Problems with estimation and interpretation of oceanic heat transport – conceptual remarks for the case of Fram Strait in the Arctic Ocean

Schauer, Ursula; Beszczynska-Möller, Agnieszka

doi:10.5194/os-5-487-2009

Cited by 97 publications

(107 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…For a non-closed system, heat transport is not well defined (Schauer and Beszczynska-Möller, 2009), but a relative value can be calculated by using a reference temperature, e.g. 0 • C, which is a typical outflow temperature.…”

Section: Observational Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stability and forcing of the Iceland-Faroe inflow of water, heat, and salt to the Arctic

et al. 2010

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Abstract. The flow of Atlantic water across the GreenlandScotland Ridge (Atlantic inflow) is critical for conditions in the Nordic Seas and Arctic Ocean by importing heat and salt. Here, we present a decade-long series of measurements from the Iceland-Faroe inflow branch (IF-inflow), which carries almost half the total Atlantic inflow. The observations show no significant trend in volume transport of Atlantic water, but temperature and salinity increased during the observational period. On shorter time scales, the observations show considerable variations but no statistically significant seasonal variation is observed and even weekly averaged transport values were consistently uni-directional from the Atlantic into the Nordic Seas. Combining transport time-series with sea level height from satellite altimetry and wind stress reveals that the force driving the IF-inflow across the topographic barrier of the Ridge is mainly generated by a pressure gradient that is due to a continuously maintained low sea level in the Southern Nordic Seas. This implies that the relative stability of the IF-inflow derives from the processes that lower the sea level by generating outflow from the Nordic Seas, especially the thermohaline processes that generate overflow. The IFinflow is an important component of the system coupling the Arctic region to the North Atlantic through the thermohaline circulation, which has been predicted to weaken in the 21st century. Our observations show no indication of weakening.

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Section: Observational Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stability and forcing of the Iceland-Faroe inflow of water, heat, and salt to the Arctic

et al. 2010

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“…Variations in volume transport before this time, and also how the total transport is distributed within the Arctic Ocean, remain unknown. The peak in total heat transport in 2004 seems to lead that of the temperature maximum occurring in 2006 (Schauer and Beszczynska-Mo¨ller, 2009). For ocean mixing in the Arctic, only snapshots in temporal and spatial coverage are available (Rainville and Winsor, 2008;Sirevaag and Fer, 2009).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Proper observations of ocean volume transport started in 1997 (Schauer and Beszczynska-Mo¨ller, 2009). Variations in volume transport before this time, and also how the total transport is distributed within the Arctic Ocean, remain unknown.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Loss of sea ice during winter north of Svalbard

Onarheim

Smedsrud

Ingvaldsen

et al. 2014

Tellus A: Dynamic Meteorology and Oceanography

221

240

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A B S T R A C T Sea ice loss in the Arctic Ocean has up to now been strongest during summer. In contrast, the sea ice concentration north of Svalbard has experienced a larger decline during winter since 1979. The trend in winter ice area loss is close to 10% per decade, and concurrent with a 0.38C per decade warming of the Atlantic Water entering the Arctic Ocean in this region. Simultaneously, there has been a 28C per decade warming of winter mean surface air temperature north of Svalbard, which is 20Á45% higher than observations on the west coast. Generally, the ice edge north of Svalbard has retreated towards the northeast, along the Atlantic Water pathway. By making reasonable assumptions about the Atlantic Water volume and associated heat transport, we show that the extra oceanic heat brought into the region is likely to have caused the sea ice loss. The reduced sea ice cover leads to more oceanic heat transferred to the atmosphere, suggesting that part of the atmospheric warming is driven by larger open water area. In contrast to significant trends in sea ice concentration, Atlantic Water temperature and air temperature, there is no significant temporal trend in the local winds. Thus, winds have not caused the long-term warming or sea ice loss. However, the dominant winds transport sea ice from the Arctic Ocean into the region north of Svalbard, and the local wind has influence on the year-to-year variability of the ice concentration, which correlates with surface air temperatures, ocean temperatures, as well as the local wind.

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“…8). This shows that in the ACW case the mooring-based estimates of heat and freshwater transport account for at least 70% Because there is a nonzero net volume flux across the array, we cannot compute formal estimates of freshwater and heat flux divergence (for a discussion, see Schauer and Beszczynska-Mö ller 2009). Following earlier studies, we chose a reference salinity of 34.8.…”

Section: Transportsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Two Configurations of the Western Arctic Shelfbreak Current in Summer

Appen

Pickart

2012

Journal of Physical Oceanography

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Data from a closely spaced array of moorings situated across the Beaufort Sea shelfbreak at 1528W are used to study the Western Arctic Shelfbreak Current, with emphasis on its configuration during the summer season. Two dynamically distinct states of the current are revealed in the absence of wind, with each lasting approximately one month. The first is a surface-intensified shelfbreak jet transporting warm and buoyant Alaskan Coastal Water in late summer. This is the eastward continuation of the Alaskan Coastal Current. It is both baroclinically and barotropically unstable and hence capable of forming the surface-intensified warmcore eddies observed in the southern Beaufort Sea. The second configuration, present during early summer, is a bottom-intensified shelfbreak current advecting weakly stratified Chukchi Summer Water. It is baroclinically unstable and likely forms the middepth warm-core eddies present in the interior basin. The mesoscale instabilities extract energy from the mean flow such that the surface-intensified jet should spin down over an efolding distance of 300 km beyond the array site, whereas the bottom-intensified configuration should decay within 150 km. This implies that Pacific Summer Water does not extend far into the Canadian Beaufort Sea as a well-defined shelfbreak current. In contrast, the Pacific Winter Water configuration of the shelfbreak jet is estimated to decay over a much greater distance of approximately 1400 km, implying that it should reach the first entrance to the Canadian Arctic Archipelago.

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Problems with estimation and interpretation of oceanic heat transport – conceptual remarks for the case of Fram Strait in the Arctic Ocean

Cited by 97 publications

References 20 publications

Stability and forcing of the Iceland-Faroe inflow of water, heat, and salt to the Arctic

Stability and forcing of the Iceland-Faroe inflow of water, heat, and salt to the Arctic

Loss of sea ice during winter north of Svalbard

Two Configurations of the Western Arctic Shelfbreak Current in Summer

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