Deliverables and Milestones
The progress and results of OCEAN:ICE are published in deliverables and milestone reports.
Record of Water Mass Age and Meltwater Fractions, Weddell Sea (D1.12)
In this data set we present trace gas measurements and derived variables such as basal glacial meltwater (GMW) fractions and water mass ages from the RV POLARSTERN expedition PS124 in the southern Weddell Sea in austral summer 2021. The trace gases comprise the lighter noble gases, i.e., total helium (He) and the excess above solubility equilibrium ΔHe, the 3He/4He ratio reported as δ3He, total neon (Ne) and the excess ΔNe, and the deviation from the equilibrium He/Ne ratio Δ(He/Ne), as well as the transient anthropogenic trace gases chlorofluorocarbon (CFC-12) and sulphur hexafluoride (SF6) concentrations. From these noble gases (He and Ne) we derived glacial meltwater fractions. From the transient tracers we computed SF6-concentration ages, CFC-12/SF6 ratio ages and TTD (Transit Time Distribution) mean ages. This dataset adds unique observations-based water mass information to the circumpolar observations synthesized in WP1, and will further contribute to the evaluation of the numerical modelling efforts carried out in this work package.
Gridded European Circumpolar Sea Ice Production Fluxes (D1.4)
This deliverable is a new dataset of sea ice production (SIP) in Antarctic coastal polynyas, critical regions for sea ice formation and dense water formation. Using Earth Observation data and atmospheric reanalysis, we use a heat budget method to estimate the SIP. We use sea ice concentration (SIC) from passive microwave sensors and ECMWF ERA5 reanalysis for near-surface wind speed and surface air temperature. Comparison against previous literature shows broad consistency in spatial patterns and magnitude of ice production, with notable variations across larger polynyas. Despite simplifications and thereby increased uncertainties in the absolute ice production values, the data set provides valuable insights into the dynamics and variability of Antarctic polynya SIP for the period 1992-2023.
Data Management Plan (v.2) (D7.2)
OCEAN:ICE provides products to both internal and external users. The data workflow is based on a
chain of individual operational components, each contributing either to data production or user interaction functions. The infrastructure implements open and free of charge data access, it adopts international standards, follows European regulations such as INSPIRE, it is accessible under the OCEAN:ICE web domain (www.ocean-ice.eu) and offers up to date means of data and data products dissemination and interaction tools.
Nevertheless, the developed system cannot be considered finally closed, and for the entire duration of the project, the following evolution principles have to be considered and applied:
o The service shall be state-of-the-art in its scope, and it shall be user-driven.
o Common standards are adopted and applied throughout the different elements of the system.
o Quality of the methodology of workflow has to follow and apply, well-established engineering methodologies derived from industry (e.g., ISO9001:2015, ISO15288, etc.) drive the definition of an adapted approach.
Within this framework, OCEAN:ICE poses itself amongst the up-to-date data infrastructure projects, adopts the latest interoperability best practices and enables data-products FAIRness to maximise the OCEAN:ICE data value chain from production to its end use for added value ocean products.
Data Management Plan (DMP) is a living document, and this deliverable presents the updated version of OCEAN:ICE DMP. To facilitate the reader to see latest assumptions, the updates are highlighted in yellow.
Report on Freshwater Fluxes from Surface Mass Budget and Sub-Shelf Melt in Antarctica (D3.2)
Net ice loss from Antarctica is predominantly observed in West Antarctica and the Antarctic Peninsula, with East Antarctica close to a state of balance (Otosaka et al., 2023). The freshwater flux from the continent to the Southern Ocean is driven by solid ice flux, basal melting of ice shelves, and the loss of surface snow and ice by melt and runoff and the wind driven erosion of snow. This deliverable is a report on work carried out in work package 3 of OCEAN:ICE and focuses on the processes that lead to freshwater fluxes from Antarctica, primarily the runoff of surface melt water, wind driven erosion of surface snow. Antarctica is notable for very few in-situ observations, therefore we use new state-of-the-art regional climate simulations, including new parameterisations and data assimilation to calculate surface freshwater fluxes over the historical reanalysis period. We also include some insights on observed basal melting of ice shelves from observations with in-situ autonomous phase sensitive radar (ApRES) to assist in assessing satellite based estimates of ice shelf melt.
