scholarly journals Coupled Sea Ice–Ocean-State Estimation in the Labrador Sea and Baffin Bay

2013 ◽  
Vol 43 (5) ◽  
pp. 884-904 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian Fenty ◽  
Patrick Heimbach

Abstract Sea ice variability in the Labrador Sea is of climatic interest because of its relationship to deep convection, mode-water formation, and the North Atlantic atmospheric circulation. Historically, quantifying the relationship between sea ice and ocean variability has been difficult because of in situ observation paucity and technical challenges associated with synthesizing observations with numerical models. Here the relationship between ice and ocean variability is explored by analyzing new estimates of the ocean–ice state in the northwest North Atlantic. The estimates are syntheses of in situ and satellite hydrographic and ice data with a regional ⅓° coupled ocean–sea ice model. The synthesis of sea ice data is achieved with an improved adjoint of a thermodynamic ice model. Model and data are made consistent, in a least squares sense, by iteratively adjusting control variables, including ocean initial and lateral boundary conditions and the atmospheric state, to minimize an uncertainty-weighted model–data misfit cost function. The utility of the state estimate is demonstrated in an analysis of energy and buoyancy budgets in the marginal ice zone (MIZ). In mid-March the system achieves a state of quasi-equilibrium during which net ice growth and melt approaches zero; newly formed ice diverges from coastal areas and converges via wind and ocean forcing in the MIZ. The convergence of ice mass in the MIZ is ablated primarily by turbulent ocean–ice enthalpy fluxes. The primary source of the enthalpy required for sustained MIZ ice ablation is the sensible heat reservoir of the subtropical-origin subsurface waters.

2012 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 583-592 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yinke Dou ◽  
Xiaomin Chang

Abstract Ice thickness is one of the most critical physical indicators in the ice science and engineering. It is therefore very necessary to develop in-situ automatic observation technologies of ice thickness. This paper proposes the principle of three new technologies of in-situ automatic observations of sea ice thickness and provides the findings of laboratory applications. The results show that the in-situ observation accuracy of the monitor apparatus based on the Magnetostrictive Delay Line (MDL) principle can reach ±2 mm, which has solved the “bottleneck” problem of restricting the fine development of a sea ice thermodynamic model, and the resistance accuracy of monitor apparatus with temperature gradient can reach the centimeter level and research the ice and snow substance balance by automatically measuring the glacier surface ice and snow change. The measurement accuracy of the capacitive sensor for ice thickness can also reach ±4 mm and the capacitive sensor is of the potential for automatic monitoring the water level under the ice and the ice formation and development process in water. Such three new technologies can meet different needs of fixed-point ice thickness observation and realize the simultaneous measurement in order to accurately judge the ice thickness.


2017 ◽  
Vol 59 (76pt2) ◽  
pp. 181-190 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas J. Ballinger ◽  
Edward Hanna ◽  
Richard J. Hall ◽  
Thomas E. Cropper ◽  
Jeffrey Miller ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTThe Arctic marine environment is undergoing a transition from thick multi-year to first-year sea-ice cover with coincident lengthening of the melt season. Such changes are evident in the Baffin Bay-Davis Strait-Labrador Sea (BDL) region where melt onset has occurred ~8 days decade−1 earlier from 1979 to 2015. A series of anomalously early events has occurred since the mid-1990s, overlapping a period of increased upper-air ridging across Greenland and the northwestern North Atlantic. We investigate an extreme early melt event observed in spring 2013. (~6σ below the 1981–2010 melt climatology), with respect to preceding sub-seasonal mid-tropospheric circulation conditions as described by a daily Greenland Blocking Index (GBI). The 40-days prior to the 2013 BDL melt onset are characterized by a persistent, strong 500 hPa anticyclone over the region (GBI >+1 on >75% of days). This circulation pattern advected warm air from northeastern Canada and the northwestern Atlantic poleward onto the thin, first-year sea ice and caused melt ~50 days earlier than normal. The episodic increase in the ridging atmospheric pattern near western Greenland as in 2013, exemplified by large positive GBI values, is an important recent process impacting the atmospheric circulation over a North Atlantic cryosphere undergoing accelerated regional climate change.


