scholarly journals The impact of stored solar heat on Arctic sea ice growth

2015 ◽  
Vol 42 (15) ◽  
pp. 6399-6406 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.-L. Timmermans
Keyword(s):  
Sea Ice ◽  
Arctic Sea Ice ◽  
Solar Heat ◽  
Ice Growth ◽  
Arctic Sea ◽  
The Impact

scholarly journals Interannual variability in Transpolar Drift ice thickness and potential impact of Atlantification

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Jakob Belter ◽  
Thomas Krumpen ◽  
Luisa von Albedyll ◽  
Tatiana A. Alekseeva ◽  
Sergei V. Frolov ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Time Series ◽  
Sea Ice ◽  
Arctic Sea Ice ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Ice Thickness ◽  
Fram Strait ◽  
Ice Growth ◽  
Arctic Sea ◽  
Transpolar Drift ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. Changes in Arctic sea ice thickness are the result of complex interactions of the dynamic and variable ice cover with atmosphere and ocean. Most of the sea ice exits the Arctic Ocean through Fram Strait, which is why long-term measurements of ice thickness at the end of the Transpolar Drift provide insight into the integrated signals of thermodynamic and dynamic influences along the pathways of Arctic sea ice. We present an updated time series of extensive ice thickness surveys carried out at the end of the Transpolar Drift between 2001 and 2020. Overall, we see a more than 20 % thinning of modal ice thickness since 2001. A comparison with first preliminary results from the international Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate (MOSAiC) shows that the modal summer thickness of the MOSAiC floe and its wider vicinity are consistent with measurements from previous years. By combining this unique time series with the Lagrangian sea ice tracking tool, ICETrack, and a simple thermodynamic sea ice growth model, we link the observed interannual ice thickness variability north of Fram Strait to increased drift speeds along the Transpolar Drift and the consequential variations in sea ice age and number of freezing degree days. We also show that the increased influence of upward-directed ocean heat flux in the eastern marginal ice zones, termed Atlantification, is not only responsible for sea ice thinning in and around the Laptev Sea, but also that the induced thickness anomalies persist beyond the Russian shelves and are potentially still measurable at the end of the Transpolar Drift after more than a year. With a tendency towards an even faster Transpolar Drift, winter sea ice growth will have less time to compensate the impact of Atlantification on sea ice growth in the eastern marginal ice zone, which will increasingly be felt in other parts of the sea ice covered Arctic.

scholarly journals Suppression of Arctic sea ice growth by winter clouds and snowfall

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Won-il Lim ◽  
Hyo-Seok Park ◽  
Andrew Stewart ◽  
Kyong-Hwan Seo
Keyword(s):  
Sea Ice ◽  
Longwave Radiation ◽  
Arctic Sea Ice ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Ice Thickness ◽  
Sea Ice Thickness ◽  
Ice Growth ◽  
Downward Longwave Radiation ◽  
Arctic Sea ◽  
The Impact

Abstract The ongoing Arctic warming has been pronounced in winter and has been associated with an increase in downward longwave radiation. While previous studies have demonstrated that poleward moisture flux into the Arctic strengthens downward longwave radiation, less attention has been given to the impact of the accompanying increase in snowfall. Here, utilizing state-of-the art sea ice models, we show that typical winter snowfall anomalies of 1.0 cm, accompanied by positive downward longwave radiation anomalies of ~5 W m-2 can decrease sea ice thickness by around 5 cm in the following spring over the Eurasian Seas. This basin-wide ice thinning is followed by a shrinking of summer ice extent in extreme cases. In the winter of 2016–17, anomalously strong warm/moist air transport combined with ~2.5 cm increase in snowfall decreased spring ice thickness by ~10 cm and decreased the following summer sea ice extent by 5–30%. Projected future reductions in the thickness of Arctic sea ice and snow will amplify the impact of anomalous winter snowfall events on winter sea ice growth and seasonal sea ice thickness.

