MULTI-YEAR ICE FLOE CHARACTERISTICS AND DYNAMICS

Clients: Joint Industry Study (AOGA Project No. 280)

Multi-year ice floe impacts constitute a major design consideration for fixed offshore structures in cold regions. To gain an understanding of the characteristics and dynamics of multi-year ice during the open-water season, field studies were conducted in two successive years. The parameters investigated included winds, ocean currents, water mass properties, ice floe morphology and salinity, and ice floe translation and rotation.

Determining Ice Floe Thickness with Thermal Drill

Multi Year Ice Floe Survey

STUDY OBJECTIVES

Measure the motions and physical characteristics of large-diameter multiyear ice floes, while simultaneously measuring the oceanographic and meteorologic driving forces
Relate ice floe motion to the measured environmental parameters
Evaluate field measurement techniques applicable to future research and operational ice monitoring

KEY ASPECTS OF THE FIELD PROGRAM

Acquisition of high-resolution ice floe motion data using satellite positioning systems
Measurement of frontal and mesoscale circulation using Lagrangian drift buoys
Detailed delineation of thick floe morphology using a high-speed thermal drill
Analysis and interpretation of the relationship between ice floe motion and the environmental driving forces, including a numerical simulation of the measured ice floe trajectories