2004 ◽  
Vol 17 (21) ◽  
pp. 4267-4279 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aixue Hu ◽  
Gerald A. Meehl ◽  
Warren M. Washington ◽  
Aiguo Dai

Abstract Changes in the thermohaline circulation (THC) due to increased CO2 are important in future climate regimes. Using a coupled climate model, the Parallel Climate Model (PCM), regional responses of the THC in the North Atlantic to increased CO2 and the underlying physical processes are studied here. The Atlantic THC shows a 20-yr cycle in the control run, qualitatively agreeing with other modeling results. Compared with the control run, the simulated maximum of the Atlantic THC weakens by about 5 Sv (1 Sv ≡ 106 m3 s−1) or 14% in an ensemble of transient experiments with a 1% CO2 increase per year at the time of CO2 doubling. The weakening of the THC is accompanied by reduced poleward heat transport in the midlatitude North Atlantic. Analyses show that oceanic deep convective activity strengthens significantly in the Greenland–Iceland–Norway (GIN) Seas owing to a saltier (denser) upper ocean, but weakens in the Labrador Sea due to a fresher (lighter) upper ocean and in the south of the Denmark Strait region (SDSR) because of surface warming. The saltiness of the GIN Seas are mainly caused by an increased salty North Atlantic inflow, and reduced sea ice volume fluxes from the Arctic into this region. The warmer SDSR is induced by a reduced heat loss to the atmosphere, and a reduced sea ice flux into this region, resulting in less heat being used to melt ice. Thus, sea ice–related salinity effects appear to be more important in the GIN Seas, but sea ice–melt-related thermal effects seem to be more important in the SDSR region. On the other hand, the fresher Labrador Sea is mainly attributed to increased precipitation. These regional changes produce the overall weakening of the THC in the Labrador Sea and SDSR, and more vigorous ocean overturning in the GIN Seas. The northward heat transport south of 60°N is reduced with increased CO2, but increased north of 60°N due to the increased flow of North Atlantic water across this latitude.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-Michel Lellouche ◽  
Romain Bourdalle-Badie ◽  
Eric Greiner ◽  
Gilles Garric ◽  
Angelique Melet ◽  
...  

<p>The GLORYS12V1 system is a global eddy-resolving physical ocean and sea ice reanalysis at 1/12° resolution covering the 1993-present altimetry period, designed and implemented in the framework of the Copernicus Marine Environment Monitoring Service (CMEMS). All the essential ocean physical variables from this reanalysis are available with free access through the CMEMS data portal.</p><p>The GLORYS12V1 reanalysis is based on the current CMEMS global real-time forecasting system, apart from a few specificities that are detailed in this manuscript. The model component is the NEMO platform driven at the surface by atmospheric conditions from the ECMWF ERA-Interim reanalysis. Ocean observations are assimilated by means of a reduced-order Kalman filter. Along track altimeter sea level anomaly, satellite sea surface temperature and sea ice concentration data and in situ temperature and salinity (T/S) vertical profiles are jointly assimilated. A 3D-VAR scheme provides an additional correction for the slowly-evolving large-scale biases in temperature and salinity.</p><p>The performance of the reanalysis is first addressed in the space of the assimilated observations and shows a clear dependency on the time-dependent in situ observation system, which is intrinsic to most reanalyses. The general assessment of GLORYS12V1 highlights a level of performance at the state-of-the-art and the reliability of the system to correctly capture the main expected climatic interannual variability signals for ocean and sea ice, the general circulation and the inter-basins exchanges. In terms of trends, GLORYS12V1 shows a higher than observed  warming trend together with a lower than observed global mean sea level rise.</p><p>Comparisons made with an experiment carried out on the same platform without assimilation show the benefit of data assimilation in controlling water masses properties and their low frequency variability. Examination of the deep signals below 2000 m depth shows that the reanalysis does not suffer from artificial signals even in the pre-Argo period.</p><p>Moreover, GLORYS12V1 represents particularly well the small-scale variability of surface dynamics and compares well with independent (non-assimilated) data. Comparisons made with a twin experiment carried out at ¼° resolution allows characterizing and quantifying the strengthened contribution of the 1/12° resolution onto the downscaled dynamics.</p><p>In conclusion, GLORYS12V1 provides a reliable physical ocean state for climate variability and supports applications such as seasonal forecasts. In addition, this reanalysis has strong assets to serve regional applications and should provide relevant physical conditions for applications such as marine biogeochemistry. In a near future, GLORYS12V1 will be maintained to be as close as possible to real time and could therefore provide a relevant reference statistical framework for many operational applications.</p>


