Early end of sea ice season in Kongsfjorden

As in other fjords at the western coast of Svalbard, Kongsfjorden was free of ice very early in 2006. In the framework of several projects, we participated in "MariClim" field work on Kongsfjorden and Krossfjorden, Svalbard, for 10 days.

Sea Ice in Kongsfjorden could only be found in the beginning of the field period, on 05 May. 10 May no more sea ice was left in Kongsfjorden. However, in the bays of Ebeltofthamna and Signehamna in Krossfjorden, fast ice persisted. Despite the relatively little fast ice extent in the region, fast ice between 40 cm and up to almost a meter thickness could be found in sheltered areas. The thickest fast ice was found in Signehamna, with a maximum of 96 cm. In MariClim, the effect of sea ice and ocean properties on bird life in Kongsfjorden is investigated. The inflow of Atlantic water into Kongsfjorden was measured.

The field group consisted of scientists from Norsk Polarinstitutt (S. Gerland and V. Lytle), the University Centre in Svalbard (UNIS) (J. Floor), Center for International Climate and Environmental Research in Oslo (CICERO) (T.K. Berntsen) and the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research in Germany (AWI) (M. Nicolaus) and the University of Otago in New Zealand (C. Petrich).