Winter-to-summer transition of Arctic sea ice breakup and floe size distribution in the Beaufort Sea

AbstractExtreme cold events (ECEs) on the Tibetan Plateau (TP) exert serious impacts on agriculture and animal husbandry and are important drivers of ecological and environmental changes. We investigate the temporal and spatial characteristics of the ECEs on the TP and the possible effects of Arctic sea ice. The daily observed minimum air temperature at 73 meteorological stations on the TP during 1980–2018 and the BCC_AGCM3_MR model are used. Our results show that the main mode of winter ECEs over the TP exhibits the same spatial variation and interannual variability across the whole region and is affected by two wave trains originating from the Arctic. The southern wave train is controlled by the sea ice in the Beaufort Sea. It initiates in the Norwegian Sea, and then passes through the North Atlantic Ocean, the Arabian Sea, and the Bay of Bengal along the subtropical westerly jet stream. It enters the TP from the south and brings warm, humid air from the oceans. By contrast, the northern wave train is controlled by the sea ice in the Laptev Sea. It originates from the Barents and Kara seas, passes through Lake Baikal, and enters the TP from the north, bringing dry and cold air. A decrease in the sea ice in the Beaufort Sea causes positive potential height anomalies in the Arctic. This change enhances the pressure gradient between the Artic and the mid-latitudes, leading to westerly winds in the northern TP, which block the intrusion of cold air into the south. By contrast, a decrease in the sea ice in the Laptev Sea causes negative potential height anomalies in the Artic. This change reduces the pressure gradient between the Artic and the mid-latitudes, leading to easterly winds to the north of the TP, which favors the southward intrusion of cold polar air. A continuous decrease in the amount of sea ice in the Beaufort Sea would reduce the frequency of ECEs over the TP and further aggravate TP warming in winter.

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Regional differences in processes controlling Arctic sea ice floe size distribution in Chukchi Sea, East Siberian and Fram Strait during pre-ponding season

10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-5208 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Yanan Wang ◽

Byongjun Hwang ◽

Rajlaxmi Basu ◽

Jinchang Ren

Keyword(s):

Sea Ice ◽

Size Distribution ◽

Regional Difference ◽

Chukchi Sea ◽

Arctic Sea Ice ◽

Fram Strait ◽

East Siberian Sea ◽

Arctic Sea ◽

Before And After ◽

Western Arctic

The floe size distribution (FSD) is important to the physical and biological processes in the marginal ice zone (MIZ). The FSD is controlled by ice advection, thermodynamics (lateral melting), and dynamics (winds, tides, currents and ocean swell). These thermodynamic and dynamic conditions are different between the western Arctic (e.g., Chukchi and Beaufort Seas) and the eastern Arctic (e.g., Fram Strait). For example, the MIZ in the western Arctic is strongly influenced by a warm ocean due to enhanced sea-ice albedo feedback, while the MIZ in the eastern Arctic is strongly influenced by ocean swell. We hypothesise that this regional difference can affect the FSD differently between the two regions. To address the hypothesis, we analysed the FSD data derived the images from MEDEA and synthetic aperture radar (SAR) TerraSAR-X in Chukchi Sea, East Siberian Sea and Fram Strait. Our results show that the FSD in Chukchi Sea the most dynamic as it contains a larger percentage of smaller floes and undergoes a greater interannual variability in the FSD compared to East Siberian Sea and Fram Strait. In particular, the FSD in Chukchi Sea shows a notable change before and after 2012. This change is likely attributed to the severe storm occurred in early August 2012 and the presence of thinner ice in this region.

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Predicting the Timing and Duration of Arctic Sea Ice and Its Implications on Future Drilling Seasons in the Chukchi Sea and Beaufort Sea

10.4043/27443-ms ◽

2016 ◽

Author(s):

Jill F. Hasling

Keyword(s):

Sea Ice ◽

Chukchi Sea ◽

Beaufort Sea ◽

Arctic Sea Ice ◽

Arctic Sea

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Verification of the Prediction of the Timing and Duration of Arctic Sea Ice in the Chukchi Sea and Beaufort Sea for 2016 & 2017

10.4043/29140-ms ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Jill F. Hasling ◽

