Energy exchange in early spring over sea ice in the Pacific sector of the Southern Ocean

In September-October 1994, during a cruise to Antarctica, we carried out measurements of the radiation balance and turbulent heat fluxes aboard the R/V Nathaniel B. Palmer. Hourly and daily flux values were calculated. The net radiation and the eddy fluxes showed the expected diurnal variations. On average, the ocean warmed the atmosphere by 30.7 W m(-2) an expected value for spring. This flux, which was obtained as the remainder in the heat budget equation, showed larger values at night than during the day. There was a large amount of scatter in the surface albedo when the ship was within the ice pack; low albedo values were associated with young non-snow-covered ice and ice with wet snow cover.