Ocean Heat Transport Into the Barents Sea: Distinct Controls on the Upward Trend and Interannual Variability

Ocean heat transport through the Barents Sea Opening (BSO) has strong impacts on the Barents Sea ice extent and the climate. In this paper we quantified the contributions from different atmospheric forcing components to the trend and interannual variability of the BSO heat transport. Ocean-ice model...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Wang, Qiang, Wang, Xuezhu, Wekerle, Claudia, Danilov, Sergey, Jung, Thomas, Koldunov, Nikolay, Lind, Sigrid, Sein, Dmitry, Shu, Qi, Sidorenko, Dmitry
Format: Text
Language:English
Published: FID GEO 2019
Subjects:
Arctic
Barents Sea
Nordic Seas
North Atlantic
Sea ice
Online Access:https://dx.doi.org/10.23689/fidgeo-4540
https://e-docs.geo-leo.de/handle/11858/8886
Description
Summary:Ocean heat transport through the Barents Sea Opening (BSO) has strong impacts on the Barents Sea ice extent and the climate. In this paper we quantified the contributions from different atmospheric forcing components to the trend and interannual variability of the BSO heat transport. Ocean-ice model simulations were conducted in which the interannual variation of atmospheric forcing was maintained only in or outside the Arctic in two different simulations. The sum of their BSO heat transport anomalies reasonably replicated the trend and variability from a hindcast simulation. The upward trend of the BSO heat transport mainly stems from the increasing ocean temperature in the subpolar North Atlantic. For the interannual variability, the local wind and upstream forcing are similarly important. The location of the Atlantic Water boundary current in the Nordic Seas, influenced by the cyclonic atmospheric circulation, is crucial in determining part of the BSO inflow variability.

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