In polar regions, sea ice is a crucial mediator of the interaction between earth’s atmosphere and oceans. Its formation and breakup is intimately connected with local weather patterns and larger-scale climatic processes. During the spring melt and breakup period, snow-covered ice transitions to open water in a matter of weeks. This has a profound impact on the use of sea ice in coastal Arctic regions by Indigenous People, where activities such as hunting and fishing are central to community livelihood. In order to investigate the physical phenomena at the heart of this process, a set of targeted, intensive observations were made over Spring sea ice melt and breakup in Kotzebue Sound, Alaska. This program is part of the Ikaaġvik Sikukun project, a collaborative effort in which an Indigenous Elder advisory council from Kotzebue and scientists participated in co-production of hypotheses and observational research, including a stronger understanding of the physical properties of sea ice during spring melt. Data were collected using high-endurance, fixed-wing uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs) containing custom-built scientific payloads. Here we present the results of these measurements. Repeated flights over the measurement period captured the early stages of the transition from a white, snow-covered state to a broken up, bare/blue-green state. We found that the reflectivity of a surface type depends on the size and shape of the features which constitute it. Specifically, large bare blue-green ice features were found to be least reflective, while large snowy/white ice features were found to be most reflective.