Gonzalo Agudelo

Keyword(s):

Sea Ice ◽

Chukchi Sea ◽

Beaufort Sea ◽

Arctic Sea Ice ◽

Arctic Sea

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Arctic sea-ice melt in 2008 and the role of solar heating

Annals of Glaciology ◽

10.3189/172756411795931714 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 52 (57) ◽

pp. 355-359 ◽

Cited By ~ 56

Author(s):

Donald K. Perovich ◽

Jacqueline A. Richter-Menge ◽

Kathleen F. Jones ◽

Bonnie Light ◽

Bruce C. Elder ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Sea Ice ◽

Heat Input ◽

Large Scale ◽

Beaufort Sea ◽

Arctic Sea Ice ◽

Solar Heat ◽

Ice Melt ◽

Ice Surface ◽

Arctic Sea ◽

Ice Concentration

AbstractThere has been a marked decline in the summer extent of Arctic sea ice over the past few decades. Data from autonomous ice mass-balance buoys can enhance our understanding of this decline. These buoys monitor changes in snow deposition and ablation, ice growth, and ice surface and bottom melt. Results from the summer of 2008 showed considerable large-scale spatial variability in the amount of surface and bottom melt. Small amounts of melting were observed north of Greenland, while melting in the southern Beaufort Sea was quite large. Comparison of net solar heat input to the ice and heat required for surface ablation showed only modest correlation. However, there was a strong correlation between solar heat input to the ocean and bottom melting. As the ice concentration in the Beaufort Sea region decreased, there was an increase in solar heat to the ocean and an increase in bottom melting.

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Temporal and vertical variations of lipid biomarkers during a bottom ice diatom bloom in the Canadian Beaufort Sea: further evidence for the use of the IP25 biomarker as a proxy for spring Arctic sea ice

Polar Biology ◽

10.1007/s00300-010-0942-5 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 34 (12) ◽

pp. 1857-1868 ◽

Cited By ~ 81

Author(s):

Thomas A. Brown ◽

Simon T. Belt ◽

Benoît Philippe ◽

Christopher J. Mundy ◽

Guillaume Massé ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Sea Ice ◽

Beaufort Sea ◽

Arctic Sea Ice ◽

Lipid Biomarkers ◽

Diatom Bloom ◽

Arctic Sea ◽

Vertical Variations

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A practical algorithm for the retrieval of floe size distribution of Arctic sea ice from high-resolution satellite Synthetic Aperture Radar imagery

Elem Sci Anth ◽

10.1525/elementa.154 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 5 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Byongjun Hwang ◽

Jinchang Ren ◽

Samuel McCormack ◽

Craig Berry ◽

Ismail Ben Ayed ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Sea Ice ◽

Synthetic Aperture Radar ◽

Size Distribution ◽

Ground Truth ◽

Arctic Sea Ice ◽

Synthetic Aperture ◽

Distribution Data ◽

Synthetic Aperture Radar Data ◽

Arctic Sea ◽

Aperture Radar

In this study, we present an algorithm for summer sea ice conditions that semi-automatically produces the floe size distribution of Arctic sea ice from high-resolution satellite Synthetic Aperture Radar data. Currently, floe size distribution data from satellite images are very rare in the literature, mainly due to the lack of a reliable algorithm to produce such data. Here, we developed the algorithm by combining various image analysis methods, including Kernel Graph Cuts, distance transformation and watershed transformation, and a rule-based boundary revalidation. The developed algorithm has been validated against the ground truth that was extracted manually with the aid of 1-m resolution visible satellite data. Comprehensive validation analysis has shown both perspectives and limitations. The algorithm tends to fail to detect small floes (mostly less than 100 m in mean caliper diameter) compared to ground truth, which is mainly due to limitations in water-ice segmentation. Some variability in the power law exponent of floe size distribution is observed due to the effects of control parameters in the process of de-noising, Kernel Graph Cuts segmentation, thresholds for boundary revalidation and image resolution. Nonetheless, the algorithm, for floes larger than 100 m, has shown a reasonable agreement with ground truth under various selections of these control parameters. Considering that the coverage and spatial resolution of satellite Synthetic Aperture Radar data have increased significantly in recent years, the developed algorithm opens a new possibility to produce large volumes of floe size distribution data, which is essential for improving our understanding and prediction of the Arctic sea ice cover.

