Autonomous Ice Mass Balance Observations for Changing Arctic Sea Ice Conditions

Results from observational data and predictive models agree: the state of the Arctic sea ice cover is in transition with a major shift from thick multiyear ice to thinner seasonal ice. The ice mass-balance represents the integration of all surface and ocean heat fluxes, and frequent temporal measurement can aid in attributing the impact of these forcing fluxes on the ice cover. Autonomous Ice Mass Balance buoys (IMB's) have proved to be important measurement tools allowing in situ, long-term data collection at multiple locations. Seasonal IMB's (SIMB's) are free floating versions of the IMB that allow data collection in thin ice and during times of transition. To accomplish this a custom computer was developed to integrate the scientific instruments, power management, and data communications while providing expanded autonomous functionality. This new design also allows for the easy incorporation of other sensors. Additionally, the latest generation of SIMB includes improvements to make it more stable, longer lasting, easier to deploy, and less expensive. Models can provide important insights as to where to deploy the sea ice mass balance buoys and what measurements are the most important. The resulting dataset from the buoys can be used to inform and assess model results.