Standardisation of Pan-Antarctic Mooring and Profiles (D1.1)
We gathered over 600,000 temperature/salinity profiles and time series observations of essential ocean variables (here ocean temperature, salinity, pressure and currents) that are reposited in various data centres and in various formats across the world. This heterogeneity creates a significant barrier for researchers trying to obtain a circumpolar view of ocean processes. Here, we provide version 1 of two compilation datasets merging observations from an extensive set of sources, and attempting to be as complete as possible. This open dataset will provide the observational backbone for OCEAN:ICE analysis and hopefully many other projects around the world. We are looking for continuing expanding both the profile compilations with the addition of early temperature measurement collected using eXpendable BathyThermograph (XBT), Mechanical Bathythermograph (MBT), early salinity measurement from bottle measurements, remaining mooring time series that is under embargo or under-processing with our contributor as listed above.
OCEAN:ICE WP8 Annual Storyline Meeting 2 (MS24)
The four cross cutting themes (storylines) of OCEAN:ICE are:
o The ‘Antarctic Bottom Water’ theme, led by Povl Abrahamsen (UKRI-BAS).
o The ‘Deep Uncertainty in Freshwater Fluxes (DUFF)’ theme, led by Frank Pattyn (ULB) and
Jan de Rydt (UNN).
o The ‘Role of the Poles’ them, led by Robin Smith (UREAD).
o The ‘Oxygen isotope’ them, led by Casimir de Lavergne (CNRS).
The four meetings of cross cutting themes were held over October/November 2023. Two of these, the ‘Deep Uncertainty in Freshwater Fluxes’ and the ‘Antarctic Bottom Water’, were held in person/hybrid during the OCEAN:ICE annual science meeting in Paris (23-26 October 2023), whilst the other two, ‘Oxygen Isotopes’ and ‘Role of the Poles’, were held virtually in the following weeks. A summary of the key discussion points and actions arising is provided in this milestone report.
OCEAN:ICE Data Infrastructure 1 (MS15)
This milestone concerns the design and deployment of the first version of the OCEAN:ICE data management infrastructure.
The verification of this milestone’s achievements is facilitated through online access to the deployed services:
Backend:
o ERDDAP: https://er1.s4oceanice.eu/erddap/index.html
o GeoNetwork: https://catalog.s4oceanice.eu/geonetwork/
Frontend Portal: https://literacy.s4oceanice.eu/intro.html
Temporal and Spatial Length Scales in δ18O Observations (D5.5)
This deliverable is a report on the analysis undertaken to determine the length scales and timescales of oxygen isotope (δ18O) variations in the surface ocean based on observations. We find that there are multiple length scales, up to three (depending on the length of the segment being analysed). We characterise these length scales as being eddy (typically 100-300km), an intermediate scale (500-700 km) and a gyre scale (1000-1500 km). The spatial distribution of the decorrelation length scales indicate the pervasiveness of eddies in the Southern Ocean, while longer length scales depict the zonal nature of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current as well as the structure of the Ross and Weddell gyres. The differences in the spatial patterns suggest that at the largest scales, the decorrelation length scales are anisotropic, with meridional length scales mostly featuring the circumpolar current, while northward scales indicating the northward spreading of the Subantarctic Mode Waters. Regarding the decorrelation timescales, unfortunately, the available time series in the Southern Ocean can only suggest some interannual variability, but the amount of observations is not enough to identify the structure or driver of such variability. Scales associated with oxygen isotopes are similar to those for salinity, whereas there are some differences with temperature.
Deployment of moorings in South Sandwich Trench (MS9)
This report summarises the work performed, and reasons for the delay to the milestone.
The mooring deployment is described in more details in the full cruise report for FV Argos
Georgia voyage SS24, which will be submitted to the British Oceanographic Data Centre
(BODC), to be linked from https://www.bodc.ac.uk/resources/inventories/cruise_inventory/report/18630/
IEnKS Algorithm for Initialising Coupled Ice - Ocean Models (MS8)
This milestone is related to the application of the Iterative Ensemble Kalman Filter to the WAVI ice sheet model.
Proceedings: SO-CHIC and OCEAN:ICE Joint Project Conference
Proceedings: SO-CHIC and OCEAN:ICE Joint Project Conference, Sorbonne University, Paris, France and online, 24 - 25 October 2023.
Report on OCEAN:ICE First Policy Briefing. The Changing Poles: How Antarctic and Arctic Science Helps to Inform and Prepare the EU for Changes in Sea Level Rise and the Global Climate (D9.6)
As part of the dissemination and outreach activities enumerated in Work Package 9 of the EU-funded Horizon Europe OCEAN:ICE project, the European Polar Board (EPB) organised a policy briefing to highlight the work, goals, and relevance of OCEAN:ICE to the public. The event was titled, “The Changing Poles: how Antarctic and Arctic science helps to inform and prepare the EU for changes in sea level rise and the global climate”. The event was held in the European Parliament’s main building on 24 January, 2024 from 14:15 to 16:00 CET. The aim of the policy briefing was to raise the profile of the project, as well as to signpost project progress, expected outcomes, and links to EU policy priorities. The policy briefing was held in-person and online. As such, the policy briefing’s main audience was the European Institutions, and several high-profile EU decisionmakers were speakers. The policy briefing was streamed online, ensuring a wide reach and dissemination.
