Quantifying the contribution of sea ice and polynyas to global carbon flux

The polar oceans provide a significant proportion of the global air-sea CO2 flux and yet the dynamics of these regions and how this impacts on the flux are not well understood. Sea ice and gaps in the sea ice, known as polynyas which are recognised as areas of high primary production, have the potential to contribute a significant percentage of the mean annual air-sea flux of CO2 yet there is limited knowledge of how their spatial and temporal variations affect CO2 flux globally. There is still debate on the importance of the CO2 flux, known to occur through sea ice, to the global budget as well as how reduced sea ice extent and thickness may affect this flux. With a current trend of reduction in the multi-year sea ice extent and a move towards a first-year dominated sea ice regime, the impact on this flux becomes more important in determining the future changes in atmospheric CO2. Our work investigates the spatial and temporal distribution of sea ice and polynyas and the potential flux contributions of such regions as derived from satellite, in-situ and model data. Initial results are presented.