Key scientific questions which must be answered to meet the objectives of the ASPeCt Program are:

• What are the broad-scale time-varying distributions of the ice and snow-cover thickness, ice composition and other physical characteristics in the Antarctic sea ice zone?
• What are the dominant processes of ice formation, modification, decay and transport which influence and determine ice-thickness, composition and distribution?
• What is the role of coastal polynyas in determining total ice production, heat, salt and biogeochemical fluxes, and water mass modification?
• What are the processes that control the ice-water interactions at the ice-edge, and their seasonal changes?