These physical and optical properties of the sea ice cover are an important element of the physical environment that strongly influences both the distribution of and resources available to Antarctic krill. The properties of snow and sea ice cover vary spatially and evolve temporally. Ice deformation results in great variability in ice thickness. Heavy snows can result in flooding of the ice snow and the eventual formation of snow ice. The variability in ice physical properties results in variability of the light field in and under the ice. The radiant energy incident on, and distributed within, the snow, ice, and water column environment, and the linked physical, optical, chemical and biological processes that control this variability, are generally known but poorly quantified. The optical properties of snow and ice also influence the snow algae, ice algae and water column productivity, as well as visibility for both predator and prey. We examined the snow and ice environment through ice physical properties measurements, ice optical properties observations and the deployment of autonomous ice mass balance buoys.

This document presents results from the LMG-01-06 Southern Globec cruise. During this cruise there were 10 ice stations where we had the opportunity to investigate the physical and optical properties of the ice cover. At 4 stations we installed autonomous buoys.