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Cruise Objectives

The principal goal of this cruise was to fully capture the space/time evolution of air-ice-ocean interactions initiated during Autumn and tracked into winter-spring in the Ross Sea.

  • Obtain precision measurements of the atmospheric and oceanic heat balance at the surface.
  • Determine the effect of katabatic wind surges on low-level warming and ice growth.
  • Measure ocean property changes affecting sensible heat loss and water mass transformation.
  • Concurrent with these air and ocean measurements make observations and measurements of ice growth and ice thickness evolution.
  • Extend detailed measurements through autonomous buoy and aircraft measurements of ice thickness changes, surface meteorology and upper ocean properties.