Hobart

Seminar Abstract

Friday 14 May 2010, 11.30am (Tas time)
CSIRO Auditorium, Hobart

Takeshi Tamura
ACE CRC, University of Tasmania
Previous Affiliation: Institute of Low Temperature Science, Hokkaido University

Global mapping of sea ice production

The sinking of dense water in the polar regions drives the global thermohaline circulation, leading to heat and material exchange between the atmosphere and deep ocean. Active sea-ice production in coastal polynyas causes dense water formation, finally leading to Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW) formation in the Southern Ocean, and thus polynya monitoring including an estimate of thin ice thickness is essential. This study presents the first mapping of sea ice production in the both polar oceans, based on heat-flux calculation with ice thickness data derived from satellite data. The Cape Darnley polynya in East Antarctica is found to be the second highest production area in the Southern Ocean, suggesting a possible new dense water or AABW formation area. Motivated by this result, the Japanese program of the International Polar Year plans to focus on this polynya and is now deploying ADCPs and Ice Profiling Sonars. The mapping also provides the basic information for the surface heat- and salt-flux conditions in the ice-covered sea, which have not been well understood, and will be useful for validating and providing boundary conditions for coupled atmosphere-ice-ocean models.

Seminar recording

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Location:
CSIRO = Marine Laboratories Auditorium, Castray Esplanade, Hobart

For further information, or to schedule a seminar, contact:
To schedule a seminar, contact:
Clothilde Langlais, (Oceanographic seminars) CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research (03) 6232 5399
Natalie Kelly, (Biology/Modelling seminars) CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research 0438 452 483
Jillian Enraght-Moony, (seminar administrator) CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research (03) 6232 5320
Communications Manager, Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems CRC (03) 6226 2265
Margaret Hazelwood, Institute of Antarctic and Southern Ocean Studies (IASOS) University of Tasmania (03) 6226 2971

Last updated 25/05/10