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Remote Sensing of Polar Ocean, Sea Ice and Atmosphere Dynamics

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A special issue of Remote Sensing (ISSN 2072-4292). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Remote Sensing".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2023) | Viewed by 8691

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Igor E. Kozlov

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Guest Editor

Remote Sensing Department, Marine Hydrophysical Institute of RAS, Sevastopol 299011, Russia
Interests: remote sensing; SAR imaging; mesoscale and submesoscale ocean dynamics; surface currents; internal waves; eddies; fronts; Arctic Ocean, Southern Ocean
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Prof. Dr. Alexander Osadchiev

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Guest Editor

Department of Physics, Shirshov Institute of Oceanology, Russian Academy of Sciences, 117997 Moscow, Russia
Interests: marine remote sensing; satellite remote sensing; aerial remote sensing; coastal waters; river plumes; ocean dynamics; inland seas; Arctic Ocean; Southern Ocean
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Arseny Kubryakov

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Guest Editor

Remote Sensing Department, Marine Hydrophysical Institute of RAS, Sevastopol 299011, Russia
Interests: altimetry; mesoscale and submesoscale eddies; ocean dynamics; biooptical properties
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The Polar Oceans have been regions of unprecedented scientific interest in recent decades due to their great influence on the ongoing climate change and vice versa. The Polar Oceans are among the most susceptible regions to climate change in the world, experiencing drastic warming and sea ice decline, which strongly influence global climate and global thermohaline circulation. Moreover, these regions contain large continental margins with vast mineral and biological marine resources. As a result, studies of ocean, sea ice, and atmosphere dynamics, and their impact on the thermohaline structure, water mixing, biological productivity, and transport of biogeochemical substances and pollutants in the Polar Oceans are of paramount scientific importance.

Remote sensing studies are especially important in the poorly sampled Arctic and Southern Oceans due to their remoteness and extreme weather conditions. Satellite, airborne, and UAV observations can significantly substitute sparse and limited in situ data collected in the Arctic and Southern Oceans. Joint analysis of remote sensing observations, hydrographic ship-, ice-, and autonomous platform-based measurements, and results of numerical models is very efficient for understanding processes in the complex air–sea ice–ocean system, their interactions, and implications in the context of the ongoing climate change.

In this Special Issue, we welcome papers focusing on remote sensing of ocean, sea ice, and atmosphere dynamics in the Polar Oceans, including, but not limited to:

Large-scale ocean circulation, gyres and current systems;
Mesoscale and submesoscale ocean dynamics (eddies, internal waves, fronts and filaments) and their influence on water mixing and sea ice properties;
Coastal and shelf processes, including coastal erosion, coastal upwelling, and cross-shelf water exchange;
Freshwater transport and river plumes;
Sea ice dynamics and ice cover variability at different spatial and temporal scales;
Processes in the marginal ice zone and formation of meltwater fronts;
Wind waves, their generation and influence on sea ice and hydrology;
Polar lows and other atmospheric extremes;
Variations of sea level and the large-scale water balance;
Marine pollution, including macro- and microplastics;
Impact of ocean and sea ice dynamics on biological productivity and transport of biogeochemical substances and pollutants;
Interaction processes in the coupled atmosphere–sea ice–ocean system.

Dr. Igor E. Kozlov
Prof. Dr. Alexander Osadchiev
Dr. Arseny Kubryakov
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Remote Sensing is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

satellite remote sensing
large-scale ocean circulation
mesoscale and submesoscale ocean dynamics
sea ice dynamics
freshwater transport
biogeochemistry and pollutants
atmospheric extremes
air–sea ice–ocean interactions
Arctic Ocean
Southern Ocean

Published Papers (7 papers)

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22 pages, 22245 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Multi-Sensor Observations Reveal Large-Amplitude Nonlinear Internal Waves in the Kara Gates, Arctic Ocean

by Igor E. Kozlov, Ilya O. Kopyshov, Dmitry I. Frey, Eugene G. Morozov, Igor P. Medvedev, Arina I. Shiryborova, Ksenya P. Silvestrova, Aleksandr V. Gavrikov, Elizaveta A. Ezhova, Dmitry M. Soloviev, Evgeny V. Plotnikov, Vladislav R. Zhuk, Pavel V. Gaisky, Alexander A. Osadchiev and Natalia B. Stepanova

Remote Sens. 2023, 15(24), 5769; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs15245769 - 17 Dec 2023

Viewed by 1554

Abstract

We present multi-sensor measurements from satellites, unmanned aerial vehicle, marine radar, thermal profilers, and repeated conductivity–temperature–depth casts made in the Kara Gates strait connecting the Barents and the Kara Seas during spring tide in August 2021. Analysis of the field data during an 18-h period from four stations provides evidence that a complex sill in the Kara Gates is the site of regular production of intense large-amplitude nonlinear internal waves. Satellite data show a presence of a relatively warm northeastward surface current from the Barents Sea toward the Kara Sea attaining 0.8–0.9 m/s. Triangle-shaped measurements using three thermal profilers revealed pronounced vertical thermocline oscillations up to 40 m associated with propagation of short-period nonlinear internal waves of depression generated by stratified flow passing a system of shallow sills in the strait. The most intense waves were recorded during the ebb tide slackening and reversal when the background flow was predominantly supercritical. Observed internal waves had wavelengths of ~100 m and traveled northeastward with phase speeds of 0.8–0.9 m/s. The total internal wave energy per unit crest length for the largest waves was estimated to be equal to 1.0–1.8 MJ/m. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Remote Sensing of Polar Ocean, Sea Ice and Atmosphere Dynamics)

