scholarly journals Predictability of the Barents Sea Ice in Early Winter: Remote Effects of Oceanic and Atmospheric Thermal Conditions from the North Atlantic

2014 ◽  
Vol 27 (23) ◽  
pp. 8884-8901 ◽  
Author(s):  
Takuya Nakanowatari ◽  
Kazutoshi Sato ◽  
Jun Inoue

Abstract Predictability of sea ice concentrations (SICs) in the Barents Sea in early winter (November–December) is studied using canonical correlation analysis with atmospheric and ocean anomalies from the NCEP Climate Forecast System Reanalysis (CFSR) data. It is found that the highest prediction skill for a single-predictor model is obtained from the 13-month lead subsurface temperature at 200-m depth (T200) and the in-phase meridional surface wind (Vsfc). T200 skillfully predicts SIC variability in 35% of the Barents Sea, mainly in the eastern side. The T200 for negative sea ice anomalies exhibits warm anomalies in the subsurface ocean temperature downstream of the Norwegian Atlantic Slope Current (NwASC) on a decadal time scale. The diagnostic analysis of NCEP CFSR data suggests that the subsurface temperature anomaly stored below the thermocline during summer reemerges in late autumn by atmospheric cooling and affects the sea ice. The subsurface temperature anomaly of the NwASC is advected from the North Atlantic subpolar gyre over ~3 years. Also, Vsfc skillfully predicts SIC variability in 32% of the Barents Sea, mainly in the western side. The Vsfc for the negative sea ice anomalies exhibits southerly wind anomalies; Vsfc is related to the large-scale atmospheric circulation patterns from the subtropical North Atlantic to the Eurasian continent. This study suggests that both atmospheric and oceanic remote effects have a potential impact on the forecasting accuracy of SIC.

Ocean Science ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 8 (6) ◽  
pp. 971-982 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. N. Stepanov ◽  
H. Zuo ◽  
K. Haines

Abstract. An analysis of observational data in the Barents Sea along a meridian at 33°30' E between 70°30' and 72°30' N has reported a negative correlation between El Niño/La Niña Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events and water temperature in the top 200 m: the temperature drops about 0.5 °C during warm ENSO events while during cold ENSO events the top 200 m layer of the Barents Sea is warmer. Results from 1 and 1/4-degree global NEMO models show a similar response for the whole Barents Sea. During the strong warm ENSO event in 1997–1998 an anomalous anticyclonic atmospheric circulation over the Barents Sea enhances heat loses, as well as substantially influencing the Barents Sea inflow from the North Atlantic, via changes in ocean currents. Under normal conditions along the Scandinavian peninsula there is a warm current entering the Barents Sea from the North Atlantic, however after the 1997–1998 event this current is weakened. During 1997–1998 the model annual mean temperature in the Barents Sea is decreased by about 0.8 °C, also resulting in a higher sea ice volume. In contrast during the cold ENSO events in 1999–2000 and 2007–2008, the model shows a lower sea ice volume, and higher annual mean temperatures in the upper layer of the Barents Sea of about 0.7 °C. An analysis of model data shows that the strength of the Atlantic inflow in the Barents Sea is the main cause of heat content variability, and is forced by changing pressure and winds in the North Atlantic. However, surface heat-exchange with the atmosphere provides the means by which the Barents sea heat budget relaxes to normal in the subsequent year after the ENSO events.


2012 ◽  
Vol 29 (11) ◽  
pp. 1675-1688 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiangbai Wu ◽  
Xiao-Hai Yan ◽  
Young-Heon Jo ◽  
W. Timothy Liu

Abstract A self-organizing map (SOM) neural network was developed from Argo gridded datasets in order to estimate a subsurface temperature anomaly (STA) from remote sensing data. The SOM maps were trained using anomalies of sea surface temperature (SST), height (SSH), and salinity (SSS) data from Argo gridded monthly anomaly datasets, labeled with Argo STA data from 2005 through 2010, which were then used to estimate the STAs at different depths in the North Atlantic from the sea surface data. The estimated STA maps and time series were compared with Argo STAs including independent datasets for validation. In the Gulf Stream path areas, the STA estimations from the SOM algorithm show good agreement with in situ measurements taken from the surface down to 700-m depth, with a correlation coefficient larger than 0.8. Sensitivity of the SOM, when including salinity, shows that with SSS anomaly data in the SOM training process reveal the importance of SSS information, which can improve the estimation of STA in the subtropical ocean by up to 30%. In subpolar basins, the monthly climatology SST and SSH can also help to improve the estimation by as much as 40%. The STA time series for 1993–2004 in the midlatitude North Atlantic were estimated from remote sensing SST and altimetry time series using the SOM algorithm. Limitations for the SOM algorithm and possible error sources in the estimation are briefly discussed.


2019 ◽  
Vol 65 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-14
Author(s):  
N. I. Glok ◽  
G. V. Alekseev ◽  
A. E. Vyazilova

Earlier, the authors established a close relationship between the temperature of water coming from the North Atlantic and the sea ice extent (SIE) in the Barents Sea, which accounts for up to 75 % of the inter-annual variability of the monthly SIE from January to June. In turn, temperature variations of the incoming Atlantic water are affected from anomalies of sea surface temperature (SST) in the low latitudes of the North Atlantic. These dependences served as the basis for the development of a forecast method. The empirical orthogonal functions decomposition of the SIE set from January to June for 1979–2014 was used. The main component of decomposition reflects 83 % of the inter-annual variability of SIE from January to June. Regression model of forecast is based on the relation of the main component with SST anomalies taking into account the delay. Comparison of prognostic and actual values of the climatic component for each of the 6 months showed the correctness of forecasts with a lead time of 27 to 32 months is 83 %, and for the prediction of the initial values of SIE 79 %. Appealing to the second predictor — SST anomalies in the Norwegian Sea allowed to improve the quality of the forecast of the observed values of SIE. At the same time, the forecast advance time was reduced to 9–14 months.


