Numerical simulation of the impact of underlying surface changes on Arctic climate

• Main Authors: Xiying, Liu, Huasheng, Xia
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Polar Research Institute of China - PRIC 2014
• Subjects: Atmosphere; Cryosphere; Oceans; Advances in Polar Science; Arctic; Barents Sea; East Siberian Sea; Kara Sea; Polar Science; Sea ice
• Online Access: http://library.arcticportal.org/2546/; http://library.arcticportal.org/2546/1/A20140405.pdf

Using a regional atmospheric model for Arctic climate simulation, two groups of numerical experiments were carried out to study the influence of changes in the underlying surface (land surface, sea surface, and sea ice (LS/SS/SI)) from mild ice years to severe ice years on Arctic climate. In each experiment in the same group, the initial values and lateral boundary conditions were identical. The underlying surface conditions were updated every six hours. The model was integrated for 10 a and monthly mean results were saved for analysis. Variations in annual mean surface air temperature were closely correlated with changes in LS/SS/SI, with a maximum change of more than 15 K. The impact of changes in LS/SS/SI on low-level air temperature was also evident, with significant changes seen over the ocean. However, the maximum change was less than 2 K. For air temperature above 700 hPa, the impact of LS/SS/SI changes was not significant. The distribution of annual mean sea level pressure differences was coincident with the distribution of annual mean sea ice concentration. The difference centers were located in the Barents Sea, the Kara Sea, and the East Siberian Sea, with the maximum value exceeding 3 hPa. For geopotential height, some results passed and some failed a t-test. For results passing the t-test, the area of significance did not decrease with height. There was a significant difference at high levels, with a value of 27 gpm in the difference center at 200 hPa.