Dr Steve Rintoul
Program Leader, Climate and Variability
Dr Tony Worby, Australian Antarctic Division
Project Leader, Climate Variability and Change

03 6226 2985
A.Worby@acecrc.org.au
CVC-02: Ocean–Atmosphere–Cryosphere Interactions at the Antarctic Margin

Project Overview

The goal of this project is to characterise and understand the variability of Southern Ocean sea ice and the interaction between the ocean, atmosphere and cryosphere at the Antarctic margin. 

Sea ice plays a critically important role in both the physical and biological processes of the Southern Ocean, affecting many other processes that are essential to driving and maintaining the global climate system. These include deep ocean circulation through brine rejection when sea ice forms, fresh water transport as a result of sea ice drift and snow cover accumulation, and changes in momentum and energy transfer between the ocean and atmosphere as a result of sea ice formation. Changes in the annual production, extent or physical properties of the sea ice would therefore have wide-ranging impacts on many other processes that affect climate and weather in areas of the globe far removed from Antarctica. Changes in the sea ice cover would also directly impact the habitat of many species of animals that live on, within or immediately under the ice, and may therefore have dramatic effects on the ecosystem dynamics of the Southern Ocean.  

Despite the importance, and sensitivity, of these processes around the Antarctic margin, the sea ice zone remains one of the most data sparse regions of the Earth. The outcome of this project will therefore be more reliable predictions of variability and change within the sea ice zone, with particular focus on sea ice thickness and drift, and the physical properties of the ice and snow cover that affect ocean-atmosphere interaction, and influence marine ecosystems. 

Project Objectives

  • To characterise and understand the present state, and natural variability of sea ice and its interactions with the ocean and atmosphere.
  • To understand how a changing sea ice cover will affect climate through its interactions with the ocean and atmosphere.
  • To better understand how sea ice may respond to future climate change.
  • To relate changes in Southern Ocean sea ice to variability in biogeochemical cycles and ecosystem dynamics.

National Collaborators

International Collaborators