Introduction to special section on Large-Scale Characteristics of the Sea Ice Cover from AMSR-E and Other Satellite Sensors

Abstract The significance and robustness of the link between Arctic sea ice loss and changes in midlatitude weather patterns is investigated through a series of model simulations from the Community Atmosphere Model, version 5.3, with systematically perturbed sea ice cover in the Arctic. Using a large ensemble of 10 sea ice scenarios and 550 simulations, it is found that prescribed Arctic sea ice anomalies produce statistically significant changes for certain metrics of the midlatitude circulation but not for others. Furthermore, the significant midlatitude circulation changes do not scale linearly with the sea ice anomalies and are not present in all scenarios, indicating that the remote atmospheric response to reduced Arctic sea ice can be statistically significant under certain conditions but is generally nonrobust. Shifts in the Northern Hemisphere polar jet stream and changes in the meridional extent of upper-level large-scale waves due to the sea ice perturbations are generally small and not clearly distinguished from intrinsic variability. Reduced Arctic sea ice may favor a circulation pattern that resembles the negative phase of the Arctic Oscillation and may increase the risk of cold outbreaks in eastern Asia by almost 50%, but this response is found in only half of the scenarios with negative sea ice anomalies. In eastern North America the frequency of extreme cold events decreases almost linearly with decreasing sea ice cover. This study’s finding of frequent significant anomalies without a robust linear response suggests interactions between variability and persistence in the coupled system, which may contribute to the lack of convergence among studies of Arctic influences on midlatitude circulation.

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Variability and trends in Laptev Sea ice outflow between 1992–2011

The Cryosphere ◽

10.5194/tc-7-349-2013 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 7 (1) ◽

pp. 349-363 ◽

Cited By ~ 36

Author(s):

T. Krumpen ◽

M. Janout ◽

K. I. Hodges ◽

R. Gerdes ◽

F. Girard-Ardhuin ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Sea Ice ◽

Large Scale ◽

Ice Cover ◽

Late Winter ◽

Laptev Sea ◽

Concentration Data ◽

Sea Ice Extent ◽

Ice Drift ◽

Wind Velocities ◽

The Laptev Sea

Abstract. Variability and trends in seasonal and interannual ice area export out of the Laptev Sea between 1992 and 2011 are investigated using satellite-based sea ice drift and concentration data. We found an average total winter (October to May) ice area transport across the northern and eastern Laptev Sea boundaries (NB and EB) of 3.48 × 105 km2. The average transport across the NB (2.87 × 105 km2) is thereby higher than across the EB (0.61 × 105 km2), with a less pronounced seasonal cycle. The total Laptev Sea ice area flux significantly increased over the last decades (0.85 × 105 km2 decade−1, p > 0.95), dominated by increasing export through the EB (0.55 × 105 km2 decade−1, p > 0.90), while the increase in export across the NB is smaller (0.3 × 105 km2 decade−1) and statistically not significant. The strong coupling between across-boundary SLP gradient and ice drift velocity indicates that monthly variations in ice area flux are primarily controlled by changes in geostrophic wind velocities, although the Laptev Sea ice circulation shows no clear relationship with large-scale atmospheric indices. Also there is no evidence of increasing wind velocities that could explain the overall positive trends in ice export. The increased transport rates are rather the consequence of a changing ice cover such as thinning and/or a decrease in concentration. The use of a back-propagation method revealed that most of the ice that is incorporated into the Transpolar Drift is formed during freeze-up and originates from the central and western part of the Laptev Sea, while the exchange with the East Siberian Sea is dominated by ice coming from the central and southeastern Laptev Sea. Furthermore, our results imply that years of high ice export in late winter (February to May) have a thinning effect on the ice cover, which in turn preconditions the occurence of negative sea ice extent anomalies in summer.

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Problems in large-scale modeling of sea ice cover evolution

Russian Meteorology and Hydrology ◽

10.3103/s1068373907050044 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 32 (5) ◽

pp. 313-319

Author(s):

A. N. Chetyrbotskii

Keyword(s):

Sea Ice ◽

Large Scale ◽

Ice Cover ◽

Scale Modeling ◽

Large Scale Modeling

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Roughness, age and drift trajectories of sea ice in large-scale simulations and their use in model verifications

Annals of Glaciology ◽

10.3189/s0260305500014105 ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 25 ◽

pp. 237-240 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Markus Harder

Keyword(s):