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tanguy Szekely ◽  
Jérôme Gourrion ◽  
Sylvie Pouliquen ◽  
Gilles Reverdin

Abstract. We present the Copernicus in-situ ocean dataset of temperature and salinity (version V5.2). The ocean subsurface sampling varied widely from 1950 to 2017, as a result of changes in the instrument technology and development of in-situ observational networks (in particular, tropical moorings, ARGO program). The global ocean temperature data coverage on an annual basis grows thus from 10 % in 1950 (30 % for the North Atlantic basin) to 25 % in 2000 (60 % for the North Atlantic basin) and reaches a plateau exceeding 80 % (95 % for the North Atlantic Ocean) after the deployment of the ARGO program. The average depth reached by the profiles also increases from 1950 to 2017. The validation framework is presented, and an objective analysis-based method is developed to assess the quality of the dataset validation process. Analyses of the ocean variability are calculated without taking into account the data quality flags (raw dataset OA), with the near real time quality flags (NRT dataset OA) and with the delayed time mode quality flags (CORA dataset OA). The comparison of the objective analysis variability shows that the near real time dataset managed to detect and to flag most of the large measurement errors, reducing the analysis error bar compared to the raw dataset error bar. It also shows that the ocean variability of the delayed time mode validated dataset is almost exempt from the random error induced variability.


2016 ◽  
Vol 97 (10) ◽  
pp. 1909-1928 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tuukka Petäjä ◽  
Ewan J. O’Connor ◽  
Dmitri Moisseev ◽  
Victoria A. Sinclair ◽  
Antti J. Manninen ◽  
...  

Abstract During Biogenic Aerosols—Effects on Clouds and Climate (BAECC), the U.S. Department of Energy’s Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Program deployed the Second ARM Mobile Facility (AMF2) to Hyytiälä, Finland, for an 8-month intensive measurement campaign from February to September 2014. The primary research goal is to understand the role of biogenic aerosols in cloud formation. Hyytiälä is host to the Station for Measuring Ecosystem–Atmosphere Relations II (SMEAR II), one of the world’s most comprehensive surface in situ observation sites in a boreal forest environment. The station has been measuring atmospheric aerosols, biogenic emissions, and an extensive suite of parameters relevant to atmosphere–biosphere interactions continuously since 1996. Combining vertical profiles from AMF2 with surface-based in situ SMEAR II observations allows the processes at the surface to be directly related to processes occurring throughout the entire tropospheric column. Together with the inclusion of extensive surface precipitation measurements and intensive observation periods involving aircraft flights and novel radiosonde launches, the complementary observations provide a unique opportunity for investigating aerosol–cloud interactions and cloud-to-precipitation processes in a boreal environment. The BAECC dataset provides opportunities for evaluating and improving models of aerosol sources and transport, cloud microphysical processes, and boundary layer structures. In addition, numerical models are being used to bridge the gap between surface-based and tropospheric observations.


2006 ◽  
Vol 19 (17) ◽  
pp. 4436-4447 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. D. Hewitt ◽  
A. J. Broccoli ◽  
M. Crucifix ◽  
J. M. Gregory ◽  
J. F. B. Mitchell ◽  
...  

