Snow, Wind, Sun, and Time - How snow-driven processes control the Arctic sea ice

Snowfall on Arctic sea ice is important for a number of reasons. The snowpack insulates sea ice from the cold winter atmosphere, redistribution of snow alters the surface roughness of the ice, light scattering in the snow increases ice albedo and reduces light transmission, and the weight of early season snow can result in ice surface flooding. An integrated set of field observations were collected to better understand how snowfall and, particularly, snow redistribution processes impact Arctic ice mass balance. Coincident measurements of snow depth and ice thickness on un-deformed first year ice indicate that snow dunes 'lock' in place early in the winter growth season, resulting in thinner ice beneath the dunes due to lower rates of energy loss. Coincident ground-based LiDAR measurements of surface topography and snow depth show that snow dune formation is largely responsible for the topographic relief of otherwise flat first year ice. Past work has shown that pond formation during the early melt season is strongly guided by the snow-controlled relative surface heights at a given site. Here multiple study sites are examined in an effort to better understand how differing patterns of snow redistribution can impact the overall extent of melt ponds, and therefore ice albedo. The results enhance basic knowledge of how snow processes control sea ice mass balance, and evoke several questions which must be answered in order to understand how changing precipitation regimes may affect sea ice in the Arctic.