2003: Monitoring precipitation over the Arctic terrestrial drainage system: Data requirements, shortcomings and applications of atmospheric reanalysis

• Main Authors: Mark C. Serreze, Martyn P. Clark, David H. Bromwich
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Arctic; Arctic Ocean; Greenland; Fram Strait; Greenland Sea; North Atlantic; Sea ice
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.513.4302; http://www.ecmwf.int/newsevents/meetings/workshops/GEWEX_precipitation_analysis/Mark_Serreze.pdf

The hydro-climatology of the Arctic terrestrial drainage plays an important role in the climate system. The primary freshwater source to the Arctic Ocean is river discharge. River discharge influences ocean salinity and sea ice conditions which can impact on freshwater fluxes through the Fram Strait and Greenland Sea into the North Atlantic. The degree of surface freshening in the North Atlantic is thought to influence the global thermohaline circulation. Changes in the terrestrial hydrologic cycle may alter soil moisture, impacting on plant communities and their grazers. Arctic soils serve as potentially significant sources of carbon dioxide and methane. Fluxes appear to respond sensitively to altered soil moisture and temperature. There is hence a clear need to monitor the Arctic system and better understand interactions between system components. The terrestrial hydrologic budget is a high priority. A project known as Arctic-RIMS (Rapid Integrated Monitoring System) is bringing data sets and techniques together to provide readily accessible hydrologic products. Arctic-RIMS is