Advances in understanding and parameterization of small-scale physical processes in the marine Arctic climate system: a review

Abstract

Abstract. The Arctic climate system includes numerous highly interactive small-scale physical processes in the atmosphere, sea ice, and ocean. During and since the International Polar Year 2007–2008, significant advances have been made in understanding these processes. Here these advances are reviewed, synthesized and discussed. In atmospheric physics, the primary advances have been in cloud physics, radiative transfer, mesoscale cyclones, coastal and fjordic processes, as well as in boundary-layer processes and surface fluxes. In sea ice and its snow cover, advances have been made in understanding of the surface albedo and its relationships with snow properties, the internal structure of sea ice, the heat and salt transfer in ice, the formation of super-imposed ice and snow ice, and the small-scale dynamics of sea ice. In the ocean, significant advances have been related to exchange processes at the ice–ocean interface, diapycnal mixing, tidal currents and diurnal resonance. Despite this recent progress, some of these small-scale physical processes are still not sufficiently understood: these include wave-turbulence interactions in the atmosphere and ocean, the exchange of heat and salt at the ice–ocean interface, and the mechanical weakening of sea ice. Many other processes are reasonably well understood as stand-alone processes but challenge is to understand their interactions with, and impacts and feedbacks on, other processes. Uncertainty in the parameterization of small-scale processes continues to be among the largest challenges facing climate modeling, and nowhere is this more true than in the Arctic. Further improvements in parameterization require new year-round field campaigns on the Arctic sea ice, closely combined with satellite remote sensing studies and numerical model experiments.

Air temperature variability in the vertical profile over the coastal area of Petuniabukta, central Spitsbergen

“…The Γ in the lowest air layer was also found to have a strong annual cycle, however with marked differences between the two years. Therefore, it seems that the year-to-year differences in atmospheric circulation as well as sea ice conditions (Láska et al 2012;Vihma et al 2014) influence Γ and noticeably alter the regular annual cycle.…”

Introduction Ice Fog, Ice Clouds, and Remote Sensing

“…Turbulent heat and moisture fluxes over wet surfaces play an important role in fog formation Gultepe 2015;Vihma et al 2014). In particular, in marine environments and mountainous regions, atmosphere-surface interactions need to be properly understood (Fernando et al 2015).…”

Evolution of snow and ice temperature, thickness and energy balance in Lake Orajärvi, northern Finland

“…The accuracy of HIRLAM total precipitation, its division between rain and snowfall, as well as prediction of individual precipitation events requires further improvements. Further efforts are also needed to implement in models the recent advances in physics of snow and ice albedo and related feedbacks, effects of aerosol deposition on snow and ice, and transmittance of snow and ice (Vihma et al, 2014).…”