Ice berg cracking events as identified from underwater ambient noise measurements in the shallow waters of Ny-Alesund, Arctic

This paper presents the work carried out on the analysis of preliminary underwater ambient noise measurements in the shallow waters of Kongsfjorden fjord, Arctic in the summer season, in which the ice berg cracking noise is identified. In the summer period, the melting of ice cover is fast and hence the ice bergs are free to move and float in the ocean. Underwater ambient noise has been acquired in the Kongsfjorden fjord, Arctic sea on 19th July 2015 at 5 m water depth, where the ocean depth is 50 m. Due to the tensile cracks at the surface of the sea ice by thermal expansion, ice berg calving and bobbing occurred near the experiment site. Analysis of power spectra shows that ice berg calving noise falls in the frequency band 100 Hz–500 Hz and the ice berg bobbing noise falls in the frequency band 200 Hz–400 Hz.