. CRREL is one of seven laboratories that make up the ERDC. The ERDC is the premier research and development facility for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers with more than 2,000 employees, $1.2 billion in facilities, and an annual research program approaching $700 million. It conducts research in both military and civil works mission areas for the Department of Defense and the nation. CRREL is the only Department of Defense Laboratory addressing problems and opportunities unique to the world's cold regions. Located in Hanover, N.H., CRREL also has field offices in Fairbanks and Anchorage, Alaska.
|
Privacy and Security Notice The POC for this page: ERDC feedback
|