Ice mass balance buoy

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Ice mass balance buoy installed in pressure ridge during MOSAiC expedition Ice mass balance buoy.jpg
Ice mass balance buoy installed in pressure ridge during MOSAiC expedition
Temperature profile of melting sea ice measured by ice mass balance buoy False bottom temperature.png
Temperature profile of melting sea ice measured by ice mass balance buoy
Pressure ridge interface temporal evolution obtained from ice mass balance buoy temperatures after heating cycle IMB heating.png
Pressure ridge interface temporal evolution obtained from ice mass balance buoy temperatures after heating cycle

An ice mass balance buoy (IMB) allows scientists studying sea ice to measure its temperature and the evolution of its interfaces remotely. The autonomous mass balance buoys usually consist of a data controller module and a temperature string. Some ice mass balance buoys also include acoustic sounders above and below the ice, measuring the positions of the snow-ice and ice-water interfaces.

Contents

Types

The main types of ice mass balance buoys include

The CRREL-Dartmouth Ice Mass Balance Buoy (IMB) includes two ice-facing acoustic rangefinders, a vertical temperature string, and air temperature and pressure sensors. These sensors are connected to a non-floating satellite-connected transmission package. Seasonal Ice Mass Balance Buoy (SIMB-1). The SIMB-1,2,3 instruments have the same sensor package as the CRREL-Dartmouth IMB but are enclosed in a spar-type buoy hull to improve their performance during the melt season. The lower-budget Snow and Ice Mass Balance Array (SIMBA) from SAMS includes only a vertical temperature string and a non-floating satellite-connected transmission package.

Characteristics

The main part of IMBs is a vertical chain of thermistors. The vertical spacing of the thermistors at modern IMBs is usually around 2–4 cm, while older versions had spacing around 10 cm. The accuracy of each sensor is generally within 0.1–0.5°C. Many modern IMBs measure in-situ temperatures and temperatures after a cycle of internal heating. In experimental fluid dynamics, such a mode is called a “hot-wire anemometer”. In IMBs, the heat is added by applying an excitation voltage to the resistor bonded to the temperature sensor. The temperature response of the sensor during heating depends on the thermal diffusivity of the surrounding medium (for solids like snow or ice) and the flow rate of the medium (for fluids like seawater or air). The heat transfer in fluids depends on the fluid velocity, and the response usually varies over time scales. The measurements of the temperature response to heating may be used to discriminate different layers within the air-snow-ice-ocean system.

The thermistor chain is usually installed in a standard hole produced by a 2-inch auger. A weight is attached to the bottom end to keep it straight. The data is typically returned after each sample using the Iridium SBD system, while some buoys require manual data collection. During the deployment, the manual measurements of snow thickness, ice draft and freeboard, and location of IMB sensors are usually made. The IMB deployment disturbs the system around sea ice. For example, snow may have poor contact with the thermistor chain. Additionally, the 2-inch hole may refreeze very slowly if the air temperatures are high or the snow is deep. In summer, the presence of the chain may lead to additional solar energy absorption, which may influence the rates of snow and ice melt.

Usage in research

IMBs were used in several Arctic and Antarctic expeditions, including the SHEBA expedition in Beaufort Gyre, N-ICE2015 expedition north of Svalbard, and the MOSAiC expedition across Transpolar drift.

The usage of IMBs revealed that in the Central Arctic regions with high sea ice concentration, surface and bottom ice melt are comparable. In contrast, in regions with low sea ice concentration, the amount of ice bottom melt is substantially larger. [5] IMBs can also be used to show spatial and temporal variability of sea ice growth and melt, also providing an estimate of ocean heat fluxes. [6] They can also be used for studying pressure ridges for analysis of their winter consolidation rates, [7] for analysis of ridge consolidation during their warming, [8] and to study effects of snow slush contribution to the ridge consolidation. [2] IMBs also allow the study of the temporal evolution of under-ice meltwater layers, conditions of false bottom formation, and their effect on ice melt rates. [1]

Data availability

The raw temperature and acoustic sounder or heating data is available for CRREL-Dartmouth IMBs, [9] CRREL-Dartmouth SIMB3 buoys, [10] and for SIMBA buoys. [11] The largest processed datasets with estimates of snow and sea ice thickness include 104 CRREL IMBs during 1993–2017, [12] 82 CRREL IMB and SIMB3 buoys during 1997–2024, [13] and 96 SIMBA buoys during 2012–2023. [14] A significant amount of IMBs were deployed during the MOSAiC expedition, including snow and ice thickness estimates from 22 SIMBA buoys [15] and 24 Digital Thermistor Chains. [16]

