Review
A review of sea ice density

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Abstract

The density of sea ice is an important property in many applications. However, due to its multi-phase composition of solid ice, solid salts, liquids and gas, the definition and measurement of density is not straightforward. The reported values vary over a wide range from 0.72 Mg m−3 to 0.94 Mg m−3, with an average of approximately 0.91 Mg m−3. The reasons for the spread are partly real, and partly a function of the test technique used for determining the density. Accurate measurements which represent the in situ density of first-year sea ice range from 0.84 to 0.91 Mg m−3 for the ice above the waterline, and 0.90 to 0.94 Mg m−3 for the ice below the waterline.

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      The density is calculated from temperature and salinity. Salinity of first-year sea ice is about 10 PSU (Cox and Weeks, 1974; Campbell et al., 1978; Timco and Frederking, 1996) due to its formation process by freezing seawater. For a multi-year sea ice layer, the ice is considered as pure ice with inclusions of brine and air, and it is characterized by its salinity, density, thickness, and temperature.

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