scholarly journals Regional September Sea Ice Forecasting with Complex Networks and Gaussian Processes

2020 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 793-806
Author(s):  
William Gregory ◽  
Michel Tsamados ◽  
Julienne Stroeve ◽  
Peter Sollich

Abstract Reliable predictions of the Arctic sea ice cover are becoming of paramount importance for Arctic communities and industry stakeholders. In this study pan-Arctic and regional September mean sea ice extents are forecast with lead times of up to 3 months using a complex network statistical approach. This method exploits relationships within climate time series data by constructing regions of spatiotemporal homogeneity (i.e., nodes), and subsequently deriving teleconnection links between them. Here the nodes and links of the networks are generated from monthly mean sea ice concentration fields in June, July, and August; hence, individual networks are constructed for each respective month. Network information is then utilized within a linear Gaussian process regression forecast model, a Bayesian inference technique, in order to generate predictions of sea ice extent. Pan-Arctic forecasts capture a significant amount of the variability in the satellite observations of September sea ice extent, with detrended predictive skills of 0.53, 0.62, and 0.81 at 3-, 2-, and 1-month lead times, respectively. Regional forecasts are also performed for nine Arctic regions. On average, the highest predictive skill is achieved in the Canadian Archipelago, Beaufort, Chukchi, East Siberian, Laptev, and Kara Seas, although the ability to accurately predict many of these regions appears to be changing over time.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
William Gregory ◽  
Michel Tsamados ◽  
Julienne Stroeve ◽  
Peter Sollich

<p><span>Spatial predictions of the Arctic sea ice cover are becoming of paramount importance for Arctic communities and industry stakeholders. However, with sea ice variability likely to increase under continued anthropogenic warming, increasingly complex tools are required in order to make accurate forecasts. In this study, predictions of both Arctic and Antarctic summer sea ice extents are made using a complex network statistical approach. This method exploits statistical relationships within geo-spatial time series data in order to construct regions of spatio-temporal homogeneity -- nodes, and subsequently derive teleconnection links between them. The nodes and links of the networks here are generated from monthly sea ice concentration fields in June(November), July(December) and August(January) for Arctic(Antarctic) forecasts, hence lead times extend from 1 to 3 months. Network information is then utilised within a linear Gaussian Process Regression forecast model; a Bayesian inference technique. Network teleconnection weights are used to generate priors over functions in the form of a random walk covariance kernel; the hyperparameters of which are determined by the empirical Bayesian approach of type-II maximum likelihood. We also show predictions of all other months in order to ascertain the presence of a spring predictability barrier in observational data, for both hemispheres.</span></p>


2021 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yiyi Huang ◽  
Matthäus Kleindessner ◽  
Alexey Munishkin ◽  
Debvrat Varshney ◽  
Pei Guo ◽  
...  

The Arctic sea ice has retreated rapidly in the past few decades, which is believed to be driven by various dynamic and thermodynamic processes in the atmosphere. The newly open water resulted from sea ice decline in turn exerts large influence on the atmosphere. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the causality between multiple atmospheric processes and sea ice variations using three distinct data-driven causality approaches that have been proposed recently: Temporal Causality Discovery Framework Non-combinatorial Optimization via Trace Exponential and Augmented lagrangian for Structure learning (NOTEARS) and Directed Acyclic Graph-Graph Neural Networks (DAG-GNN). We apply these three algorithms to 39 years of historical time-series data sets, which include 11 atmospheric variables from ERA-5 reanalysis product and passive microwave satellite retrieved sea ice extent. By comparing the causality graph results of these approaches with what we summarized from the literature, it shows that the static graphs produced by NOTEARS and DAG-GNN are relatively reasonable. The results from NOTEARS indicate that relative humidity and precipitation dominate sea ice changes among all variables, while the results from DAG-GNN suggest that the horizontal and meridional wind are more important for driving sea ice variations. However, both approaches produce some unrealistic cause-effect relationships. Additionally, these three methods cannot well detect the delayed impact of one variable on another in the Arctic. It also turns out that the results are rather sensitive to the choice of hyperparameters of the three methods. As a pioneer study, this work paves the way to disentangle the complex causal relationships in the Earth system, by taking the advantage of cutting-edge Artificial Intelligence technologies.