References

  1. 1 2 Salganik, E; Katlein, C; Lange, BA; Matero, I; Lei, R; Fong, AA; Fons, SW; Divine, D; Oggier, M; Castellani, G; Bozzato, D; Chamberlain, EJ; Hoppe, Clara J. M.; Müller, O; Gardner, J; Rinke, A; Pereira, PS; Ulfsbo, A; Marsay, C; Webster, MA; Maus, S; Høyland, KV; Granskog, MA (2023). "Temporal evolution of under-ice meltwater layers and false bottoms and their impact on summer Arctic sea ice mass balance". Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene. 11 (1). University of California Press: 00035. Bibcode:2023EleSA..11...35S. doi: 10.1525/elementa.2022.00035 . hdl: 10037/30456 . ISSN   2325-1026.
  2. 1 2 Salganik, E; Lange, BA; Itkin, P; Divine, D; Katlein, C; Nicolaus, M; Hoppmann, M; Neckel, N; Ricker, R; Høyland, KV; Granskog, MA (2023). "Different mechanisms of Arctic first-year sea-ice ridge consolidation observed during the MOSAiC expedition". Elem Sci Anth. 11 (1). University of California Press: 00008. Bibcode:2023EleSA..11....8S. doi: 10.1525/elementa.2023.00008 . hdl: 10037/29890 . ISSN   2325-1026.
  3. 1 2 Planck, CJ; Whitlock, J; Polashenski, C; Perovich, D (2019). "The evolution of the seasonal ice mass balance buoy". Cold Regions Science and Technology. 165: 102792. Bibcode:2019CRST..16502792P. doi: 10.1016/j.coldregions.2019.102792 . ISSN   0165-232X.
  4. ↑ Jackson, K; Wilkinson, J; Maksym, T; Meldrum, D; Beckers, J; Haas, C; Mackenzie, D (2013-11-01). "A Novel and Low-Cost Sea Ice Mass Balance Buoy". Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology. 30 (11): 2676–2688. Bibcode:2013JAtOT..30.2676J. doi: 10.1175/jtech-d-13-00058.1 . ISSN   0739-0572.
  5. ↑ Perovich, DK; Richter-Menge, Jacqueline A.; Jones, KF; Light, B; Elder, BC; Polashenski, C; Laroche, D; Markus, T; Lindsay, R (2011). "Arctic sea-ice melt in 2008 and the role of solar heating". Annals of Glaciology. 52 (57). International Glaciological Society: 355–359. Bibcode:2011AnGla..52..355P. doi: 10.3189/172756411795931714 . ISSN   0260-3055.
  6. ↑ Lei, R; Cheng, B; Hoppmann, M; Zhang, F; Zuo, G; Hutchings, JK; Lin, L; Lan, M; Wang, H; Regnery, J; Krumpen, T; Haapala, J; Rabe, B; Perovich, DK; Nicolaus, M (2022). "Seasonality and timing of sea ice mass balance and heat fluxes in the Arctic transpolar drift during 2019–2020". Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene. 10 (1). University of California Press: 000089. Bibcode:2022EleSA..10.0089L. doi: 10.1525/elementa.2021.000089 . ISSN   2325-1026.
  7. ↑ Høyland, KV (2002). "Consolidation of first-year sea ice ridges". Journal of Geophysical Research. 107 (C6). American Geophysical Union (AGU): 3062. Bibcode:2002JGRC..107.3062H. doi:10.1029/2000jc000526. ISSN   0148-0227.
  8. ↑ Shestov, A; Høyland, K; Ervik, Å (2018). "Decay phase thermodynamics of ice ridges in the Arctic Ocean". Cold Regions Science and Technology. 152. Elsevier BV: 23–34. Bibcode:2018CRST..152...23S. doi:10.1016/j.coldregions.2018.04.005. ISSN   0165-232X.
  9. ↑ "Archived Data – The CRREL-Dartmouth Mass Balance Buoy Program". The CRREL-Dartmouth Mass Balance Buoy Program – Monitoring the mass balance, motion, and thickness of sea ice. 2018-07-20. Retrieved 2025-03-29.
  10. ↑ "Cryosphere Innovation: Deploy, Collect, Discover". Cryosphere Innovation. Retrieved 2025-03-29.
  11. ↑ "Meereisportal". Data. Retrieved 2025-03-29.
  12. ↑ West, Alex; Collins, Mat; Blockley, Ed (2020-10-09). "Using Arctic ice mass balance buoys for evaluation of modelled ice energy fluxes". Geoscientific Model Development. 13 (10): 4845–4868. doi: 10.5194/gmd-13-4845-2020 . hdl: 10871/125857 . ISSN   1991-9603.
  13. ↑ Salganik, Evgenii; Landy, Jack (2025-03-27), Snow and sea ice thickness derived from measurements of CRREL ice mass balance buoys between 1997 and 2024, doi:10.5281/ZENODO.15096485
  14. ↑ Preußer, Andreas; Nicolaus, Marcel; Hoppmann, Mario (2025), Snow depth, sea ice thickness and interface temperatures derived from measurements of SIMBA buoys deployed in the Arctic Ocean and Southern Ocean between 2012 and 2023, doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.973193
  15. ↑ Lei, Ruibo; Cheng, Bin; Hoppmann, Mario; Zuo, Guangyu (2021), Snow depth and sea ice thickness derived from the measurements of SIMBA buoys deployed in the Arctic Ocean during the Legs 1a, 1, and 3 of the MOSAiC campaign in 2019-2020, doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.938244
  16. ↑ Salganik, Evgenii; Hoppmann, Mario; Scholz, Daniel; Arndt, Stefanie; Demir, Oguz; Divine, Dmitry V; Haapala, Jari; Hendricks, Stefan; Itkin, Polona; Katlein, Christian; Kolabutin, Nikolai; Lei, Ruibo; Matero, Ilkka; Nicolaus, Marcel; Raphael, Ian; Regnery, Julia; Oggier, Marc; Sheikin, Igor; Shimanchuk, Egor; Spreen, Gunnar (2023), Temperature and heating induced temperature difference measurements from Digital Thermistor Chains (DTCs) during MOSAiC 2019/2020, doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.964023
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