E-Book Overview
At a time when the polar regions are undergoing rapid and unprecedented change, understanding exchanges of momentum, heat and salt at the ice-ocean interface is critical for realistically predicting the future state of sea ice. By offering a measurement platform largely unaffected by surface waves, drifting sea ice provides a unique laboratory for studying aspects of geophysical boundary layer flows that are extremely difficult to measure elsewhere. This book draws on both extensive observations and theoretical principles to develop a concise description of the impact of stress, rotation, and buoyancy on the turbulence scales that control exchanges between the atmosphere and underlying ocean when sea ice is present. Several interesting and unique observational data sets are used to illustrate different aspects of ice-ocean interaction ranging from the impact of salt on melting in the Greenland Sea marginal ice zone, to how nonlinearities in the equation of state for seawater affect mixing in the Weddell Sea.
E-Book Content
Air-Ice-Ocean Interaction
Miles McPhee
Air-Ice-Ocean Interaction Turbulent Ocean Boundary Layer Exchange Processes
ABC
Miles McPhee McPhee Research Company Naches, WA USA
ISBN 978-0-387-78334-5
e-ISBN 978-0-387-78335-2
Library of Congress Control Number: 2008928012 All Rights Reserved c 2008 Springer Science + Business Media B.V. No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher, with the exception of any material supplied specifically for the purpose of being entered and executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser of the work. Printed on acid-free paper 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 springer.com
Preface
The outline of this monograph is based loosely on a series of lectures delivered to students enrolled in the air–sea–ice interaction course at the University Center in Svalbard. Both the lectures and the book are products of over three decades of trying (sometimes struggling) to distill from measurements at nearly two dozen ice-station projects of varying size and complexity, a somewhat cogent view of how the boundary layer that develops between sea ice and the underlying ocean behaves. While from many other perspectives, polar oceanographic research is always challenging, from the point of view expressed in this book, its overriding advantage is that sea ice provides a platform for making turbulence measurements that are extremely difficult elsewhere. In other words, it is a superb natural laboratory for studying planetary boundary layers throughout their whole extent. Still, it is a laboratory that demands much of its users, and for useful results, almost always requires hard work, plus a high degree of cooperation and perseverance among many scientists and support personnel. For me, this has been one of the most rewarding aspects of spending most of a scientific career devoted to high-latitude studies. Time and again, I have seen the harsh environment bring out the best of people in terms of inventiveness and all around competence. And the best is often very, very good. It would be a disservice to the many who have helped with the measurements, analysis, theory, and funding, to single out individuals for special thanks—it has always been a completely collaborative effort. The one exception is that I wish to thank my wife, Saundra, for her patience with the immediate task of my writing this book, for her occasional help with the field work, for maintaining a close-knit family during my frequent absences on remote projects, but mainly for always supporting and sharing my passion for the scientific endeavor. Naches, Washington USA 2008