Freshwater Sources and Sinks for Arctic Sea Ice in Summer

Abstract. On Arctic sea ice, the melt of snow and sea ice generate a summertime flux of fresh water to the upper ocean. The partitioning of this freshwater to storage in melt ponds and deposition in the ocean has consequences for the surface heat budget, the sea ice mass balance, and primary productivity. Synthesizing results from the SHEBA field experiment, we calculate the sources and sinks of freshwater produced during summer melt. The total freshwater input to the system from snow melt, ice melt, and precipitation from 1 June to 9 August was equivalent to a layer of water 80 cm thick over the ice-covered and open ocean. 85 % of this freshwater was deposited in the ocean and only 15 % of this freshwater was stored in ponds. The cumulative contributions of freshwater input to the ocean from drainage from the ice surface and bottom melting were roughly equal.