Currents and turbulent fluxes under the first-year sea ice in Resolute Passage, Northwest Territories, Canada

Oceanographic and sea ice cover data were taken in and below first-year landfast ice in Resolute Passage, Northwest Territories, Canada, in early May 1992. A time series of temperature profiles was measured across the ice layer and in the water below. Observations of the 3-D current regime in the frictional boundary layer under the ice were taken to describe the current regime and the turbulent heat and mass transfers adjacent to the ice-water interface. The temporal variabilities in current, temperature and salinity under the landfast ice appeared to be related to the dominant diurnal and semi-diurnal tidal components. Turbulent heat and momentum fluxes near the ice-water interface were estimated using the eddy correlation method. Over the 12 day sampling period, the mean friction velocity was 5.6 × 10−3 ms−1, the mean vertical eddy viscosity was 1.12 × 10−3 m2 s−1, the mean oceanic heat flux from the ocean to the ice was 32 W m−2, the mean drag coefficient was 5.4 × 10−3, and the mean heat transfer coefficient was 2.3 × 10−3.