SPIceSea

Principle Investigator: Sara Fleury (LEGOS/CNRS​)

Co-Investigator(s): Pierre Rampal, Sammy Metref, Clement Ubelmann

Collaborator(s): Gwenael Jestin

---

The objective of SPIceSea (SWOT for Polar Ice and Sea) is to measure and monitor the main Sea Ice physical parameters: concentration, distribution, thickness, roughness, etc. While recent articles predict the disappearance of the Arctic summer sea ice by the end of the 2030s [Kim et. al 2023], the Antarctic sea ice is in turn experiencing a collapse in its surface area [Purich et al. 2023]. The disappearance of the boreal sea ice during the summer had already been predicted by the IPCC, but the pace is proving faster than the most unfavorable projections. And for the Antarctic, no model had predicted such a regression. Since sea ice plays a major role in climate, these changes are of great concern to scientists, who are seeking to understand their causes and effects. Due to the different configurations of the two polar oceans, these effects differ according to the hemisphere considered. At the North Pole, they relate more specifically to the risk of amplifying warming in the Northern Hemisphere as a result of reduced albedo, as well as a reduction in the flow of the AMOC circulation. In the South Pole, they raise the question of the stability of Antarctic glacier shelves and the underestimation of IPCC sea-level rise projections.