The Cryosphere
The Cryosphere
TC
Articles | Volume 20, issue 11
Articles | Volume 20, issue 11
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-20-6331-2026
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-20-6331-2026
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Articles | Volume 20, issue 11
Research article
 | 
06 Nov 2026
Research article |  | 06 Nov 2026

Linking the evolution of floe sizes to the sea-ice deformation history using SAR imagery

Nils Hutter and Cecilia M. Bitz

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Cited articles

Åström, J., Robertsen, F., Haapala, J., Polojärvi, A., Uiboupin, R., and Maljutenko, I.: A large-scale high-resolution numerical model for sea-ice fragmentation dynamics, The Cryosphere, 18, 2429–2442, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-2429-2024, 2024. a
Bateson, A. W., Feltham, D. L., Schröder, D., Wang, Y., Hwang, B., Ridley, J. K., and Aksenov, Y.: Sea ice floe size: its impact on pan-Arctic and local ice mass and required model complexity, The Cryosphere, 16, 2565–2593, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2565-2022, 2022. a, b, c
Beitsch, A., Kaleschke, L., and Kern, S.: Investigating High-Resolution AMSR2 Sea Ice Concentrations during the February 2013 Fracture Event in the Beaufort Sea, Remote Sens., 6, 3841–3856, https://doi.org/10.3390/rs6053841, 2014. a
Bouchat, A. and Tremblay, B.: Reassessing the Quality of Sea-Ice Deformation Estimates Derived From the RADARSAT Geophysical Processor System and Its Impact on the Spatiotemporal Scaling Statistics, J. Geophys. Res.-Oceans, 125, https://doi.org/10.1029/2019jc015944, 2020. a, b
Bouchat, A., Hutter, N., Chanut, J., Dupont, F., Dukhovskoy, D., Garric, G., Lee, Y. J., Lemieux, J.-F., Lique, C., Losch, M., Maslowski, W., Myers, P. G., Ólason, E., Rampal, P., Rasmussen, T., Talandier, C., Tremblay, B., and Wang, Q.: Sea Ice Rheology Experiment (SIREx): 1. Scaling and Statistical Properties of Sea-Ice Deformation Fields, J. Geophys. Res.-Oceans, 127, https://doi.org/10.1029/2021jc017667, 2022. a
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Polar oceans are covered by many pieces of floating ice, called floes, that vary in size, shape and thickness. This study focuses on how fracturing caused by stresses from wind and ocean currents changes floe sizes. Using satellite images, we track ice motion and floe sizes, and study floe shapes and how deformation alters the distribution of floe sizes. We find that stronger deformation creates more small floes and present a formula to include this effect in sea-ice models.
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