Abstract The commonly held view of the conditions in the North Atlantic at the last glacial maximum, based on the interpretation of proxy records, is of large-scale cooling compared to today, limited deep convection, and extensive sea ice, all associated with a southward displaced and weakened overturning thermohaline circulation (THC) in the North Atlantic. Not all studies support that view; in particular, the “strength of the overturning circulation” is contentious and is a quantity that is difficult to determine even for the present day. Quasi-equilibrium simulations with coupled climate models forced by glacial boundary conditions have produced differing results, as have inferences made from proxy records. Most studies suggest the weaker circulation, some suggest little or no change, and a few suggest a stronger circulation. Here results are presented from a three-dimensional climate model, the Hadley Centre Coupled Model version 3 (HadCM3), of the coupled atmosphere–ocean–sea ice system suggesting, in a qualitative sense, that these diverging views could all have occurred at different times during the last glacial period, with different modes existing at different times. One mode might have been characterized by an active THC associated with moderate temperatures in the North Atlantic and a modest expanse of sea ice. The other mode, perhaps forced by large inputs of meltwater from the continental ice sheets into the northern North Atlantic, might have been characterized by a sluggish THC associated with very cold conditions around the North Atlantic and a large areal cover of sea ice. The authors’ model simulation of such a mode, forced by a large input of freshwater, bears several of the characteristics of the Climate: Long-range Investigation, Mapping, and Prediction (CLIMAP) Project’s reconstruction of glacial sea surface temperature and sea ice extent.


2014 ◽  
Vol 627 ◽  
pp. 361-364 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yasuhiro Yamazaki

In this paper, an in-situ measurement of crack size as a function of applied indentation load during indentation test was conducted. To perform the in-situ measurement, an instrumented indentation test machine with the in-situ observation system was developed and used. The joints of transparent ceramics by diffusion bonding were prepared as the specimen used in this study. The indentations were performed at the interface of the joints, and in the monolithic transparent ceramics by means of the instrumented indenter with the in-situ observation system. The relationship between crack shape and indentation load, as well as, the effect of the indenter shape on it were discussed.


2013 ◽  
Vol 43 (5) ◽  
pp. 863-883 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian Fenty ◽  
Patrick Heimbach

Abstract This study investigates the hydrographic processes involved in setting the maximum wintertime sea ice (SI) extent in the Labrador Sea and Baffin Bay. The analysis is based on an ocean and sea ice state estimate covering the summer-to-summer 1996/97 annual cycle. The estimate is a synthesis of in situ and satellite hydrographic and ice data with a regional coupled ⅓° ocean–sea ice model. SI advective processes are first demonstrated to be required to reproduce the observed ice extent. With advection, the marginal ice zone (MIZ) location stabilizes where ice melt balances ice mass convergence, a quasi-equilibrium condition achieved via the convergence of warm subtropical-origin subsurface waters into the mixed layer seaward of the MIZ. An analysis of ocean surface buoyancy fluxes reveals a critical role of low-salinity upper ocean (100 m) anomalies for the advancement of SI seaward of the Arctic Water–Irminger Water Thermohaline Front. Anomalous low-salinity waters slow the rate of buoyancy loss–driven mixed layer deepening, shielding an advancing SI pack from the warm subsurface waters, and are conducive to a positive surface meltwater stabilization enhancement (MESEM) feedback driven by SI meltwater release. The low-salinity upper-ocean hydrographic conditions in which the MESEM efficiently operates are termed sea ice–preconditioned waters (SIPW). The SI extent seaward of the Thermohaline Front is shown to closely correspond to the distribution of SIPW. The analysis of two additional state estimates (1992/93, 2003/04) suggests that interannual hydrographic variability provides a first-order explanation for SI maximum extent anomalies in the region.


1999 ◽  
Vol 565 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. D. Glew ◽  
M. A. Cappelli ◽  
M. N. Touzelbaev ◽  
Y. Hu

AbstractIn situ observation of the plasma properties during deposition of fluorinated amorphous hydrogenated carbon (FLAC) and unfluorinated amorphous hydrogenated carbon are performed. The relationship between film properties and impinging ion energy and incident ion momentum is discussed within the framework of existing models of diamond-like carbon (DLC) formation. The DLC films are deposited in a low pressure radio frequency discharge operating at 13.57 MHz with methane and carbon tetra-fluoride as the source gases. Thermostability, stress, and mechanical properties are investigated. The films are elevated to 400 degrees C in order to investigate thermostability. Thin film stress and nano-hardness are also studied. The film density is investigated by gravimetric methods. The fluorinated film stoichiometry is explored with x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy.


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