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Polar atmosphere‐ice‐ocean processes: A review of polar problems in climate research
Author(s) -
AUTHOR_ID
Publication year - 1980
Publication title -
reviews of geophysics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 8.087
H-Index - 156
eISSN - 1944-9208
pISSN - 8755-1209
DOI - 10.1029/rg018i002p00525
Subject(s) - sea ice , cryosphere , atmosphere (unit) , climatology , environmental science , climate model , context (archaeology) , atmospheric sciences , geology , climate change , meteorology , oceanography , geography , paleontology
Interactions of the atmosphere, ice, and the oceans in the polar regions are reviewed in the context of global climate. Cryospheric processes and their feedback mechanisms are discussed with emphasis on sea ice, the polar energy balance, meridional heat exchange processes in both the atmosphere and the ocean, and the paleoclimatic record stored in ice sheets and snow. Present modeling capabilities and parameterizations of polar ice, atmosphere, and ocean processes and their interactions are described. Further advances in our understanding of polar processes call for studies of ice dynamics and of energy transfers by radiation, convection, and advection, in both atmosphere and ocean. The relationship of the energy transfers to mesoscale and large‐scale circulation features, to the moving pack ice boundaries, and to the annual growth and decay of ice in both hemispheres affects the energy balance and circulation and is a key factor in the global climate system. Further progress will demand systematic monitoring of climate processes in both polar regions, using an increasingly sophisticated satellite technology for the establishment of a polar climate data set.