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18 pages, 25937 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Interannual Variability of Salinity in the Chukchi Sea and Its Relationships with the Dynamics of the East Siberian Current during 1993–2020

by Vladislav R. Zhuk and Arseny A. Kubryakov

Remote Sens. 2023, 15(24), 5648; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs15245648 - 6 Dec 2023

Viewed by 854

Abstract

The interannual features of the salinity in the Chukchi Sea during the ice-free period of a year are investigated on the base of Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) satellite measurements and GLORYS12v1 reanalysis data. Analysis of salinity measurements revealed two types of Bering Summer Waters (BSW) propagation: “western” and “eastern”. The first is characterized by the penetration of Pacific waters into the northwest part of the sea, as well as the propagation of BSW to 180°W and 72.5°N. During the “eastern” type, salty waters are pressed to the eastern part of the shelf. Their area decreases and the northern boundary of the BSW area shifts to 174–176°W. Areas with low salinity, ~29 psu, are observed in the western part of the sea. Our study reveals that the formation of these types is affected not only by the inflow of Pacific waters through the Bering Strait but also by the East Siberian Current (ESC). Both factors are related and lead to correlated changes in the salinity of the Chukchi Sea waters. ESC carries Arctic freshwaters from west to east and leads to a decrease in salinity in the western part of the sea. At the same time, southward ESC caused the blockage of the northward currents in the Bering Strait and a decrease in the influx of saline Pacific waters in the southern part of the Chukchi Sea. The intensification of ESC occurred in 1994, 2002, 2012, and 2016, when the volume transport of ESC increased by approximately 0.2 Sv, while the influx through the Bering Strait decreased. As a result, in the years with intense ESC, the spatial structure of the salinity of the Chukchi Sea changed significantly and the shelf-averaged salinity decreased by 0.3–0.5 psu. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Remote Sensing of Polar Ocean, Sea Ice and Atmosphere Dynamics)

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13 pages, 16497 KiB

Open AccessCommunication

Influence of the Coriolis Force on Spreading of River Plumes

by Alexander Osadchiev, Ivan Alfimenkov and Vladimir Rogozhin

Remote Sens. 2023, 15(13), 3397; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs15133397 - 4 Jul 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1220

Abstract

Wind is the main external force that governs the spreading of river plumes in the sea. Many previous studies demonstrated that the spreading direction of river plumes (especially small plumes) generally coincides with wind direction. At the same time, the majority of river plumes are strongly affected by the Coriolis force, which is also among the baseline knowledge about the plumes. In this study, we focus on the deflection of plumes from wind direction induced by the Coriolis force, which received little attention before. For this purpose, we analyzed an extensive set of Landsat 8 and Sentinel-2 satellite images of multiple small- and medium-sized river plumes at different parts of the World Ocean and synchronous wind reanalysis data. We demonstrated that the deflection angle is stable for individual river plumes for different wind directions, albeit with certain limitations related to wind speed and coastal morphology. Moreover, the deflection angle is similar for river plumes located at similar latitudes and varies from ~0° near the Equator to 15–25° in temperate zones and ~30° in polar zones. Finally, we derived a direct relation between latitude and the deflection angle. The obtained results contribute to our understanding of universal features of river plume dynamics, which is important for monitoring and forecasting of delivery and fate of fluvial water and river-borne matter in different coastal regions of the World Ocean. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Remote Sensing of Polar Ocean, Sea Ice and Atmosphere Dynamics)

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19 pages, 6132 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Spatial Probability Characteristics of Waves Generated by Polar Lows in Nordic and Barents Seas

by Maria Yurovskaya, Vladimir Kudryavtsev and Bertrand Chapron

Remote Sens. 2023, 15(11), 2729; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs15112729 - 24 May 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1084

Abstract

Polar lows (PLs) are mesoscale, up to 1000 km, rather short lifetime (less than 15–30 h) cyclonic atmospheric systems formed in polar latitudes and associated with cold outbreak events. Strong winds, higher than 15 m/s, can then generate high surface waves which may pose danger to marine and coastal infrastructures. To investigate the probability of high waves generated by PLs in the Nordic and Barents Seas, analysis can be performed using available PL statistical distributions obtained from satellite passive microwave data, MODIS infrared imagery and ASCAT scatterometer data. Classical self-similar laws for wind waves development based on the extended duration concept are used to obtain first-guess estimates of significant wave height and the wavelength of waves generated by PL. All possible combinations of PL parameters (maximum wind speed, lifetime, diameter, translation velocity and direction of propagation) are considered to obtain the occurrence of waves exceeding specified levels, ranging from 2 to 15 m for significant wave height and from 100 to 500 m for wavelength. Particularly, PL-generated waves higher than 4 m occur up to 6 times a year, higher than 8 m occur up to 2–3 times a year, higher than 10 m occur up to once a year, the probability of 12 m waves is one event in several years and 15 m SWHs occur less than once in a decade. The area most affected by strong waves from PLs is the near shore zone around the Scandinavian peninsula, northward from the North Cape. The relative contribution of PLs in the formation of the waves field in the Nordic and Barents Seas is discussed. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Remote Sensing of Polar Ocean, Sea Ice and Atmosphere Dynamics)