Evaluation of a multilayer snow scheme in NEMO-LIM3

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gaëlle Gilson ◽  
Thierry Fichefet ◽  
Olivier Lecomte ◽  
Pierre-Yves Barriat ◽  
Jean Sterlin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sea Ice ◽  
Ocean Circulation ◽  
Climate Models ◽  
Thickness Distribution ◽  
Arctic Sea Ice ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Optimum Number ◽  
Ice Growth ◽  
Arctic Sea ◽  
The Impact

<p>Arctic sea ice is a major component of the Earth’s climate system and has been experiencing a drastic decline over the past decades, with important consequences regionally and globally. With the sustained warming of the Arctic, sea ice loss is expected to continue in the future. However, the estimation of its magnitude is model-dependent. As a result, the representation of sea ice in climate models requires further consideration. A major issue relates to the long-standing misrepresentation of snow properties on sea ice. However, the presence of snow strongly impacts sea ice growth and surface energy balance. Through its high albedo, snow reflects more solar radiation than bare sea ice does. When a snow cover is present, sea ice growth is reduced because snow is an effective insulator, with a thermal conductivity an order of magnitude lower than that of sea ice. Ocean circulation models usually use multiple layers to resolve sea ice thermodynamics but only one single layer for snow. Lecomte et al. (2013) developed a multilayer snow scheme for ocean circulation models and improved the snow depth distribution by considering the macroscopic effects of wind packing and redeposition. Since then, this snow scheme has been revisited and implemented in a more recent and much more robust NEMO-LIM version, using a simpler technical approach. In addition, new instrumental observations of snow thickness, distribution and density are available since these exploratory works. They are used in the current study to: 1) evaluate the performance of the multilayer snow scheme for sea ice in the NEMO-LIM3 model, and 2) investigate the climatic importance of this snow scheme. Here, we present results of simulations with a varying number of snow layers. By comparing these to the latest observational datasets, we recommend an optimum number of snow  layers to be used in ocean circulation models in both hemispheres. Finally, we explore the impact of a few specific parameterizations of snow thermophysical properties on the representation of sea ice in climate models.</p>

scholarly journals Solar partitioning in a changing Arctic sea-ice cover

2011 ◽  
Vol 52 (57) ◽  
pp. 192-196 ◽  
Author(s):  
D.K. Perovich ◽  
K.F. Jones ◽  
B. Light ◽  
H. Eicken ◽  
T. Markus ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sea Ice ◽  
Heat Input ◽  
Ice Cover ◽  
Arctic Sea Ice ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Solar Heat ◽  
Melt Pond ◽  
Arctic Sea ◽  
Ice Concentration ◽  
The Impact

AbstractThe summer extent of the Arctic sea-ice cover has decreased in recent decades and there have been alterations in the timing and duration of the summer melt season. These changes in ice conditions have affected the partitioning of solar radiation in the Arctic atmosphere–ice–ocean system. the impact of sea-ice changes on solar partitioning is examined on a pan-Arctic scale using a 25 km × 25 km Equal-Area Scalable Earth Grid for the years 1979–2007. Daily values of incident solar irradiance are obtained from NCEP reanalysis products adjusted by ERA-40, and ice concentrations are determined from passive microwave satellite data. the albedo of the ice is parameterized by a five-stage process that includes dry snow, melting snow, melt pond formation, melt pond evolution, and freeze-up. the timing of these stages is governed by the onset dates of summer melt and fall freeze-up, which are determined from satellite observations. Trends of solar heat input to the ice were mixed, with increases due to longer melt seasons and decreases due to reduced ice concentration. Results indicate a general trend of increasing solar heat input to the Arctic ice–ocean system due to declines in albedo induced by decreases in ice concentration and longer melt seasons. the evolution of sea-ice albedo, and hence the total solar heating of the ice–ocean system, is more sensitive to the date of melt onset than the date of fall freeze-up. the largest increases in total annual solar heat input from 1979 to 2007, averaging as much as 4%a–1, occurred in the Chukchi Sea region. the contribution of solar heat to the ocean is increasing faster than the contribution to the ice due to the loss of sea ice.

