An examination of the distribution of snow on sea‐ice

Abstract Snow on sea‐ice is an integral, yet poorly understood, component of the ocean‐sea‐ice‐atmosphere interface. Snow exerts a significant control on both shortwave and conductive fluxes due to its high albedo and low thermal conductivity. Parameters pertaining to snow distribution and/or thickness are hard to model and/or to measure using geospatial techniques. In terms of Arctic hydrology, we consider three aspects of snow important to understanding processes operating within the ocean‐sea‐ice‐atmosphere interface: i) the average magnitude of snow thickness on sea‐ice; ii) the spatial distribution of snow as a function of location and ice type; and iii) the seasonal evolution of both magnitude and distribution. In this paper we focus on the second aspect; distribution. The distribution patterns of snow over first‐year (FYI), multiyear (MYI) and rubble (RI) sea‐ice were evaluated at 15 sites, sampled during two years of field research in the Canadian Arctic. A geostatistical technique known as the va...

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