Quantifying the Potential for Snow‐Ice Formation in the Arctic Ocean

Abstract We examine the regional variations and long‐term changes of the potential for snow‐ice formation for level Arctic sea ice from 1980 to 2016. We use daily sea ice motion data and implement a 1‐D snow/ice thermodynamic model that follows the ice trajectories while forcing the simulations with...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Geophysical Research Letters
Main Authors: Ioanna Merkouriadi, Glen E. Liston, Robert M. Graham, Mats A. Granskog
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2020
Subjects:
snow‐ice
sea ice
snow
Arctic Ocean
1‐D modelling
ice trajectories
Geophysics. Cosmic physics
QC801-809
Greenland
Greenland Sea
Sea ice
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GL085020
https://doaj.org/article/40790bb479924ec18295c5448bc17a2e
Description
Summary:Abstract We examine the regional variations and long‐term changes of the potential for snow‐ice formation for level Arctic sea ice from 1980 to 2016. We use daily sea ice motion data and implement a 1‐D snow/ice thermodynamic model that follows the ice trajectories while forcing the simulations with Modern‐Era Retrospective analysis for Research and Applications, Version 2 and ERA‐Interim reanalyses. We find there is potential for snow‐ice formation in level ice over most of the Arctic Ocean; this is true since the 1980s. In addition, the regional variations are very strong. The largest potential is typically found in the Atlantic sector of the Arctic Ocean, particularly in the Greenland Sea, where precipitation is highest. We surmise that, in addition to the annual amount of solid precipitation, potential for snow‐ice formation is controlled by two main factors: the initial second‐year/multiyear ice thickness in the autumn and the timing of first‐year ice formation.

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