The Unprecedented 2016–2017 Arctic Sea Ice Growth Season: The Crucial Role of Atmospheric Rivers and Longwave Fluxes

Hegyi, Bradley M.; Taylor, Patrick C.

doi:10.1029/2017gl076717

Cited by 71 publications

(77 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…Despite the importance of ARs in moisture transport and of their influence on Arctic warming for example, [31] and on the extent of sea ice [27,28], their influences on the region have not yet been deeply investigated in relation to the terms pointed out here. Some studies have investigated the moisture sources for ARs from a Eulerian [32] or a Lagrangian point of view for different regions in Europe for example, [33][34][35], North America [36][37][38] and South Africa [39]; however, as far as we know, no such studies have been performed for the Arctic region.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Several studies have suggested the influence of cyclones and ARs on the extent of sea ice across the Arctic region. Hegyi and Taylor [27] have demonstrated that episodic Arctic ARs actively contribute to the evolution of Arctic sea ice during the ice growth season. Moreover, Komatsu et al [28] investigated the influence of Siberian ARs entering the Arctic and noted an amplification of warming over the region in summer.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Atmospheric Rivers over the Arctic: Lagrangian Characterisation of Their Moisture Sources

Vázquez

Algarra

Eiras‐Barca

et al. 2018

Water

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In recent years, the Arctic has become a subject of special interest due to the drastic effect of climate change over the region. Despite that there are several mechanisms that influence the Arctic region; some recent studies have suggested significant influences of moisture transport over the observed loss of sea ice. Moisture transport can affect the region in different ways: direct precipitation over the region, radiative effect from the cloud cover and through the release of latent heat. Atmospheric rivers (ARs) represent one of the main events involved in moisture transport from the tropics to the mid-latitudes and despite having been shown especially relevant on the northward advection, their effect over the Arctic has not been deeply investigated. The aim of this work was to establish the groundwork for future studies about the effect of ARs linked to moisture transport over the Arctic region. For this purpose, an automated algorithm was used to identify regions of maximum AR occurrence over the Arctic. This was done by analysing the number of AR detections every month over a band of 10° of latitude centred on 60° N. The Lagrangian model FLEXPART was used to find the areas where the ARs take their moisture to the Arctic. Using this model, the anomalous moisture contribution to these baroclinic structures was analysed taking into account only the dates of AR occurrence. From the results, it appears that the main moisture sources for AR events extend over the North Atlantic and North Pacific oceans; moreover, the local input of moisture over the region of maximum AR occurrence seems to be especially relevant. In general terms, moisture comes from major evaporative areas over the western part of the oceanic regions in the band between 30° and 40° N for most months in the year, showing a continental origin in the summer months. This behaviour agrees with the climatological moisture transport into the Arctic determined in previous studies. However, in special association with AR events, an intensification of local moisture uptake is observed over the area of maximum AR activity and nearby. The study of the origin of this moisture and associated anomalies for Arctic ARs is an important step in the analysis of the effect of these structures on the Arctic environment.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Atmospheric Rivers over the Arctic: Lagrangian Characterisation of Their Moisture Sources

Vázquez

Algarra

Eiras‐Barca

et al. 2018

Water

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“…This amplification of warming in the Arctic is caused by several feedback mechanisms. Among them are the reduced sea ice extent and high sea surface temperature (Serreze et al, 2011;Hegyi and Taylor, 2018), changes in atmospheric circulation are typical for periods of warm and moist intrusions. Since the author investigated only on a short period, an analysis of longer cloud observations is still needed.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The influence of anomalous atmospheric conditions at Ny-Ålesund on clouds and their radiative effect

