Circum-Antarctic sea-ice lead frequencies and regional characteristics from satellite imagery

• Applicants: Professor Dr. Günther Heinemann; Dr. Sascha Sebastian Willmes
• Subject Area: Oceanography ; Geodesy, Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing, Geoinformatics, Cartography
• Term: from 2016 to 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 314974661

The overall goal of this project is to provide insight into the spatial and temporal variability of the occurrence of wintertime leads within the Antarctic sea-ice cover. Leads are characterized by a very strong exchange of heat, moisture and momentum between the relatively warm ocean and the cold winter atmosphere. New ice is forming within leads and thereby contributes to the seasonal sea-ice mass balance. We intend to build upon a method that was recently developed to identify leads in the Arctic from thermal infrared satellite imagery. This method has to be implemented and expanded upon to satellite data from the Antarctic. Thereby, hemispheric peculiarities in sea-ice properties and atmospheric characteristics need to be accounted for, which means that algorithm adjustments need to be achieved by means of detailed validation and case studies. As a result, we expect in-depth information on where and when leads occur predominantly and how these frequency patterns are influenced by atmospheric and oceanic forcing mechanisms.

• DFG Programme: Infrastructure Priority Programmes
• Subproject of: SPP 1158: Antarctic Research with Comparable Investigations in Arctic Sea Ice Areas - with renewal proposal 2025 - 2030