Three-dimensional imaging of waves and floes in the marginal ice zone during a cyclone

Alberto Alberello; Luke G Bennetts; Miguel Onorato; Marcello Vichi; Keith MacHutchon; Clare Eayrs; Butteur Ntamba Ntamba; Alvise Benetazzo; Filippo Bergamasco; Filippo Nelli; Rohinee Pattani; Hans Clarke; Ippolita Tersigni; Alessandro Toffoli

doi:10.1038/s41467-022-32036-2

Three-dimensional imaging of waves and floes in the marginal ice zone during a cyclone

Nat Commun. 2022 Aug 6;13(1):4590. doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-32036-2.

Authors

Alberto Alberello^{1

2

3}, Luke G Bennetts⁴, Miguel Onorato^{5

6}, Marcello Vichi^{7

8}, Keith MacHutchon⁹, Clare Eayrs¹⁰, Butteur Ntamba Ntamba¹¹, Alvise Benetazzo¹², Filippo Bergamasco¹³, Filippo Nelli¹⁴, Rohinee Pattani¹⁵, Hans Clarke¹⁶, Ippolita Tersigni¹⁶, Alessandro Toffoli¹⁶

Affiliations

¹ University of Adelaide, 5005, Adelaide, SA, Australia. alberto.alberello@outlook.com.
² The University of Melbourne, 3010, Parkville, VIC, Australia. alberto.alberello@outlook.com.
³ University of East Anglia, NR4 7TJ, Norwich, UK. alberto.alberello@outlook.com.
⁴ University of Adelaide, 5005, Adelaide, SA, Australia.
⁵ Università di Torino, 10125, Torino, Italy.
⁶ INFN, 10125, Torino, Italy.
⁷ Department of Oceanography, University of Cape Town, 7701, Rondebosch, South Africa.
⁸ Marine and Antarctic Research centre for Innovation and Sustainability (MARIS), University of Cape Town, 7701, Rondebosch, South Africa.
⁹ Department of Civil Engineering, University of Cape Town, 7701, Rondebosch, South Africa.
¹⁰ New York University Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
¹¹ Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 7535, Cape Town, South Africa.
¹² Istituto di Scienze Marine, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, 30122, Venice, Italy.
¹³ Università Ca' Foscari, 30123, Venice, Italy.
¹⁴ Swinburne University of Technology, 3022, Hawthorn, Australia.
¹⁵ Atkins, SW1E 5BY, London, United Kingdom.
¹⁶ The University of Melbourne, 3010, Parkville, VIC, Australia.

Abstract

The marginal ice zone is the dynamic interface between the open ocean and consolidated inner pack ice. Surface gravity waves regulate marginal ice zone extent and properties, and, hence, atmosphere-ocean fluxes and ice advance/retreat. Over the past decade, seminal experimental campaigns have generated much needed measurements of wave evolution in the marginal ice zone, which, notwithstanding the prominent knowledge gaps that remain, are underpinning major advances in understanding the region's role in the climate system. Here, we report three-dimensional imaging of waves from a moving vessel and simultaneous imaging of floe sizes, with the potential to enhance the marginal ice zone database substantially. The images give the direction-frequency wave spectrum, which we combine with concurrent measurements of wind speeds and reanalysis products to reveal the complex multi-component wind-plus-swell nature of a cyclone-driven wave field, and quantify evolution of large-amplitude waves in sea ice.