Atmospheric forcing of Fram Strait sea ice export: a closer look

Tsukernik, M.; Deser, Clara; Alexander, Michael A.; Tomas, Robert A.

doi:10.1007/s00382-009-0647-z

Cited by 83 publications

(86 citation statements)

References 39 publications

(58 reference statements)

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“…Sea ice export variability is strongly determined by variations in the sea level pressure gradient across the Fram Strait. This finding is based on numerical simulations with a GCM (Koenigk et al, 2006), and supported by analysis of ice export observations in relation to atmospheric reanalysis (Tsukernik et al, 2010). Positive CAI and DA were observed during summer 2007, coinciding with an increased ice export (J. .…”

Section: Sea Ice Motionsupporting

confidence: 70%

Recent advances in understanding the Arctic climate system state and change from a sea ice perspective: a review

2014

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Abstract. Sea ice is the central component and most sensitive indicator of the Arctic climate system. Both the depletion and areal decline of the Arctic sea ice cover, observed since the 1970s, have accelerated since the millennium. While the relationship of global warming to sea ice reduction is evident and underpinned statistically, it is the connecting mechanisms that are explored in detail in this review.Sea ice erodes both from the top and the bottom. Atmospheric, oceanic and sea ice processes interact in nonlinear ways on various scales. Feedback mechanisms lead to an Arctic amplification of the global warming system: the amplification is both supported by the ice depletion and, at the same time, accelerates ice reduction. Knowledge of the mechanisms of sea ice decline grew during the 1990s and This article reviews recent progress in understanding the sea ice decline. Processes are revisited from atmospheric, oceanic and sea ice perspectives. There is strong evidence that decisive atmospheric changes are the major driver of sea ice change. Feedbacks due to reduced ice concentration, surface albedo, and ice thickness allow for additional local atmospheric and oceanic influences and self-supporting feedbacks. Large-scale ocean influences on Arctic Ocean hydrology and circulation are highly evident. Northward heat fluxes in the ocean are clearly impacting the ice margins, especially in the Atlantic sector of the Arctic. There is little indication of a direct and decisive influence of the warming ocean on the overall sea ice cover, due to an isolating layer of cold and fresh water underneath the sea ice.

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Section: Sea Ice Motionsupporting

confidence: 70%

Recent advances in understanding the Arctic climate system state and change from a sea ice perspective: a review

2014

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“…The Fram Strait average ice velocity is 1.4 % of the geostrophic wind speed. The linear regression between P and V ice (1) gave coefficients comparable to classical values (Thorndike and Colony, 1982).…”

Section: Relationship Between Ice Export and Local Windsupporting

confidence: 60%

“…The short-term variability is mostly wind driven, and this is also the case for Fram Strait ice speed and the related sea ice export (Vinje, 2001;Widell et al, 2003;Kwok et al, 2004;Tsukernik et al, 2009). In addition the Fram Strait ice export is constrained by the nearby Greenland coast, and amplified by the East Greenland Current.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 87%

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Recent wind driven high sea ice area export in the Fram Strait contributes to Arctic sea ice decline

Smedsrud

Sirevaag

Kloster³

et al. 2011

The Cryosphere

107

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Abstract. Arctic sea ice area has been decreasing for the past two decades. Apart from melting, the southward drift through Fram Strait is the main ice loss mechanism. We present high resolution sea ice drift data across 79 • N from 2004 to 2010. Ice drift has been derived from radar satellite data and corresponds well with variability in local geostrophic wind. The underlying East Greenland current contributes with a constant southward speed close to 5 cm s −1 , and drives around a third of the ice export. We use geostrophic winds derived from reanalysis data to calculate the Fram Strait ice area export back to 1957, finding that the sea ice area export recently is about 25 % larger than during the 1960's. The increase in ice export occurred mostly during winter and is directly connected to higher southward ice drift velocities, due to stronger geostrophic winds. The increase in ice drift is large enough to counteract a decrease in ice concentration of the exported sea ice. Using storm tracking we link changes in geostrophic winds to more intense Nordic Sea low pressure systems. Annual sea ice area export likely has a significant influence on the summer sea ice variability and we find low values in the 1960's, the late 1980's and 1990's, and particularly high values during 2005-2008. The study highlights the possible role of variability in ice export as an explanatory factor for understanding the dramatic loss of Arctic sea ice during the last decades.

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“…It is similar to the Greenland-Scandinavian dipole (e.g. Tsukernik et al [2010]) and the 'blocking' regime described by Cassou et al [2004] and Hurrell and Deser [2010]. The third EOF mode resembles the ridge regime in Cassou et al [2004].…”

Section: Topographic Forcingsupporting

confidence: 58%

Strong wind events across Greenland�s coast and their influence on the ice sheet, sea ice and ocean

Oltmanns¹

2015

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In winter, Greenland's coastline adjacent to the subpolar North Atlantic and Nordic Seas is characterized by a large land-sea temperature contrast. Therefore, winds across the coast advect air across a horizontal temperature gradient and can result in significant surface heat fluxes both over the ice sheet (during onshore winds) and over the ocean (during offshore winds). Despite their importance, these winds have not been investigated in detail, and this thesis includes the first comprehensive study of their characteristics, dynamics and impacts. Using an atmospheric reanalysis, observations from local weather stations, and remote sensing data, it is suggested that high-speed wind events across the coast are triggered by the superposition of an upper level potential vorticity anomaly on a stationary topographic Rossby wave over Greenland, and that they intensify through baroclinic instability. Onshore winds across Greenland's coast can result in increased melting, and offshore winds drive large heat losses over major ocean convection sites.Strong offshore winds across the southeast coast are unique over Greenland, because the flow is funneled from the vast ice sheet inland into the narrow valley of Ammassalik at the coast, where it can reach hurricane intensity. In this region, the cold air, which formed over the northern ice sheet, is suddenly released during intense downslope wind events and spills over the Irminger Sea where the cold and strong winds can drive heat fluxes of up to 1000 W m −2 , with potential implications for deep water formation. Moreover, the winds advect sea ice away from the coast and out of a major glacial fjord.Simulations of these wind events in Ammassalik with the atmospheric Weather Research and Forecast Model show that mountain wave dynamics contribute to the acceleration of the downslope flow. In order to capture these dynamics, a high model 3 resolution with a detailed topography is needed. The effects of using a different resolution locally in the valley extend far downstream over the Irminger Sea, which has implications for the evolution and distribution of the heat fluxes.

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Atmospheric forcing of Fram Strait sea ice export: a closer look

Cited by 83 publications

References 39 publications

Recent advances in understanding the Arctic climate system state and change from a sea ice perspective: a review

Recent advances in understanding the Arctic climate system state and change from a sea ice perspective: a review

Recent wind driven high sea ice area export in the Fram Strait contributes to Arctic sea ice decline

Strong wind events across Greenland�s coast and their influence on the ice sheet, sea ice and ocean

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