2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (5) ◽  
pp. 1361-1380 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Ono ◽  
H. Tatebe ◽  
Y. Komuro

Abstract The mechanisms for and predictability of a drastic reduction in the Arctic sea ice extent (SIE) are investigated using the Model for Interdisciplinary Research on Climate (MIROC) version 5.2. Here, a control (CTRL) with forcing fixed at year 2000 levels and perfect-model ensemble prediction (PRED) experiments are conducted. In CTRL, three (model years 51, 56, and 57) drastic SIE reductions occur during a 200-yr-long integration. In year 56, the sea ice moves offshore in association with a positive phase of the summer Arctic dipole anomaly (ADA) index and melts due to heat input through the increased open water area, and the SIE drastically decreases. This provides the preconditioning for the lowest SIE in year 57 when the Arctic Ocean interior is in a warm state and the spring sea ice volume has a large negative anomaly due to drastic ice reduction in the previous year. Although the ADA is one of the key mechanisms behind sea ice reduction, it does not always cause a drastic reduction. Our analysis suggests that wind direction favoring offshore ice motion is a more important factor for drastic ice reduction events. In years experiencing drastic ice reduction events, the September SIE can be skillfully predicted in PRED started from July, but not from April. This is because the forecast errors for the July sea level pressure and those for the sea ice concentration and sea ice thickness along the ice edge are large in PRED started from April.


2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (6) ◽  
pp. 1971-1984 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca J. Rolph ◽  
Daniel L. Feltham ◽  
David Schröder

Abstract. Many studies have shown a decrease in Arctic sea ice extent. It does not logically follow, however, that the extent of the marginal ice zone (MIZ), here defined as the area of the ocean with ice concentrations from 15 % to 80 %, is also changing. Changes in the MIZ extent has implications for the level of atmospheric and ocean heat and gas exchange in the area of partially ice-covered ocean and for the extent of habitat for organisms that rely on the MIZ, from primary producers like sea ice algae to seals and birds. Here, we present, for the first time, an analysis of satellite observations of pan-Arctic averaged MIZ extent. We find no trend in the MIZ extent over the last 40 years from observations. Our results indicate that the constancy of the MIZ extent is the result of an observed increase in width of the MIZ being compensated for by a decrease in the perimeter of the MIZ as it moves further north. We present simulations from a coupled sea ice–ocean mixed layer model using a prognostic floe size distribution, which we find is consistent with, but poorly constrained by, existing satellite observations of pan-Arctic MIZ extent. We provide seasonal upper and lower bounds on MIZ extent based on the four satellite-derived sea ice concentration datasets used. We find a large and significant increase (>50 %) in the August and September MIZ fraction (MIZ extent divided by sea ice extent) for the Bootstrap and OSI-450 observational datasets, which can be attributed to the reduction in total sea ice extent. Given the results of this study, we suggest that references to “rapid changes” in the MIZ should remain cautious and provide a specific and clear definition of both the MIZ itself and also the property of the MIZ that is changing.


2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jun Ono ◽  
Hiroaki Tatebe ◽  
Yoshiki Komuro ◽  
Masato I. Nodzu ◽  
Masayoshi Ishii

Abstract. To assess the skill of predictions of the seasonal-to-interannual detrended sea ice extent in the Arctic Ocean (SIEAO) and to clarify the underlying physical processes, we conducted ensemble hindcasts, started on January 1st, April 1st, July 1st, and October 1st for each year from 1980 to 2011, for lead times of up three years, using the Model for Interdisciplinary Research on Climate (MIROC) version 5 initialized with the observed atmosphere and ocean anomalies and sea ice concentration. Significant skill is found for the winter months: the December SIEAO can be predicted up to 1 year ahead. This skill is attributed to the subsurface ocean heat content originating in the North Atlantic. The subsurface water flows into the Barents Sea from spring to fall and emerges at the surface in winter by vertical mixing, and eventually affects the sea ice variability there. Meanwhile, the September SIEAO predictions are skillful for lead times of up to 3 months, due to the persistence of sea ice in the Beaufort, Chukchi, and East Siberian Seas initialized in July, as suggested by previous studies.


2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (7) ◽  
pp. 3207-3227
Author(s):  
Timothy Williams ◽  
Anton Korosov ◽  
Pierre Rampal ◽  
Einar Ólason

Abstract. The neXtSIM-F (neXtSIM forecast) forecasting system consists of a stand-alone sea ice model, neXtSIM (neXt-generation Sea Ice Model), forced by the TOPAZ ocean forecast and the ECMWF atmospheric forecast, combined with daily data assimilation of sea ice concentration. It uses the novel brittle Bingham–Maxwell (BBM) sea ice rheology, making it the first forecast based on a continuum model not to use the viscous–plastic (VP) rheology. It was tested in the Arctic for the time period November 2018–June 2020 and was found to perform well, although there are some shortcomings. Despite drift not being assimilated in our system, the sea ice drift is good throughout the year, being relatively unbiased, even for longer lead times like 5 d. The RMSE in speed and the total RMSE are also good for the first 3 or so days, although they both increase steadily with lead time. The thickness distribution is relatively good, although there are some regions that experience excessive thickening with negative implications for the summertime sea ice extent, particularly in the Greenland Sea. The neXtSIM-F forecasting system assimilates OSI SAF sea ice concentration products (both SSMIS and AMSR2) by modifying the initial conditions daily and adding a compensating heat flux to prevent removed ice growing back too quickly. The assimilation greatly improves the sea ice extent for the forecast duration.


