Heat budgets of the Arctic Mediterranean and sea surface heat flux parameterizations for the Nordic Seas

Abstract

A review is given of volume and heat budgets for the Arctic Ocean and the Nordic Seas based on oceanic transport observations. The present preferred estimates indicate a northward transport of about 300 TW through the Greenland‐Scotland passage of which 50–80 TW continues into the Arctic Ocean. The net budgets for the Nordic Seas are about 220–250 TW. Regional surface heat budgets are computed based on climatological data from the Comprehensive Ocean Atmosphere Data Set and European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasts in addition to monthly mean weather station temperature data from the Carbon Dioxide Information Center database. Each of the terms in the sea surface heat budget is computed with several parameterizations, which are frequently applied in heat budget calculations and in ocean and sea ice modeling. Combining all parameterizations for each term provides 90 different parameterizations of the sea surface heat budget. On the basis of identical climatological data, the surface heat budgets for the Nordic Seas vary from a heat loss of 304 TW to a heat gain of 52 TW. The heat loss from the Barents Sea is in the range from 42 to 162 TW. Twelve combinations of the parameterizations provide a heat budget for the Nordic Seas which is within the advective estimates. One is selected for use in ocean modeling of this region. The same parameterizations provide a heat loss of 129–147 TW (or 98–112 Wm−2) from the Barents Sea. Published volume transports and temperatures indicate that the heat loss from the Barents Sea is only within 28–80 TW. Our results suggest that the heat transport from the Norwegian Sea to the Barents Sea is larger than recent advective estimates, and, thus, that the Barents Sea plays a major role in renewal of the deep water and the thermohaline circulation of the Arctic Mediterranean.

Seasonal Cycle of Mesoscale Instability of the West Spitsbergen Current

“…This especially explains the increased flow in the offshore branch that is more closely related to the gyre circulation than the flow near the West Spitsbergen shelf break and causes an increase in recirculation in central Fram Strait in winter (de Steur et al 2014). Similarly, the airsea heat fluxes over the Nordic Seas are much stronger in winter than in summer (Simonsen and Haugan 1996;Schlichtholz and Houssais 2011), and this is the reason for the hydrographic structure of the Atlantic Water (AW) in the WSC in the different seasons. The weak stratification in winter is a result of the intense winter cooling that the water has been subjected to in the Nordic Seas.…”

Dense water formation and circulation in the Barents Sea

“…In the Barents Sea oceanic heat loss to the atmosphere is high and the northeastward flowing water is cooled considerably before it enters the Arctic Ocean (e.g. Simonsen and Haugan, 1996;Schauer et al, 2002). Without water exchange, the total released mass of salt is able to increase the overall salinity on Spitsbergen Bank by up to ∼0.5 and by ∼0.3 on Novaya Zemlya Bank (Fig.…”

“…The heat transported by the Barents Sea branch of the Norwegian Atlantic Current is effectively lost through intense ocean-atmosphere heat exchange (e.g. Häkkinen and Cavalieri, 1989;Årthun and Schrum, 2010), and according to estimates based on atmospheric observations and oceanic heat budgets about half of the heat loss in the entire Nordic Seas takes place here (Simonsen and Haugan, 1996). It is also one of the largest shallow shelves ad-2 jacent to the Arctic Ocean (1.4×10 6 km 2 ), and the deepest (230 m).…”

Formation of Barents Sea Branch Water in the north-eastern Barents Sea

“…It accounts for a substantial part of the dense water that is formed within the Arctic (Martin & Cavalieri 1989) and is therefore important for the renewal of the Intermediate and Deep Water in the Arctic Ocean (Rudels et al 1994;Jones et al 1995;Rudels et al 2000). The continuous advection of warm AW keeps a substantial part of the Barents Sea ice-free year-round (Kvingedal 2005), resulting in a large net heat flux from the ocean to the atmosphere (Simonsen & Haugan 1996;Smedsrud et al 2010). Several processes contribute to the modifications of the BSBW (Pfirman et al 1994;Rudels et al 1994;Ožigin & Ivšin 1999;Rudels et al 2004).…”