scholarly journals Investigating future changes in the volume budget of the Arctic sea ice in a coupled climate model

2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (9) ◽  
pp. 2855-2868 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ann Keen ◽  
Ed Blockley
Keyword(s):  
Sea Ice ◽  
21St Century ◽  
Climate Model ◽  
Ice Cover ◽  
Arctic Sea Ice ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Ice Growth ◽  
Basal Ice ◽  
Arctic Sea ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. We present a method for analysing changes in the modelled volume budget of the Arctic sea ice as the ice declines during the 21st century. We apply the method to the CMIP5 global coupled model HadGEM2-ES to evaluate how the budget components evolve under a range of different forcing scenarios. As the climate warms and the ice cover declines, the sea ice processes that change the most in HadGEM2-ES are summer melting at the top surface of the ice due to increased net downward radiation and basal melting due to extra heat from the warming ocean. There is also extra basal ice formation due to the thinning ice. However, the impact of these changes on the volume budget is affected by the declining ice cover. For example, as the autumn ice cover declines the volume of ice formed by basal growth declines as there is a reduced area over which this ice growth can occur. As a result, the biggest contribution to Arctic ice decline in HadGEM2-ES is the reduction in the total amount of basal ice growth during the autumn and early winter. Changes in the volume budget during the 21st century have a distinctive seasonal cycle, with processes contributing to ice decline occurring in May–June and September to November. During July and August the total amount of sea ice melt decreases, again due to the reducing ice cover. The choice of forcing scenario affects the rate of ice decline and the timing and magnitude of changes in the volume budget components. For the HadGEM2-ES model and for the range of scenarios considered for CMIP5, the mean changes in the volume budget depend strongly on the evolving ice area and are independent of the speed at which the ice cover declines.

scholarly journals The impact of Arctic sea ice loss on mid-Holocene climate

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hyo-Seok Park ◽  
Seong-Joong Kim ◽  
Kyong-Hwan Seo ◽  
Andrew L. Stewart ◽  
Seo-Yeon Kim ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sea Ice ◽  
Arctic Sea Ice ◽  
Holocene Climate ◽  
Arctic Sea ◽  
Arctic Sea Ice Loss ◽  
The Impact

scholarly journals New insight from CryoSat-2 sea ice thickness for sea ice modelling

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Schröder ◽  
Danny L. Feltham ◽  
Michel Tsamados ◽  
Andy Ridout ◽  
Rachel Tilling
Keyword(s):  
Sea Ice ◽  
Thickness Distribution ◽  
Arctic Sea Ice ◽  
Ice Thickness ◽  
Atmospheric Conditions ◽  
Sea Ice Concentration ◽  
Sea Ice Thickness ◽  
Ice Growth ◽  
Melt Pond ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. Estimates of Arctic sea ice thickness are available from the CryoSat-2 (CS2) radar altimetry mission during ice growth seasons since 2010. We derive the sub-grid scale ice thickness distribution (ITD) with respect to 5 ice thickness categories used in a sea ice component (CICE) of climate simulations. This allows us to initialize the ITD in stand-alone simulations with CICE and to verify the simulated cycle of ice thickness. We find that a default CICE simulation strongly underestimates ice thickness, despite reproducing the inter-annual variability of summer sea ice extent. We can identify the underestimation of winter ice growth as being responsible and show that increasing the ice conductive flux for lower temperatures (bubbly brine scheme) and accounting for the loss of drifting snow results in the simulated sea ice growth being more realistic. Sensitivity studies provide insight into the impact of initial and atmospheric conditions and, thus, on the role of positive and negative feedback processes. During summer, atmospheric conditions are responsible for 50 % of September sea ice thickness variability through the positive sea ice and melt pond albedo feedback. However, atmospheric winter conditions have little impact on winter ice growth due to the dominating negative conductive feedback process: the thinner the ice and snow in autumn, the stronger the ice growth in winter. We conclude that the fate of Arctic summer sea ice is largely controlled by atmospheric conditions during the melting season rather than by winter temperature. Our optimal model configuration does not only improve the simulated sea ice thickness, but also summer sea ice concentration, melt pond fraction, and length of the melt season. It is the first time CS2 sea ice thickness data have been applied successfully to improve sea ice model physics.

