Observations of exponential wave attenuation in Antarctic sea ice during the PIPERS campaign

Annals of Glaciology (2020)

Wave attenuation can significantly impact the extent of Antarctica’s marginal ice zone, but observations of these waves are lacking.

This study aimed to improve knowledge in this area using waves-in-ice observation systems (WIIOS) on Antarctic sea ice to provide in situ measurement of surface wave characteristics. Several large-wave events were captured, with the largest recorded significant wave height over 9 m.

We find that the total wave energy measured by the WIIOS generally decays exponentially in the ice and the rate of decay depends on ice concentration.