Sea ice in the Arctic Ocean is undergoing rapid change, with sea ice extension reduced by 50% in the last 30 years, sea ice thickness plummeted by 40%, and models significantly underrepresenting this ongoing reduction, both temporally and spatially. To understand the processes at play and to improve models, it is essential to obtain high‐precision, long‐term observations of sea ice variation over pan‐Arctic spatial scales. As part of the “Arctic Ocean Sea‐ice and Ocean Circulation Changes Using Satellite Methods” (SATICE) Project, we are developing a polar GPS buoys capable of monitoring three‐dimensional motions of the sea ice surface with cm‐level accuracy and a temporal resolution of up to 1 Hz. Besides investigating sea ice dynamics, the strategic deployment of a network of these systems will allow us to improve tidal models and ocean dynamic topography in the Arctic Ocean, and to calibrate satellite missions focused on sea ice freeboard and mass balance estimates, such as Cryosat‐2. We will describe these systems and discuss how they will be used to address sea ice oceanography in the Arctic Ocean

I Encuentro de la Oceanografía Física Española (EOF), 13-15 de octubre 2010, Barcelona

Peer reviewed