Nomokonova

Ebell

Löhnert

et al. 2019

Preprint

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Abstract. This study analyses occurrence of events with increased and decreased integrated water vapor (IWV) and atmospheric temperature (T) at the Arctic site Ny-&#197;lesund and their relation to cloud properties and the surface cloud radiative effect (CRE). For this study, we used almost 2.5 years (from June 2016 to October 2018) of ground-based cloud observations processed with the Cloudnet algorithm, IWV and T from microwave radiometer (MWR), long-term radiosonde observations, and backward trajectories FLEXTRA. Moist and dry anomalies were found to be associated with North Atlantic flows and air circulations in the Arctic region, respectively. The amount of water vapor is often correlated with cloud occurrence, presence of cloud liquid water, liquid and ice water path (LWP and IWP). In turn, changes in the cloud properties cause differences in surface CRE. During dry anomalies, in autumn, winter, and spring, the mean net surface CRE was lower by 2&#8211;37&#8201;W&#8201;m&#8722;2 with respect to normal conditions, while in summer the cloud related surface cooling was reduced by 49&#8201;W&#8201;m&#8722;2. In contrast, under moist conditions in summer the mean net surface CRE becomes more negative by 25&#8201;W&#8201;m&#8722;2, while in other seasons the mean net surface CRE was increased by 5&#8211;37&#8201;W&#8201;m&#8722;2. Trends in occurrence of dry and moist anomalies were analyzed based on 25-year-radiosonde database. Dry anomalies become less frequent with rates for different seasons from &#8722;12.8 to &#8722;4&#8201;% per decade, while the occurrence of moist event increases at rates from 2.8 to 6.4&#8201;% per decade. Taking into account the relations between the anomaly types and cloud properties the trends might be related to an increase in cloud occurrence, LWP, and IWP. The change in cloud properties could, in turn, modulate the surface CRE and lead to stronger surface cooling and warming related to clouds in summer and other seasons, respectively.

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“…With regard to precipitation at the climatological level, Lavers and Villarini ()) estimate that 30–50% of European and U.S. winter season precipitation is contributed by AR especially over their west coasts but note that there is much regional and monthly dependency of this association, whereas Dettinger () suggests that ARs are consequential as drought busters. The importance of AR for the cryosphere has also been noted with respect to ablation rates over Greenland (Mattingly, Mote, & Fettweis, ; Neff, ); snowfall and ablation in New Zealand (Little, Kingston, Cullen, & Gibson, ), East Antarctica (Gorodetskaya, Tsukernik, & Claes, ), and the western United States (Guan, Molotch, & Waliser, ); the transport of moisture and energy to the Arctic Ocean Basin (Hegyi & Taylor, ; Villamil‐Otero, Zhang, He, & Zhang, ); and climate variability and change in extratropical and high latitudes (Nash, Waliser, Guan, Ye, & Ralph, ).…”

Section: Atmospheric Riversmentioning

confidence: 96%

Climate and rivers

McGregor

2019

River Research & Apps

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Over the last few decades as hydrologists have slowly raised their line of sight above the watershed boundary, it has become increasingly recognised that what happens in the atmosphere, as a major source of moisture for the terrestrial branch of the hydrological cycle, can strongly influence river dynamics at a range of spatial and temporal scales. Notwithstanding this, there is still a tendency for some in the river research community to restrict their gaze to the river channel or floodplain. However, Geoff Petts, the person to which this special issue is dedicated, understood well and widely encouraged a holistic view of river catchment processes. This included an acknowledgment of the role of climate, in its broadest sense, in shaping what happens within and without the river channel. The purpose of this paper therefore is to offer a broad overview of the role of some aspects of climate science in advancing knowledge in river research. Topics to be addressed include the role of climate in influencing river flow regimes, a consideration of the large‐scale climate mechanisms that drive hydrological variability within river basins at interannual to decadal timescales and atmospheric rivers and their link to surface hydrology. In reviewing these topics, a number of key knowledge gaps have emerged including attributing the causes of river flow regime changes to any one particular cause, the nonstationary and asymmetric forcing of river regimes by modes of climate variability and establishing links between atmospheric rivers, and terrestrial river channel processes, fluvial habitats, and ecological change.

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The Unprecedented 2016–2017 Arctic Sea Ice Growth Season: The Crucial Role of Atmospheric Rivers and Longwave Fluxes

Cited by 71 publications

References 37 publications

Atmospheric Rivers over the Arctic: Lagrangian Characterisation of Their Moisture Sources

Atmospheric Rivers over the Arctic: Lagrangian Characterisation of Their Moisture Sources

The influence of anomalous atmospheric conditions at Ny-Ålesund on clouds and their radiative effect

Climate and rivers

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