The Changing Poles: How Antarctic and Arctic Science Helps to Inform and Prepare the EU for Changes in Sea Level Rise and the Global Climate
24 January 2024: Policy briefing. This policy briefing has been organised by the European Polar Board (EPB) with assistance from the European Parliament Intergroup European Bureau for Conservation and Development (EBCD) on behalf of the EU-funded projects OCEAN:ICE and Arctic PASSION.
Instrument Deployment through Fimbul Ice Shelf Borehole (MS4)
This milestone report explains the work planned and performed during the 2023-24 Antarctic season. Task 2.4 "Observing the ocean beneath the sea ice fasten to grounded icebergs" is to deploy oceanographic instrumentation into the water column beneath Fimbul Ice Shelf, with the aim of studying the interaction between the base of the ice shelf and the ocean.
Deployment of the AUV in the Amundsen Sea (MSA3)
This is a preliminary report on the Milestone MSa3
OCEAN:ICE Annual Project Meeting 1 (MS18)
The consortium met at Sorbonne University in Paris on the 25-26 October 2023. This event was also held virtually via Zoom. This meeting was organised in collaboration with the consortium for the H2020-funded project SO-CHIC allowing for overlap to encourage knowledge exchange, collaboration and networking. The meeting was in conjunction with the H2020 project SO-CHIC annual meeting (23-24 October 2023) and a jointly organised scientific conference on 24-25 October 2023. The event brought together several Southern Ocean and cryosphere scientists from OCEAN:ICE, SO-CHIC, but also from other projects funded by the European Union, the European Space Agency, UK Research and Innovation, and related projects from the EU Polar Cluster and beyond. The proceedings of the SO-CHIC and OCEAN:ICE Joint Project Conference are going to be made available in the OCEAN:ICE Zenodo community Ocean-Cryosphere Exchanges in Antarctica: Impacts on Climate and the Earth System.
Data Inventory (D7.6)
This document presents the result of the analysis of the available in situ data in the area and scope of the OCEAN:ICE; it describes how to access these data, including links to sources, and presents a simplified data ingestion procedure to facilitate data exchange across the OCEAN:ICE community and stakeholders, according to FAIR principles and adopting common standards.
Disclaimers: The document presents the status at the time of writing. The OCEAN:ICE data infrastructure will be continuously updated with other ingested/rescued datasets, updates are planned with the updates of the data management plan. The analysis focuses on in situ data only.
Delivery of basal ice sheet melt flux (MS7)
Data on melt-water production has been made available and uploaded to the data servers. A detailed description of the new water-routing algorithm has been attached to this report, and circulated among project partners. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8345304
OCEAN:ICE Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion Policy (EDI) (D9.9)
OCEAN:ICE aims to create a collaborative atmosphere that welcomes diversity of thought and allows everyone to thrive, no matter their background or characteristics and uphold excellence in the science that we do together. The present document presents the OCEAN:ICE Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion Policy. The policy is published on the project website and it is a living document. Zenodo. https://zenodo.org/records/10707801
Fast-Track data delivery on ice dynamic fluxes (MS5)
Milestone report on the fast-track data delivery on ice dynamic fluxes. This milestone is a dataset which has been made available to consortium partners on the project server of partner ETT for download via an FTP. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8195207
IACS/IAPSO/OCEAN:ICE joint session at IUGG OCEAN:ICE interactions - Ice sheet impacts on ocean circulation and climate feedbacks (MS26)
Milestone report on the IACS/IAPSO/OCEAN:ICE joint session at the IUGG OCEAN:ICE interactions – Ice sheet impacts on ocean circulation and climate feedbacks JP03/JP04 Breakout Discussion Session. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8200589
Workshop with ESA CCI and EO on ice shelf mass balance (MS6)
Report on the Workshop with ESA CCI and EO on ice shelf mass balance (Milestone MS6) Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8033778
Data Management Plan
Data management plan (Deliverable D7.1). Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8023002
OCEAN:ICE Kick-off meeting report (MS17)
OCEAN:ICE Kick-off meeting report (Milestone MS17). Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7386310
Proceedings: Southern Ocean & Antarctica Joint Workshop
Proceedings: Southern Ocean & Antarctica Joint Workshop. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7472651