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Direct measurement of the attenuation of ocean waves by pack ice

Nature volume 283, pages 365–368 (1980)Cite this article

Abstract

Early experimental work in the Antarctic1 using a ship-borne wave recorder has shown that pack ice can significantly attenuate incoming ocean waves, particularly those of shorter period. Wadhams2,3 has subsequently reported similar wave decay through Arctic ice in data obtained remotely by means of airborne laser profiling and inverted echo sounding from a submarine. The two predominant mechanisms by which the decay can occur—scattering by individual ice floes and energy loss by creep within each flexing floe—have been studied theoretically by Wadhams4,5, Squire6,7, and Squire and Allan8. We present here the results of further experiments to measure wave decay which took place in the Bering Sea during spring 1979 from the research ship Surveyor of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration9. During the cruise, oceanographic, meteorological and remote sensing data were also collected10,11. The results show the energy decay of waves in pack ice to be exponential with an attenuation coefficient which increases with decreasing wave period.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge, UK

    Vernon A. Squire & Stuart C. Moore

Authors
  1. Vernon A. Squire
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  2. Stuart C. Moore
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Squire, V., Moore, S. Direct measurement of the attenuation of ocean waves by pack ice. Nature 283, 365–368 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1038/283365a0

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