Atmospheric Latent Energy Transport Pathways into the Arctic and Their Connections to Sea Ice Loss during Winter over the Observational Period

To investigate patterns of horizontal atmospheric latent energy (LE) transport toward the Arctic, we ap-plied the self-organizing maps (SOM) method to the daily vertically integrated horizontal LE flux from ERA5 in winter (January-March) during 1979-2021. A clear picture depicting the LE transport t...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of Climate
Main Authors: Liang, Yu, Bi, Haibo, Lei, Ruibo, Vihma, Timo, Huang, Haijun
Format: Report
Language:English
Published: AMER METEOROLOGICAL SOC 2023
Subjects:
Arctic
Sea ice
Atmosphere-ocean interaction
Atmospheric circulation
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
MOISTURE TRANSPORT
CYCLONE ACTIVITY
POLEWARD MOISTURE
MELT-SEASON
VARIABILITY
OCEAN
SURFACE
AMPLIFICATION
CLIMATOLOGY
DRIVERS
Arctic Ocean
Bering Strait
Greenland
Davis Strait
Greenland Sea
Online Access:http://ir.qdio.ac.cn/handle/337002/181676
http://ir.qdio.ac.cn/handle/337002/181677
https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-22-0789.1
Description
Summary:To investigate patterns of horizontal atmospheric latent energy (LE) transport toward the Arctic, we ap-plied the self-organizing maps (SOM) method to the daily vertically integrated horizontal LE flux from ERA5 in winter (January-March) during 1979-2021. A clear picture depicting the LE transport to the Arctic at a synoptic scale then emerged, with four primary transport pathways identified: the northern Europe, the Davis Strait, the Greenland Sea, and the Bering Strait pathways. The four primary pathways occurred at a comparable frequency, and noticeable interannual variability was observed in their time series of frequency during 1979-2021. Further analysis suggested that the northward LE transport through all these pathways is significantly modulated by cyclones, with the northern Europe and the Green -land Sea pathways being mostly affected. Generally, more frequent and stronger cyclones were observed near the entry re-gions of LE transport compared to other regions. Moreover, this study provides a comprehensive picture of how atmospheric LE transport is related to air temperature, moisture, surface heat flux, and sea ice anomalies over the Arctic Ocean in winter. Through a thermodynamic perspective, we argue that the deleterious impacts of poleward LE transport on Arctic sea ice are to a large extent attributable to the enhanced local atmosphere-ice interactions, which increase down-ward longwave radiation (DLR) plus turbulent fluxes, consequently warming the surface and promoting the loss of sea ice. According to the quantitative results, among the four primary pathways, LE transport through the Davis Strait and the Greenland Sea could cause the loss of Arctic sea ice most efficiently.

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