2012 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 2121-2151
Author(s):  
V. N. Stepanov ◽  
H. Zuo ◽  
K. Haines

Abstract. An analysis of observational data in the Barents Sea along a meridian at 33°30´ E between 70°30´ and 72°30´ N has reported a negative correlation between El Niño/La Niña-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events and water temperature in the top 200 m: the temperature drops about 0.5 °C during warm ENSO events while during cold ENSO events the top 200 m layer of the Barents Sea is warmer. Results from 1 and 1/4-degree global NEMO models show a similar response for the whole Barents Sea. During the strong warm ENSO event in 1997–1998 an anticyclonic atmospheric circulation is settled over the Barents Sea instead of a usual cyclonic circulation. This change enhances heat loses in the Barents Sea, as well as substantially influencing the Barents Sea inflow from the North Atlantic, via changes in ocean currents. Under normal conditions along the Scandinavian peninsula there is a warm current entering the Barents sea from the North Atlantic, however after the 1997–1998 event this current is weakened. During 1997–1998 the model annual mean temperature in the Barents Sea is decreased by about 0.8 °C, also resulting in a higher sea ice volume. In contrast during the cold ENSO events in 1999–2000 and 2007–2008 the model shows a lower sea ice volume, and higher annual mean temperatures in the upper layer of the Barents Sea of about 0.7 °C. An analysis of model data shows that the Barents Sea inflow is the main source for the variability of Barents Sea heat content, and is forced by changing pressure and winds in the North Atlantic. However, surface heat-exchange with atmosphere can also play a dominant role in the Barents Sea annual heat balance, especially for the subsequent year after ENSO events.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erica Madonna ◽  
Gabriel Hes ◽  
Clio Michel ◽  
Camille Li ◽  
Peter Yu Feng Siew

<p>Extratropical cyclones are a key player for the global energy budget as they transport a large amount of moisture and heat from mid- to high-latitudes. One of the main corridors for cyclones entering the Arctic from the North Atlantic is the Barents Sea, a region that has experienced the largest decrease in winter sea ice during the past decades. On the one hand, some studies showed that moisture transported by cyclones to the Arctic can lead to drastic temperature increases and sea ice melt. On the other hand, it has been suggested that the location of the sea ice edge can influence the tracks of cyclones. Therefore, it is crucial to understand what controls cyclone tracks through the Barents Sea into the Arctic to explain and potentially predict climate variability at high latitudes.</p><p>To address this question, we track cyclones from 1979 to 2018 in the ERA-Interim data set, characterizing and quantifying them depending on their genesis location and path. The focus is on cyclones entering the Barents Sea from the North Atlantic as they carry the most moisture into the Arctic. Despite a clear declining trend in sea ice in the Barents Sea, our results show neither significant changes in cyclone frequency nor in their tracks. However, we find that the large-scale flow and in particular the presence or absence of blocking in the Barents Sea influence the cyclone frequency in this region, providing a potential mechanism that controls high latitude climate variability.</p>


1964 ◽  
Vol 54 (3) ◽  
pp. 386 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronald A. Helin

2016 ◽  
Vol 41 (8) ◽  
pp. 544-558 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. V. Alekseev ◽  
N. I. Glok ◽  
A. V. Smirnov ◽  
A. E. Vyazilova

2019 ◽  
Vol 25 ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Ilya V. Serykh ◽  
Andrey G. Kostianoy

Analysis of the monthly average temperature data of the Barents Sea at various depths for the period 1948-2016 showed its growth, which accelerated significantly since the mid-1980s. Against the background of this growth, interannual variability was found over periods of 2 to 7 years and about 10 years. It is shown that periods of this variability can be associated, respectively, with El Nino - Southern Oscillation and the North Atlantic Oscillation. It has been hypothesized that the Global Atmospheric Oscillation may be the synchronizing mechanism of the interannual variability of the tropics of the Pacific Ocean, the North Atlantic and the Barents Sea. Interdecadal changes with a period of about 15 years were also found, which are most likely related to surface temperature anomalies carried by the North Atlantic Current.


2009 ◽  
Vol 22 (22) ◽  
pp. 6021-6032 ◽  
Author(s):  
Courtenay Strong ◽  
Gudrun Magnusdottir ◽  
Hal Stern

Abstract Feedback between the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and winter sea ice variability is detected and quantified using approximately 30 years of observations, a vector autoregressive model (VAR), and testable definitions of Granger causality and feedback. Sea ice variability is quantified based on the leading empirical orthogonal function of sea ice concentration over the North Atlantic [the Greenland Sea ice dipole (GSD)], which, in its positive polarity, has anomalously high sea ice concentrations in the Labrador Sea region to the southwest of Greenland and low sea ice concentrations in the Barents Sea region to the northeast of Greenland. In weekly data for December through April, the VAR indicates that NAO index (N) anomalies cause like-signed anomalies of the standardized GSD index (G), and that G anomalies in turn cause oppositely signed anomalies of N. This negative feedback process operates explicitly on lags of up to four weeks in the VAR but can generate more persistent effects because of the autocorrelation of G. Synthetic data are generated with the VAR to quantify the effects of feedback following realistic local maxima of N and G, and also for sustained high values of G. Feedback can change the expected value of evolving system variables by as much as a half a standard deviation, and the relevance of these results to intraseasonal and interannual NAO and sea ice variability is discussed.


2017 ◽  
Vol 50 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 443-443 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mihaela Caian ◽  
Torben Koenigk ◽  
Ralf Döscher ◽  
Abhay Devasthale

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document