Ice and Icebergs Drift in the Svalbard Region
摘要
Svalbard region is of interest for shipping and offshore development. Sea ice conditions influence navigational roots and physical environmental actions on ships and offshore structures. Icebergs are formed due to the calving of outflow glaciers of Spitsbergen, Franz Joseph Land, and Novaya Zemlya. Ice maps and satellite images show ice conditions in the Barents Sea on a daily basis. Representative time of sea ice and icebergs dynamics determined by tidal currents and wind is several hours. The maximal drift speed can be much greater than the mean drift speed averaged over the tidal period. Ice tracking buoys transmitting GPS data over the Iridium system are used to calculate ice drift with a time resolution of ten-twenty minutes. Ice trackers equipped with thermometers, anemometers, and inertial measurements units (IMU) transmit the data on ice and water temperature, wind velocity near the ice surface, and accelerations. The acceleration data are used to reconstruct characteristics of surface waves propagating below the drift ice. Melting and deterioration of ice floes and icebergs influence relatively short working period of ice tracking buoys. In this chapter we discuss the data transmitted by ice tracking buoys deployed on drifting sea ice and icebergs in the Svalbard region from 2008 to 2019.