Influence of winter sea-ice motion on summer ice cover in the Arctic

• Published in: Polar Research
• Main Authors: Noriaki Kimura, Akira Nishimura, Yohei Tanaka, Hajime Yamaguchi
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Norwegian Polar Institute 2013
• Subjects: Sea ice; Arctic; satellite remote-sensing; interannual variability; AMSR-E data; Environmental sciences; GE1-350; Oceanography; GC1-1581; Polar Research
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.3402/polar.v32i0.20193; https://doaj.org/article/399e3b9826f34a6ca8dab892d4dffd78

Summer sea-ice cover in the Arctic varies largely from year to year owing to several factors. This study examines one such factor, the relationship between interannual difference in winter ice motion and ice area in the following summer. A daily-ice velocity product on a 37.5-km resolution grid is prepared using the satellite passive microwave sensor Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer—Earth Observing System data for the nine years of 2003–2011. Derived daily-ice motion reveals the dynamic modification of the winter ice cover. The winter ice divergence/convergence is strongly related to the summer ice cover in some regions; the correlation coefficient between the winter ice convergence and summer ice area ranges between 0.5 and 0.9 in areas with high interannual variability. This relation implies that the winter ice redistribution controls the spring ice thickness and the summer ice cover.