Based on a summary of oceanological investigations we estimated the characteristics of energy exchange between the sea and atmosphere of different areas of the Greenland Sea in winter. The hydrological structure of zones near the edge of drift ice and the region of intense formation of cold bottom water over the Greenland basin have been studied. The problem of investigating the effect of the structure of the sub-ice layer of the sea on the intensity of melting of Arctic drift ice and its geographic distribution along the coast of Greenland has been formulated.