Aircraft-based Estimates of Thin-ice Fraction near Sheba

The goal of the Surface Heat Budget of the Arctic Ocean (SHEBA) program is to gain knowledge of the important physical processes in, below, and above sea ice in order to improve their representation in global climate models. In order to provide the community with a test bed for evaluating sea ice model components, we are attempting to make accurate estimates of the thickness distribution for the entire SHEBA region. Many of the characteristics of sea ice depend primarily, although not exclusively, on the thickness of the ice (Thorndike et al., 1975). Because of this, one way of extending measurements of the ice properties and processes, such as albedo, growth rate, heat fluxes, and ice strength, from the local to the aggregate scale is through estimates of the ice thickness distribution.