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PRELIMINARY RESULTS OF SEA ICE FREEBOARD MEASUREMENTS OF BEAUFORT SEA FROM CRYOSAT-2 ALTIMETRY

ISPRS - International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences ◽

10.5194/isprs-archives-xlii-2-w13-1811-2019 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol XLII-2/W13 ◽

pp. 1811-1815

Author(s):

S. Zhang ◽

Y. Zuo ◽

F. Xiao ◽

L. Yuan ◽

T. Geng ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Sea Ice ◽

Sea Water ◽

High Reliability ◽

Beaufort Sea ◽

Arctic Sea Ice ◽

Reliability Estimation ◽

The Arctic ◽

Average Height ◽

Maximum Value ◽

Arctic Sea

Abstract. Satellite altimetry has been used to observe the Arctic sea ice in long term and large scale, and the records show a continued decline for Arctic sea ice thickness over decades. In this study, the sea ice freeboard in Beaufort Sea of Arctic have been estimated using CryoSat-2 data, and validated with Upward Looking Sonar (ULS) data of Beaufort Gyre Exploration Project (BGEP). The results show an obvious seasonal variation of the Beaufort Sea with a high reliability estimation of the sea ice freeboard. The average height of the sea ice freeboard increase from January to March and achieve the maximum value 0.38&thinsp;m in March. The sea ice melts after March and the average height of the sea ice freeboard reduces to the minimum 0.12&thinsp;m in August. In the next few months the sea water begins to freeze and the average height of the sea ice freeboard will increase to the maximum value.

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Impact of floe size distribution on seasonal fragmentation and melt of Arctic sea ice

10.5194/tc-2019-44 ◽

2019 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Adam W. Bateson ◽

Daniel L. Feltham ◽

David Schröder ◽

Lucia Hosekova ◽

Jeff K. Ridley ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Sea Ice ◽

Size Distribution ◽

Power Law ◽

Arctic Sea Ice ◽

Distribution Model ◽

Flexible Tool ◽

Rapid Reduction ◽

Sea Ice Extent ◽

Arctic Sea ◽

Marginal Ice Zone

Abstract. Recent years have seen a rapid reduction in the summer Arctic sea ice extent. To both understand this trend and project the future evolution of the summer Arctic sea ice, a better understanding of the physical processes that drive the seasonal loss of sea ice is required. The marginal ice zone, here defined as regions with between 15 and 80 % sea ice cover, is the region separating pack ice from open ocean. Accurate modelling of this region is important to understand the dominant mechanisms involved in seasonal sea ice loss. Evolution of the marginal ice zone is determined by complex interactions between the atmosphere, sea ice, ocean, and ocean surface waves. Therefore, this region presents a significant modelling challenge. Sea ice floes span a range of sizes but climate sea ice models assume they adopt a constant size. Floe size influences the lateral melt rate of sea ice and momentum transfer between atmosphere, sea ice, and ocean, all important processes within the marginal ice zone. In this study, the floe size distribution is represented as a truncated power law defined by three key parameters: minimum floe size, maximum floe size, and power law exponent. This distribution is implemented within a sea ice model coupled to a prognostic ocean mixed layer model. We present results to show that the use of a power law derived floe size distribution has a spatially and temporally dependent impact on the sea ice, in particular increasing the role of the marginal ice zone in seasonal sea ice loss. This feature is important in correcting existing biases within sea ice models. In addition, we show a much stronger model sensitivity to floe size distribution parameters than other parameters used to calculate lateral melt, justifying the focus on floe size distribution in model development. It is finally concluded that the model approach presented here is a flexible tool for assessing the importance of a floe size distribution in the evolution of sea ice and is suitable for applications where a simple but realistic floe size distribution model is required.

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Investigating Arctic Sea Ice Survivability in the Beaufort Sea

Remote Sensing ◽

10.3390/rs10020267 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 10 (2) ◽

pp. 267 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Matthew Tooth ◽

Mark Tschudi

Keyword(s):

Sea Ice ◽

Beaufort Sea ◽

Arctic Sea Ice ◽

Arctic Sea

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