Sensible Heat and Momentum Flux in the Sea-Ice-Covered Southern Ocean Based on a Shipborne Observation Experiment

Abstract

In the Southern Ocean’s marginal ice zone (MIZ), sea ice complicates accurate estimation of air–sea fluxes, limiting the predictive skill of climate models. From December 2020 to January 2021, the 37th Chinese National Antarctic Research Expedition conducted ship-based measurements in the MIZ using an EC (eddy covariance) system, focusing on sensible heat and momentum fluxes between the air and the sea. A dataset has been compiled and made publicly available. It includes meteorological variables, energy and momentum fluxes, and turbulence variables (friction velocity and atmospheric stability), offering valuable insights for studies of ocean–ice–atmosphere interactions and climate modeling. This study also details refinements to the COARE3.5 algorithm informed by the observations, leading to improved flux estimates.