Observation of Sea Ice Drift Characteristics with Marine Radar Images on an Offshore Platform in the Bohai Sea

Abstract

Radar images can be employed to examine features of the ice surface and to determine ice drift. In the winter of 2012–2013, sea ice drift in the Bohai Sea was monitored using a marine radar system installed on an offshore platform in Liaodong Bay. Radar images were continuously captured across the 57-day ice season and processed to determine ice surface features and drift. The correlation between ice velocity and current and wind velocity is analyzed using a statistical approach. The results indicate that ice speed in the Bohai Sea mainly varies between 0.3 and 0.8 m/s, with a maximum value of 1.8 m/s. There was a dominating direction of 60° clockwise from the North, with the Coriolis force causing a 20° difference in drift direction. The probability distribution function shows that both sea ice and wind velocities follow the typical Weibull distribution.