Surface wave measurement by drifting wave buoys (MR18-05C)

Recent research has recognized surface ocean waves as one of the key physical processes in sea ice freeze up in autumn in the western Arctic Ocean. By deploying two drifting wave buoys in partially ice-covered water and adjacent open water, we aimed to study wave characteristics during the back and forth sea ice advance and retreat primarily driven by surface winds. On-ice winds bring relatively warm air over open water as well as surface waves; waves are decayed through damping and scattering as they enter ice-covered waters, and wave attenuation and sea ice break up observation are the key processes we aimed to capture. Furthermore, wave growth over ice-covered water during off-ice winds are also of interest.近期研究已证实，表层海浪（surface ocean waves）是北冰洋西部海域秋季海冰冻结（sea ice freeze up）过程中的关键物理过程之一。本研究通过在部分覆冰海域及毗邻开阔海域部署两套漂流式海浪浮标（drifting wave buoys），旨在探究主要由表层风力驱动的海冰进退往复过程中的海浪特征。冰面风（on-ice winds）会将相对暖湿空气及表层海浪输送至开阔海域；海浪进入覆冰海域后会因阻尼与散射作用发生衰减，海浪衰减（wave attenuation）与海冰破碎（sea ice break up）观测是本研究旨在捕捉的两项核心过程。 此外，离岸风（off-ice winds）作用下覆冰海域的海浪生成过程同样是本研究的关注重点。