Wave climate in the marginal ice zone as observed by altimeters

With retreat of Arctic sea ice, wind waves are generated over summer months. However, wave effects in the marginal ice zone are largely unknown and knowledge of the wave climate is required for the safety of navigation and maritime applications in the arctic seas. The aim is to investigate the wave climate and its trends by means of satellite altimetry. Wave model for the Seas of Beaufort and Chukchi will also be developed, validated using observations, and predicted for the future wave-climate developments. A trend in wave height can potentially result in either an intensification of ice break-up or growing of ice extent by layering. The Arctic wave climate for ice-free regions is analysed for trends in the wave height using observations from altimeters and floating buoys. Satellite altimeters provide information of wave height and surface winds over the period of existence of the marginal ice zones. The Altimeter cover areas up to 82 and 88 degrees North, for ENVISAT and CRYOSAT2 altimeter missions, respectively. ENVISAT observations are used to calculate sea ice extent over the period of operation between 2002 and 2012. Although, ENVISAT retired in 2012, missions like Sentinel-3 will provide near global coverage in future of ocean wave height and wind speed. Sea ice is derived from radar backscatter in order to have an algorithm that can be applied to multiple platforms. To validate the skill of algorithm we used well established sea ice maps from brightness temperature classification and maps derived from SSM/I data. The trends are not uniform in time and space and preliminary results indicate increase and decrease in mean wave height in the Arctic Ocean. Due to significance for ocean dynamics and global atmospheric climate, respective investigations of the wind/wave climate is important.