Platform

IMB Buoy
Ice Mass Balance Buoy

1: Campaigns
0: Data Products

NASA's DC-8 flying laboratory passes Antarctica's tallest peak, Mount Vinson, on Oct. 22, 2012, during a flight over the continent to measure changes in the massive ice sheet and sea ice. Credit: NASA/Michael Studinger (Photography courtesy NASA Images)

Overview

The Ice Mass Balance (IMB) Buoy is an autonomous, ice-based system developed at the Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL). IMB Buoys are installed in Arctic sea ice to measure the thermodynamic changes in the ice mass balance. They are typically equipped with an above and under-ice acoustic sounder, temperature string, air temperature probe, and barometer. IMB Buoys can be equipped with additional instruments to measure parameters such as snow depth, ice growth, ice melt, snow accumulation, and sea level pressure.