Sea Ice ◽

Large Scale ◽

Climate Models ◽

Numerical Models ◽

Salt Water ◽

Ice Cover ◽

Ice Thickness ◽

Polar Regions ◽

Prognostic Variables ◽

New Variables

In polar regions, the exchange of heat, fresh water and salt water, and momentum between ocean and atmosphere is strongly affected by the presence of sea-ice cover. As a growing number of climate models include a dynamic–thermodynamic sea-ice component to take these effects into account, it might be asked whether sea ice is adequately represented in these simulations, and how far these simulations fit with physical observations.Sea ice in the classical models (Hibler, 1979; Parkinson and Washington, 1979) that have been available for two decades, is regarded as a two-dimensional (2-D) continuum covering the ocean surface. The prognostic variables describing the ice pack are horizontal ice velocity, areal coverage (ice concentration), and ice thickness. In numerical models, these variables and their evolution in space and time are solved on an Eulerian grid.A number of observational data are available to verify the model results. Sea-ice drift is observed from drifting buoys deployed on ice floes. Areal sea-ice coverage can be observed with satellite-borne passive-microwave sensors (SMMR, SSM/I). For ice thickness, which cannot be observed with remote-sensing techniques, rather few, scattered observations from upward-looking sonars on submarines and moorings are available.This article gives an overview of three additional variables representing sea ice in large-scale climate models. These are (1) roughness, (2) age of the ice, introduced as two prognostic variables, and (3) simulated trajectories of ice motion, which are diagnosed from the Eulerian velocity grid. The new variables enable a more detailed look at sea ice in models, helping to understand better the coupled dynamic–thermodynamic processes determining the polar ice cover. Further, the new variables offer important, additional possibilities for comparing the simulated sea-ice properties with available observations.

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Multiyear variability of atmospheric processes and ice cover in the Laptev Sea since 1942 to 2019

10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-12269 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Anna Timofeeva ◽

Vladimir Ivanov ◽

Alexander Yulin ◽

Stepan Khotchenkov

Keyword(s):

Sea Ice ◽

Large Scale ◽

Ice Cover ◽

Laptev Sea ◽

Positive Temperature ◽

Sea Ice Extent ◽

Air Masses ◽

Ice Conditions ◽

The Laptev Sea ◽

Melting Season

The Laptev Sea is influenced by synoptic regions of the Atlantic-Eurasian sector of the Northern Hemisphere. Types of large-scale processes are consider according to the G. J. Vangengeim typization: West (W) circulation form, with dominating zonal transport of air masses, East (E) and meridional (C) circulation forms with opposite phases of geographic orientation in the troposphere of the anticyclones ridges axes, blocking the Western transfer of air masses and developing the meridional circulation at high and middle latitudes. The Laptev Sea ice extent at the end of the melting season has a strong interannual variability, the oscillations amplitude reaches 86%.The paper considers analysis of long-term trends of the large-scale atmosphere processes realignment and multiyear variability of the air temperature and ice cover anomalies in the Laptev Sea. According to multiyear course of integral anomalies values four steady periods of homogeneous&#160; tendency of climatic processes revealed and described for data series from 1942 to 2019 (air reconnaissance and satellite data).The types of ice conditions development (severe, medium, mild) at the end of the melting season were determined for the entire series of observations. More than half of cases during 78 years are distinguished as medium type of ice conditions. The repeatability of severe and mild types is almost the same numerically but varies in time according to revealed periods.During 1942-1947 years in the Laptev Sea the &#8220;warming&#8221; period occurred (same for the whole polar region), known as the warming of the Arctic of 30th. At this period positive temperature anomalies and negative anomalies of sea ice extent (mean -2%) were dominated. During subsequent period 1948-1989 years the positive temperature trend has changed to the steady negative. The most dramatic temperature drops were observed in the 60-70th. Positive ice anomalies increased (mean 9%), in August Laptev Sea remained mostly covered by ice. Of the 42 years 28 refer to the medium type of ice conditions, 11 to the severe. During the period 1990-2004 years frequent interannual rearrangements of the atmosphere circulation and multidirectional fluctuations of temperature and ice cover anomalies were observed. On average, the temperature and ice cover during the period are close to the long-term norm. After 2005 temperature regime in the polar climate system has changed. This period is the warmest for the whole observations series in the Laptev Sea. Ice extent at the end of the melting season steady decreases and shows dramatic growth of negative anomalies values and occur of extremely low anomaly for the entire observation period (up to -54-55%). The average negative ice anomaly for the period is -26.4 %. Of the 15 years 9 refer to the mild type of ice conditions.

