Sea Ice Drift
D5. Coastal processes, sea-level, cryosphere and ocean observation scienceDefinition
Movement of sea ice driven by winds and currents.
Sea ice drift is the motion of the ice cover under wind stress and ocean currents, typically a few percent of the surface wind speed deflected by the Coriolis force. It is tracked by feature-matching successive satellite radar and microwave images and by GPS buoys frozen into floes. Drift governs how ice is exported through gateways like Fram Strait, where leads and pressure ridges open and close, and how thin first-year ice is redistributed against coasts and thickened by ridging.