Transdrift: Arctic Ice-Ocean-Interaction

The EM-Bird over thin ice: The picture was taken with a nadir-looking camera that was mounted inside the MI-8 helicopter. It shows the EM-Bird 15 meter above a layer of rafted thin ice, approximately 10 centimeter thick.

Understanding changes that appear at the major flux gates such as the Fram Strait, requires a closer look at the origin of the ice leaving the Arctic Ocean. 

It is assumed that a substantial part of the Fram Strait export is formed in the Siberian shelf seas, connected with Fram Strait via the Transpolar Drift. Among the Siberian shelf seas the Laptev Sea is considered one of the most significant regions of net ice production and export. Given the importance of the Laptev Sea for the Arctic Ocean sea ice budget, aim of the Russian-German Research Cooperation “Laptev Sea System”, is to investigate how the ice export and ice formation in the Laptev Sea has changed throughout the past decades.

For more information, please see the Laptev See System Project Homepage