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Graphical abstract

23 pages, 12660 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Eddies in the Arctic Ocean Revealed from MODIS Optical Imagery

by Evgeny A. Morozov and Igor E. Kozlov

Remote Sens. 2023, 15(6), 1608; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs15061608 - 15 Mar 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1564

Abstract

Here we investigate properties of ocean eddies in the key Arctic region of the northern Greenland Sea and the Fram Strait using visible and infrared Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Aqua data acquired from April to September in 2007 and 2018–2020. We infer eddy properties using visual identification and automated processing of their signatures in sea surface temperature (SST) and chlorophyll-a (chl-a) maps, and their gradients. Altogether, 450 (721) eddies were identified in SST (chl-a) data. Their radii span from 2 to 40 km (mean value 12 km). Most eddies are elliptical with a mean aspect ratio (eccentricity) of their axes equal 0.77 (0.64). Cyclones are smaller than anticyclones and prevail in both data sources. Cyclones tend to be more prevalent over shallow shelves, and anticyclones over deep water regions. Peak eddy activity is registered in June, while chl-a data also possess a second peak in April. In SST, the highest eddy probability is found along the East Greenland Current in the Nordbukta region at 76–78°N and along the West Spitsbergen Current at 78–80°N. In chl-a, most of them are observed in the central Fram Strait. The overall number of eddies with a positive chl-a anomaly, dominated by cyclones, is larger (62%) than that with a negative one (~38%). The number of eddies with positive and negative SST anomalies is nearly equal. Eddy translation velocities are 0.9–9.6 km/day (mean value 4.2 km/day). Despite frequent cloud and ice cover, MODIS data is a rich source of information on eddy generation hot-spots, their spatial properties, dynamics and associated SST and chl-a anomalies in the Arctic Ocean. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Remote Sensing of Polar Ocean, Sea Ice and Atmosphere Dynamics)

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Other

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16 pages, 9623 KiB

Open AccessTechnical Note

On Barotropic Response of Arctic Seas to Polar Lows: A Case Study in the Barents Sea

by Vladimir Kudryavtsev, Anastasiia Stokoz and Kirill Khvorostovsky

Remote Sens. 2023, 15(17), 4239; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs15174239 - 29 Aug 2023

Viewed by 585

Abstract

In the present paper, we investigate the sea surface height (SSH) anomalies caused by polar lows (PLs) crossing the central part of the Barents Sea and verify if the barotropic response is detectable in the shallow Arctic seas. Analysis of the SSH anomalies in response to the passage of two PLs is performed using satellite altimeter measurements and model simulations. The observed SSH anomalies contained an inverse barometer correction; therefore, they were presumably caused only by the action of surface wind stress in the PLs. The SSH anomalies along the satellite altimeter tracks had the shape of a trough, with the lowest surface height near the center of the PL. The observed anomalies were well distinguished within about one day after the PL passage, with the largest negative value of 0.6 m. The SSH anomalies are analyzed using a simplified model of the ocean barotropic response to the surface wind stress, derived from the hourly wind fields provided in the ERA5 reanalysis dataset. The model quantitatively reproduced the SSH anomalies along most satellite altimeter tracks crossing the PL trajectories. The model simulations revealed that the largest negative SSH anomalies were observed in areas where the PL translation velocity was low and its moving direction changed with the trajectory curvature radius, which was much smaller than the barotropic radius of deformation. The estimated quasi-geostrophic current velocities corresponding to the SSH anomalies in the wakes of the PLs reached 0.15 m/s, which were comparable to the current velocities observed in the Barents Sea. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Remote Sensing of Polar Ocean, Sea Ice and Atmosphere Dynamics)

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12 pages, 3933 KiB

Open AccessTechnical Note

Sea Ice Detection by an Unsupervised Method Using Ku- and Ka-Band Radar Data at Low Incidence Angles: First Results

by Maria Panfilova and Vladimir Karaev

Remote Sens. 2023, 15(14), 3530; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs15143530 - 13 Jul 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 991

Abstract

This paper presents the first results of sea ice detection using the data of Ka- and Ku-band radars at low incidence angles. A classification method based on an unsupervised K-means approach is applied to the arrays of the data for the Arctic and Antarctic regions. Comparison with Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer 2 (AMSR-2) data was performed, and the dependence of classification performance was evaluated for incidence angles from 0° to 18.15°. This paper evaluates the classification accuracy of sea ice detection based on Ku-band, Ka-band, and their combination. Preliminary results indicate that the classification based solely on Ku-band data achieves the best performance. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Remote Sensing of Polar Ocean, Sea Ice and Atmosphere Dynamics)

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