frost flowers
crystals of ice that form when water vapor becomes a solid (bypassing the liquid phase) and deposits itself on the sea ice surface; frost flowers roughen the surface and dramatically affect its electromagnetic signal.
Image
![https://nsidc.org/sites/default/files/cryosphere/glossary/frost_flowers.jpg frost_flowers.jpg](/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/2020-12/frost_flowers.jpg.webp?itok=S0Lt7c7K)
Close-up view of frost flowers.
Don Perovich, U.S. Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory
Topic(s):
sea ice