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SUMMARY:Snow on sea ice: poorly observed\, poorly modelled\, poorly unders
 tood - Robbie Mallet\, University College London
DTSTART:20211117T140000Z
DTEND:20211117T150000Z
UID:TALK163354@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Dr. Shenjie Zhou
DESCRIPTION:Sea ice in the Arctic Ocean is melting as the region warms at 
 three times the global average. However the sea ice itself is generally no
 t exposed to the warming air\, but instead lies under a blanket of thermal
 ly insulating and highly reflective snow. In summer\, the snow acts as a s
 hield for the sea ice\, keeping it cold\, dark and frozen\; in winter\, sn
 ow keeps the sea ice warm and slows its recovery. Snow also obscures the s
 ea ice from satellite measurements. In particular\, it significantly compl
 icates measurements of sea ice thickness\, and so introduces great uncerta
 inty into estimates of the total amount of sea ice. Given the key importan
 ce of snow on sea ice\, it may therefore be surprising that it was describ
 ed by a 2019 IPCC report as "essentially unmeasured"\, and a "key knowledg
 e gap" in our understanding of the cryosphere. My research fills this gap 
 by analysing state-of-the-art model output and tens of thousands of cold-w
 ar-era observations. Insights from these data have been used to improve sa
 tellite-based estimates of sea ice thickness and volume. Work is now under
 way to better understand the timing of melt onset in the Arctic Ocean\, an
 d to improve the representation of sea ice in global climate models.
LOCATION:British Antarctic Survey\, Zoom
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