Linkages between Arctic sea ice cover, large-scale atmospheric circulation, and weather and ice conditions in the Gulf of Bothnia, Baltic Sea

• Main Authors: Vihma, Timo, Cheng, Bin, Uotila, Petteri, Lixin, Wei, Ting, Qin
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Polar Research Institute of China - PRIC 2014
• Subjects: Atmosphere; Cryosphere; Oceans; Advances in Polar Science; Arctic; North Atlantic; North Atlantic oscillation; Polar Science; Sea ice
• Online Access: http://library.arcticportal.org/2549/; http://library.arcticportal.org/2549/1/A20140408.pdf

During years 1980/1981–2012/2013, inter-annual variations in sea ice and snow thickness in Kemi, in the northern coast of the Gulf of Bothnia, Baltic Sea, depended on the air temperature, snow fall, and rain. Inter-annual variations in the November—April mean air temperature, accumulated total precipitation, snow fall, and rain, as well as ice and snow thickness in Kemi and ice concentration in the Gulf of Bothnia correlated with inter-annual variations of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO), Arctic Oscillation (AO), North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), Scandinavian Pattern (SCA), and Polar / Eurasian Pattern (PEU). The strong role of PDO is a new finding. In general, the relationships with PDO were approximately equally strong as those with AO, but rain and sea ice concentration were better correlated with PDO. The correlations with PDO were, however, not persistent; for a study period since 1950 the correlations were much lower. During 1980/1981—2012/2013, also the Pacific / North American Pattern (PNA) and El Nino–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) had statistical connections with the conditions in the Gulf of Bothnia, revealed by analyzing their effects combined with those of PDO and AO. A reduced autumn sea ice area in the Arctic was related to increased rain and total precipitation in the following winter in Kemi. This correlation was significant for the Pan-Arctic sea ice area in September, October, and November, and for the November sea ice area in the Barents / Kara seas.