scholarly journals The Impact of Regional Arctic Sea Ice Loss on Atmospheric Circulation and the NAO

2016 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 889-902 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rasmus A. Pedersen ◽  
Ivana Cvijanovic ◽  
Peter L. Langen ◽  
Bo M. Vinther
Keyword(s):  
Sea Ice ◽  
Atmospheric Circulation ◽  
General Circulation ◽  
Ice Cover ◽  
Arctic Sea Ice ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Near Surface ◽  
Arctic Sea ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Sea Ice Reduction

Abstract Reduction of the Arctic sea ice cover can affect the atmospheric circulation and thus impact the climate beyond the Arctic. The atmospheric response may, however, vary with the geographical location of sea ice loss. The atmospheric sensitivity to the location of sea ice loss is studied using a general circulation model in a configuration that allows combination of a prescribed sea ice cover and an active mixed layer ocean. This hybrid setup makes it possible to simulate the isolated impact of sea ice loss and provides a more complete response compared to experiments with fixed sea surface temperatures. Three investigated sea ice scenarios with ice loss in different regions all exhibit substantial near-surface warming, which peaks over the area of ice loss. The maximum warming is found during winter, delayed compared to the maximum sea ice reduction. The wintertime response of the midlatitude atmospheric circulation shows a nonuniform sensitivity to the location of sea ice reduction. While all three scenarios exhibit decreased zonal winds related to high-latitude geopotential height increases, the magnitudes and locations of the anomalies vary between the simulations. Investigation of the North Atlantic Oscillation reveals a high sensitivity to the location of the ice loss. The northern center of action exhibits clear shifts in response to the different sea ice reductions. Sea ice loss in the Atlantic and Pacific sectors of the Arctic cause westward and eastward shifts, respectively.

scholarly journals Natural variability of the Arctic Ocean sea ice during the present interglacial

2020 ◽  
Vol 117 (42) ◽  
pp. 26069-26075
Author(s):  
Anne de Vernal ◽  
Claude Hillaire-Marcel ◽  
Cynthia Le Duc ◽  
Philippe Roberge ◽  
Camille Brice ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sea Ice ◽  
Arctic Ocean ◽  
Natural Variability ◽  
Arctic Sea Ice ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Lomonosov Ridge ◽  
Arctic Sea ◽  
The Arctic Ocean ◽  
Open Question ◽  
The Impact

The impact of the ongoing anthropogenic warming on the Arctic Ocean sea ice is ascertained and closely monitored. However, its long-term fate remains an open question as its natural variability on centennial to millennial timescales is not well documented. Here, we use marine sedimentary records to reconstruct Arctic sea-ice fluctuations. Cores collected along the Lomonosov Ridge that extends across the Arctic Ocean from northern Greenland to the Laptev Sea were radiocarbon dated and analyzed for their micropaleontological and palynological contents, both bearing information on the past sea-ice cover. Results demonstrate that multiyear pack ice remained a robust feature of the western and central Lomonosov Ridge and that perennial sea ice remained present throughout the present interglacial, even during the climate optimum of the middle Holocene that globally peaked ∼6,500 y ago. In contradistinction, the southeastern Lomonosov Ridge area experienced seasonally sea-ice-free conditions, at least, sporadically, until about 4,000 y ago. They were marked by relatively high phytoplanktonic productivity and organic carbon fluxes at the seafloor resulting in low biogenic carbonate preservation. These results point to contrasted west–east surface ocean conditions in the Arctic Ocean, not unlike those of the Arctic dipole linked to the recent loss of Arctic sea ice. Hence, our data suggest that seasonally ice-free conditions in the southeastern Arctic Ocean with a dominant Arctic dipolar pattern, may be a recurrent feature under “warm world” climate.

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