Abstract:

Accelerated decline of summer and winter Arctic sea ice has been demonstrated progressively. Melt ponds play a key role in enhancing the feedback of solar radiation in the ice/ocean-atmosphere system, and have thus been a focus of researchers and modelers. A new melt pond investigation system was designed to determine morphologic and hydrologic features, and their evolution. This system consists of three major parts: Temperature-salinity measuring (TSM), surface morphology monitoring (SMM), and water depth monitoring (WDM) units. The setup was deployed during the ice camp period of the 4th Chinese Arctic Research Expedition in summer 2010 (CHINARE2010). The evolution of a typical Arctic melt pond was documented in terms of pond depth, shape and surface condition. These datasets are presented to scientifically reveal how involved parameters change, contributing to better understanding of the evolution mechanism of the melt pond. The main advantage of this system is its suitability for autonomous and long-term observation, over and within a melt pond. Further, the setup is portable and robust. It can be easily and quickly installed, which is most valuable for deployment under harsh conditions.

Key words: Observing system, melt pond, morphology, Arctic