Svalbard Marginal Ice Zone 2024: A distributed network of temperature, waves, and sea ice drift observations

The coupling of weather, sea-ice, ocean, and wave forecasting systems has been a research priority for improving Arctic prediction capabilities. However, the complexity of the underlying physical processes and the difficulty of obtaining observations on representative spatial and temporal scales present significant challenges, particularly in the Marginal Ice Zone (MIZ). The primary objective of the Svalbard Marginal Ice Zone Campaign 2024 (SvalMIZ-24) was to establish a network of observations with a spatial distribution that enables a representative comparison between in situ measurements and gridded model data. The key variables that were measured are air and surface temperatures, sea-ice drift, and wave energy spectra. Within the main observation period, a persistent cold air outbreak as well as a warm air intrusion event, coinciding with the formation of an intense wave system propagating into the MIZ was captured. This dataset provides valuable insights into atmosphere-ice-ocean interactions in the MIZ and serves as a resource for future studies, model validation, and intercomparison efforts aimed at improving Arctic forecasting systems.