Articles | Volume 17, issue 9
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-4103-2023
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-4103-2023
Research article
 | 
21 Sep 2023
Research article |  | 21 Sep 2023

New estimates of pan-Arctic sea ice–atmosphere neutral drag coefficients from ICESat-2 elevation data

Alexander Mchedlishvili, Christof Lüpkes, Alek Petty, Michel Tsamados, and Gunnar Spreen

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Cited articles

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Bagnardi, M., Kurtz, N. T., Petty, A. A., and Kwok, R.: Sea Surface Height Anomalies of the Arctic Ocean From ICESat-2: A First Examination and Comparisons With CryoSat-2, Geophys. Res. Lett., 48, e2021GL093155, https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GL093155, 2021. a
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In this study we looked at sea ice–atmosphere drag coefficients, quantities that help with characterizing the friction between the atmosphere and sea ice, and vice versa. Using ICESat-2, a laser altimeter that measures elevation differences by timing how long it takes for photons it sends out to return to itself, we could map the roughness, i.e., how uneven the surface is. From roughness we then estimate drag force, the frictional force between sea ice and the atmosphere, across the Arctic.
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