Premium
Influence of winter and summer surface wind anomalies on summer Arctic sea ice extent
Author(s) -
Ogi Masayo,
Yamazaki Koji,
Wallace John M.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2009gl042356
Subject(s) - climatology , arctic sea ice decline , sea ice , arctic ice pack , beaufort scale , arctic , arctic dipole anomaly , geology , anticyclone , environmental science , arctic geoengineering , global wind patterns , oceanography , antarctic sea ice
Based on a statistical analysis incorporating 925‐hPa wind fields from the NCEP/NCAR Reanalyses, it is shown that the combined effect of winter and summer wind forcing accounts for 50% of the variance of the change in September Arctic sea ice extent from one year to the next (ΔSIE) and it also explains roughly 1/3 of the downward linear trend of SIE over the past 31 years. In both seasons meridional wind anomalies to the north and east of Greenland are correlated with September SIE, presumably because they modulate the export of ice through Fram Strait. Anticyclonic wind anomalies over the Beaufort Sea during summer favor low September SIE and have contributed to the record‐low values in recent summers, perhaps by enhancing the flux of ice toward Fram Strait in the trans‐polar drift.