Atmospheric forcing of coastal polynyas in the south-western Weddell Sea
Abstract The development of coastal polynyas, areas of enhanced heat flux and sea ice production strongly depend on atmospheric conditions. In Antarctica, measurements are scarce and models are essential for the investigation of polynyas. A robust quantification of polynya exchange processes in simu...
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Language: | English |
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0954102014000893 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0954102014000893 |
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crcambridgeupr:10.1017/s0954102014000893 2024-06-23T07:46:20+00:00 Atmospheric forcing of coastal polynyas in the south-western Weddell Sea Haid, Verena Timmermann, Ralph Ebner, Lars Heinemann, Günther 2015 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0954102014000893 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0954102014000893 en eng Cambridge University Press (CUP) https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms Antarctic Science volume 27, issue 4, page 388-402 ISSN 0954-1020 1365-2079 journal-article 2015 crcambridgeupr https://doi.org/10.1017/s0954102014000893 2024-06-05T04:04:56Z Abstract The development of coastal polynyas, areas of enhanced heat flux and sea ice production strongly depend on atmospheric conditions. In Antarctica, measurements are scarce and models are essential for the investigation of polynyas. A robust quantification of polynya exchange processes in simulations relies on a realistic representation of atmospheric conditions in the forcing dataset. The sensitivity of simulated coastal polynyas in the south-western Weddell Sea to the atmospheric forcing is investigated with the Finite-Element Sea ice-Ocean Model (FESOM) using daily NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data (NCEP), 6 hourly Global Model Europe (GME) data and two different hourly datasets from the high-resolution Consortium for Small-Scale Modelling (COSMO) model. Results are compared for April to August in 2007–09. The two coarse-scale datasets often produce the extremes of the data range, while the finer-scale forcings yield results closer to the median. The GME experiment features the strongest winds and, therefore, the greatest polynya activity, especially over the eastern continental shelf. This results in higher volume and export of High Salinity Shelf Water than in the NCEP and COSMO runs. The largest discrepancies between simulations occur for 2008, probably due to differing representations of the ENSO pattern at high southern latitudes. The results suggest that the large-scale wind field is of primary importance for polynya development. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Science Antarctica Sea ice Weddell Sea Cambridge University Press Weddell Weddell Sea Antarctic Science 27 4 388 402 |
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Open Polar |
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Cambridge University Press |
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crcambridgeupr |
language |
English |
description |
Abstract The development of coastal polynyas, areas of enhanced heat flux and sea ice production strongly depend on atmospheric conditions. In Antarctica, measurements are scarce and models are essential for the investigation of polynyas. A robust quantification of polynya exchange processes in simulations relies on a realistic representation of atmospheric conditions in the forcing dataset. The sensitivity of simulated coastal polynyas in the south-western Weddell Sea to the atmospheric forcing is investigated with the Finite-Element Sea ice-Ocean Model (FESOM) using daily NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data (NCEP), 6 hourly Global Model Europe (GME) data and two different hourly datasets from the high-resolution Consortium for Small-Scale Modelling (COSMO) model. Results are compared for April to August in 2007–09. The two coarse-scale datasets often produce the extremes of the data range, while the finer-scale forcings yield results closer to the median. The GME experiment features the strongest winds and, therefore, the greatest polynya activity, especially over the eastern continental shelf. This results in higher volume and export of High Salinity Shelf Water than in the NCEP and COSMO runs. The largest discrepancies between simulations occur for 2008, probably due to differing representations of the ENSO pattern at high southern latitudes. The results suggest that the large-scale wind field is of primary importance for polynya development. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Haid, Verena Timmermann, Ralph Ebner, Lars Heinemann, Günther |
spellingShingle |
Haid, Verena Timmermann, Ralph Ebner, Lars Heinemann, Günther Atmospheric forcing of coastal polynyas in the south-western Weddell Sea |
author_facet |
Haid, Verena Timmermann, Ralph Ebner, Lars Heinemann, Günther |
author_sort |
Haid, Verena |
title |
Atmospheric forcing of coastal polynyas in the south-western Weddell Sea |
title_short |
Atmospheric forcing of coastal polynyas in the south-western Weddell Sea |
title_full |
Atmospheric forcing of coastal polynyas in the south-western Weddell Sea |
title_fullStr |
Atmospheric forcing of coastal polynyas in the south-western Weddell Sea |
title_full_unstemmed |
Atmospheric forcing of coastal polynyas in the south-western Weddell Sea |
title_sort |
atmospheric forcing of coastal polynyas in the south-western weddell sea |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
publishDate |
2015 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0954102014000893 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0954102014000893 |
geographic |
Weddell Weddell Sea |
geographic_facet |
Weddell Weddell Sea |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Science Antarctica Sea ice Weddell Sea |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Science Antarctica Sea ice Weddell Sea |
op_source |
Antarctic Science volume 27, issue 4, page 388-402 ISSN 0954-1020 1365-2079 |
op_rights |
https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/s0954102014000893 |
container_title |
Antarctic Science |
container_volume |
27 |
container_issue |
4 |
container_start_page |
388 |
op_container_end_page |
402 |
_version_ |
1802645293687111680 |