Studies of sea-ice motion in the Laptev Sea with the use of satellite remote sensing and numerical modelling

Seasonal and interannual variability of ice drift in the Laptev Sea and ice exchange with the Arctic Ocean have been investigated using remote sensing data, a large-scale dynamic-thermodynamic numerical sea ice model and semi-empirical method. During the period 1979-1995 sea ice was exported from the Laptev Sea with maximum export occuring in February and minimum in August. The average winter ice outflow during this period was equal to 482700 km/sup 2/. Estimates of ice exchange between the northern and southern parts of the Laptev Sea during the period 1936 to 1996 exhibited a strong interannual variability, but did not reveal significant trends.