2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (12) ◽  
pp. 4917-4932 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ingrid H. Onarheim ◽  
Tor Eldevik ◽  
Lars H. Smedsrud ◽  
Julienne C. Stroeve

The Arctic Ocean is currently on a fast track toward seasonally ice-free conditions. Although most attention has been on the accelerating summer sea ice decline, large changes are also occurring in winter. This study assesses past, present, and possible future change in regional Northern Hemisphere sea ice extent throughout the year by examining sea ice concentration based on observations back to 1950, including the satellite record since 1979. At present, summer sea ice variability and change dominate in the perennial ice-covered Beaufort, Chukchi, East Siberian, Laptev, and Kara Seas, with the East Siberian Sea explaining the largest fraction of September ice loss (22%). Winter variability and change occur in the seasonally ice-covered seas farther south: the Barents Sea, Sea of Okhotsk, Greenland Sea, and Baffin Bay, with the Barents Sea carrying the largest fraction of loss in March (27%). The distinct regions of summer and winter sea ice variability and loss have generally been consistent since 1950, but appear at present to be in transformation as a result of the rapid ice loss in all seasons. As regions become seasonally ice free, future ice loss will be dominated by winter. The Kara Sea appears as the first currently perennial ice-covered sea to become ice free in September. Remaining on currently observed trends, the Arctic shelf seas are estimated to become seasonally ice free in the 2020s, and the seasonally ice-covered seas farther south to become ice free year-round from the 2050s.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Srikanth Toppaladoddi ◽  
Andrew Wells

<p>Arctic sea ice is one of the most sensitive components of the Earth’s climate system. The underlying ocean plays an important role in the evolution of the ice cover through its heat flux at the ice-ocean interface which moderates ice growth and melt. Despite its importance, the spatio-temporal variations of this heat flux are not well understood. In this work, we combine direct numerical simulations of turbulent convection over fractal surfaces and analysis of time-series data from the Surface Heat Budget of the Arctic Ocean (SHEBA) program using Multifractal Detrended Fluctuation Analysis (MFDFA) to understand the nature of fluctuations in this heat flux. We identify key physical processes associated with the observed Hurst exponents calculated by the MFDFA, and how these evolve over time. We also discuss ongoing work on constructing simple stochastic models of the ocean heat flux to the ice, and potential use as a parameterisation.</p>


2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 675-683 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jun Ono ◽  
Hiroaki Tatebe ◽  
Yoshiki Komuro ◽  
Masato I. Nodzu ◽  
Masayoshi Ishii

Abstract. To assess the skill of seasonal to inter-annual predictions of the detrended sea ice extent in the Arctic Ocean (SIEAO) and to clarify the underlying physical processes, we conducted ensemble hindcasts, started on 1 January, 1 April, 1 July and 1 October for each year from 1980 to 2011, for lead times up to three years, using the Model for Interdisciplinary Research on Climate (MIROC) version 5 initialised with the observed atmosphere and ocean anomalies and sea ice concentration. Significant skill is found for the winter months: the December SIEAO can be predicted up to 11 months ahead (anomaly correlation coefficient is 0.42). This skill might be attributed to the subsurface ocean heat content originating in the North Atlantic. A plausible mechanism is as follows: the subsurface water flows into the Barents Sea from spring to fall and emerges at the surface in winter by vertical mixing, and eventually affects the sea ice variability there. Meanwhile, the September SIEAO predictions are skillful for lead times of up to two months, due to the persistence of sea ice in the Beaufort, Chukchi, and East Siberian seas initialised in July, as suggested by previous studies.


Atmosphere ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 361
Author(s):  
Su-Bong Lee ◽  
Baek-Min Kim ◽  
Jinro Ukita ◽  
Joong-Bae Ahn

Reanalysis data are known to have relatively large uncertainties in the polar region than at lower latitudes. In this study, we used a single sea-ice model (Los Alamos’ CICE5) and three sets of reanalysis data to quantify the sensitivities of simulated Arctic sea ice area and volume to perturbed atmospheric forcings. The simulated sea ice area and thickness thus volume were clearly sensitive to the selection of atmospheric reanalysis data. Among the forcing variables, changes in radiative and sensible/latent heat fluxes caused significant amounts of sensitivities. Differences in sea-ice concentration and thickness were primarily caused by differences in downward shortwave and longwave radiations. 2-m air temperature also has a significant influence on year-to-year variability of the sea ice volume. Differences in precipitation affected the sea ice volume by causing changes in the insulation effect of snow-cover on sea ice. The diversity of sea ice extent and thickness responses due to uncertainties in atmospheric variables highlights the need to carefully evaluate reanalysis data over the Arctic region.


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