Snow on Antarctic sea ice plays a complex and highly variable role in air-sea-ice interaction processes and the Earth's climate system. Using data collected mostly during the past 10 years, this paper reviews the following topics: snow thickness and snow type and their geographical and seasonal variations; snow grain size, density, and salinity; frequency of occurrence of slush; thermal conductivity, snow surface temperature, and temperature gradients within snow; and the effect of snow thickness on albedo. Major findings include large regional and seasonal differencies in snow properties and thicknesses; the consequences of thicker snow and thinner ice in the Antarctic relative to the Arctic (e.g., the importance of flooding and snow-ice formation); the potential impact of increasing snowfall resulting from global climate change; lower observed values of snow thermal conductivity than those typically used in models; periodic large-scale melt in winter; and the contrast in summer melt processes between the Arctic and the Antarctic. Both climate modeling and remote sensing would benefit by taking account of the differences between the two polar regions.

Item Type:	Refereed Article
Research Division:	Earth Sciences
Research Group:	Physical geography and environmental geoscience
Research Field:	Glaciology
Objective Division:	Environmental Management
Objective Group:	Other environmental management
Objective Field:	Other environmental management not elsewhere classified
UTAS Author:	Massom, RA (Dr Robert Massom)
UTAS Author:	Worby, AP (Professor Anthony Worby)
UTAS Author:	Wu, X (Dr Xingren Wu)
UTAS Author:	Lytle, VI (Dr Victoria Lytle)
UTAS Author:	Reid, PA (Dr Phillip Reid)
UTAS Author:	Allison, I (Dr Ian Allison)
ID Code:	22367
Year Published:	2001
Web of Science® Times Cited:	232
Deposited By:	CRC-Antarctic and Southern Ocean Environm
Deposited On:	2001-08-01
Last Modified:	2002-06-12
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