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Wave Propagation in Continuous Sea Ice: An Experimental Perspective

Volume 7: Polar and Arctic Sciences and Technology ◽

10.1115/omae2020-18181 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Giulio Passerotti ◽

Alberto Alberello ◽

Azam Dolatshah ◽

Luke Bennetts ◽

Otto Puolakka ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Sea Ice ◽

Wave Energy ◽

High Frequency ◽

Large Scale ◽

Low Frequency ◽

Ocean Waves ◽

Continuous Model ◽

Ice Cover ◽

Irregular Waves ◽

Ice Melt

Abstract Ocean waves penetrate hundreds of kilometres into the ice-covered ocean. Waves fracture the level ice into small floes, herd floes, introduce warm water and overwash the floes, accelerating ice melt and causing collisions, which concurrently erodes the floes and influences the large-scale deformation. Concomitantly, interactions between waves and the sea ice cause wave energy to reduce with distance travelled into the ice cover, attenuating wave driven effects. Here a pilot experiment in the ice tank at Aalto University (Finland) is presented to discuss how the properties of irregular small amplitude (linear) waves change as they propagate through continuous model sea ice. Irregular waves with a JONSWAP spectral shape were mechanically generated with a very low initial wave steepness to avoid ice break up and maintain a consistent continuous ice cover throughout the experiments. Observations show an exponential attenuation of wave energy with distance. High frequency components attenuated more rapidly than the low frequency counterparts, in agreement with a frequency-cubed power-law. The more effective attenuation in the high frequency range induced a substantial downshift of the spectral peak, stretching the dominant wave component as it propagates in ice.

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Roughness, Age and Drift Trajectories of Sea Ice in Large-Scale Simulations and their Use in Model Verifications

Annals of Glaciology ◽

10.1017/s0260305500014105 ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 25 ◽

pp. 237-240 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Markus Harder

Keyword(s):

Sea Ice ◽

Large Scale ◽

Climate Models ◽

Numerical Models ◽

Salt Water ◽

Ice Cover ◽

Ice Thickness ◽

Polar Regions ◽

Prognostic Variables ◽

New Variables

In polar regions, the exchange of heat, fresh water and salt water, and momentum between ocean and atmosphere is strongly affected by the presence of sea-ice cover. As a growing number of climate models include a dynamic-thermodynamic sea-ice component to take these effects into account, it might be asked whether sea ice is adequately represented in these simulations, and how far these simulations fit with physical observations.Sea ice in the classical models (Hibler, 1979; Parkinson and Washington, 1979) that have been available for two decades, is regarded as a two-dimensional (2-D) continuum covering the ocean surface. The prognostic variables describing the ice pack are horizontal ice velocity, areal coverage (ice concentration), and ice thickness. In numerical models, these variables and their evolution in space and time are solved on an Enlerian grid.A number of observational data are available to verify the model results. Sea-ice drift is observed from drifting buoys deployed on ice floes. Areal sea-ice coverage can be observed with satellite-borne passive-microwave sensors (SMMR, SSM/I). For ice thickness, which cannot be observed with remote-sensing techniques, rather few, scattered observations from upward-looking sonars on submarines and moorings are available.This article gives an overview of three additional variables representing sea ice in large-scale climate models. These are (1) roughness, (2) age of the ice. introduced as two prognostic variables, and (3) simulated trajectories of ice motion, which are diagnosed from the Enlerian velocity grid. The new variables enable a more detailed look at sea ice in models, helping to understand better the coupled dynami-thermodynamic processes determining the polar ice cover. Further, the new variables offer important, additional possibilities for comparing the simulated sea-ice properties with available observations.

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From points to Poles: extrapolating point measurements of sea-ice mass balance

Annals of Glaciology ◽

10.3189/172756406781811204 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 44 ◽

pp. 188-192 ◽

Cited By ~ 17

Author(s):

Don Perovich ◽

Jacqueline A. Richter-Menge

Keyword(s):

Sea Ice ◽

Mass Balance ◽

Large Scale ◽

Heat Budget ◽

Ice Cover ◽

The Arctic ◽

Bottom Surface ◽

Ice Thickness ◽

Ice Mass Balance ◽

Remote Sensing Techniques

AbstractThe amount of ice growth and ablation are key measures of the thermodynamic state of the ice cover. While ice extent and even ice thickness can be determined using remote-sensing techniques, this is not the case for the mass balance. Mass-balance measurements require an ability to attribute the change, establishing whether a change in the thickness of the ice cover occurs at the top or bottom surface and whether it is a result of growth or ablation. We have developed and implemented a tool that can be used to measure thermodynamic changes in sea-ice mass balance at individual locations: the ice mass-balance buoy (IMB). The primary limitation of the IMB is that it provides a point measurement of the ice mass balance, defined by a particular combination of snow and ice conditions. Determining if, and how, such point measurements can be extrapolated is critical to understanding the large-scale mass balance of the sea-ice cover. We explore the potential for extrapolation using mass-balance observations from the Surface Heat Budget of the Arctic (SHEBA) field experiment. During SHEBA, mass-balance measurements were made at over 100 sites covering a 100 km2 area. Results indicate that individual point measurements can provide reasonable estimates for undeformed and unponded multi-year ice, which represented more than two-thirds of the ice cover at SHEBA and is the dominant ice type in the perennial pack. A key is carefully selecting a representative location for the instrument package. The contribution of these point measurements can be amplified by integrating them with other tools designed to measure ice thickness and assimilating these combined data into sea-ice models.

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