Air temperature variations and gradients along the coast and fjords of western Spitsbergen

Abstract

Daily temperature measurements from six meteorological stations along the coast and fjords of western Spitsbergen have been digitized and quality controlled in a Norwegian, Russian and Polish collaboration. Complete daily data series have been reconstructed back to 1948 for all of the stations. One of the station's monthly temperature series has previously been extended back to 1898 and is included in this study. The long-term series show large temperature variability on western Spitsbergen with colder periods in the 1910s and 1960s and warmer periods in the 1930s, 1950s and in the 21st century. The most recent years are the warmest ones in the instrumental records. There is a positive and statistically significant trend in the annual times series for all of the stations; however, the strongest warming is seen in winter and spring. For the period 1979Á2015, the linear trends range from 1.0 to 1.38C/decade for the annual series and from 2.0 to 2.38C/decade in winter. Threshold statistics demonstrate a decrease in the number of cold days per year and an increase in the number of warm days. A decreasing inter-annual variability is observed. In winter, spring and autumn, the stations in the northernmost areas of west Spitsbergen and in the innermost parts of Isfjorden are the coldest ones. In summer, however, the southernmost station is the coldest one. To access the supplementary material for this article, please see the supplementary files under Article Tools, online.

Front of the Werenskiold Glacier (Svalbard) – changes in years 1957–2013

“…Only during the last twenty years the increase in average annual temperatures was set at 1.0 -1.2°C. This trend is confirmed by direct instrumental observations as well as statistical increase in number of warm days during the year and decrease in number of cold days, especially during winter seasons [20][21][22][23][24][25].…”

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

“…The average air temperature at Svalbard-Lufthavn, as well as the rest of the western coast of Spitsbergen, in the study period was above normal of the period 1980-2010 (Norwegian Meteorological Institute 2016a;Nordli et al 2014;Gjelten et al 2016). In spite of the fact that long-term measurements for Petuniabukta are not available, it is clear that the western coast of Petuniabukta was warmer during the study period than August 2008-June 2010, as analyzed by Láska et al (2012).…”

Recent warming on Spitsbergen—Influence of atmospheric circulation and sea ice cover

“…Therefore, changes in SIC could well be the reason that Svalbard Airport has warmed more than the other stations on Spitsbergen as found in this article and also by Gjelten et al . []. When the fjord is open during winter, there is an energy transfer from the fjord water to the air that leads to convection in the air mass, and the temperature gradient will be negative.…”

“…Several studies have addressed trends and variability in SAT within the Svalbard region [e.g., Førland et al ., ; Hanssen‐Bauer , ; Nied ź wied ź, ; Przybylak , ; Førland et al ., ; Marsz and Styszynska , ; Lupikasza and Nied ź wied ź, ; Lupikasza et al ., ; Nordli et al ., ; Gjelten et al ., ] and variations in sea ice coverage [e.g., Deser et al ., ; Kwok and Rothrock , ; Lindsay et al ., ; Onarheim et al ., ; Muckenhuber et al ., ]. The present analysis combines and extends these earlier studies by quantitatively relating the recent warming on Spitsbergen to large‐scale AC and sea ice concentration (SIC) variations.…”