Projected onset of sea ice freeze-up on the Chukchi Sea continental shelf in 2017
PMEL is initiating an experimental sea ice fall freeze-up outlook for northern Alaskan waters. The 2017 freeze onset on the Chukchi Sea continental shelf northwest of Icy Cape will begin near the end of November to the first week of December. This is approximately 36 days later than the long-term observed mean (1981-2016).
Study area and reference zones for freeze onset (a), Sea Surface Temperature (SST) (b), and ALAMO deployment area (c). AXBT and radiometer SST data were collected over the region between Bering Strait and the northern shelf break. Reference area (a) was selected because of the availability of oceanographic moorings and ship-based CTD data along the PMEL Icy Cape and Distributed Biological Observatory lines that will be available for data validation and other future research.
