Trends and spatial variation in rain-on-snow events over the Arctic Ocean during the early melt season
Rain-on-snow (ROS) events can accelerate the surface ablation of sea ice, thus greatly influencing the ice–albedo feedback. However, the variability of ROS events over the Arctic Ocean is poorly understood due to limited historical station data in this region. In this study early melt season ROS eve...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:b5010163c1f74ad8a5b21d20e46021cd 2023-05-15T13:11:17+02:00 Trends and spatial variation in rain-on-snow events over the Arctic Ocean during the early melt season T. Dou C. Xiao J. Liu Q. Wang S. Pan J. Su X. Yuan M. Ding F. Zhang K. Xue P. A. Bieniek H. Eicken 2021-02-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-883-2021 https://doaj.org/article/b5010163c1f74ad8a5b21d20e46021cd EN eng Copernicus Publications https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/15/883/2021/tc-15-883-2021.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0416 https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0424 doi:10.5194/tc-15-883-2021 1994-0416 1994-0424 https://doaj.org/article/b5010163c1f74ad8a5b21d20e46021cd The Cryosphere, Vol 15, Pp 883-895 (2021) Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 article 2021 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-883-2021 2022-12-31T15:26:31Z Rain-on-snow (ROS) events can accelerate the surface ablation of sea ice, thus greatly influencing the ice–albedo feedback. However, the variability of ROS events over the Arctic Ocean is poorly understood due to limited historical station data in this region. In this study early melt season ROS events were investigated based on four widely used reanalysis products (ERA-Interim, JRA-55, MERRA, and ERA5) in conjunction with available observations at Arctic coastal stations. The performance of the reanalysis products in representing the timing of ROS events and the phase change of precipitation was assessed. Our results show that ERA-Interim better represents the onset date of ROS events in spring, and ERA5 better represents the phase change of precipitation associated with ROS events. All reanalyses indicate that ROS event timing has shifted to earlier dates in recent decades (with maximum trends up to −4 to −6 d per decade in some regions in ERA-Interim) and that sea ice melt onset in the Pacific sector and most of the Eurasian marginal seas is correlated with this shift. There has been a clear transition from solid to liquid precipitation, leading to more ROS events in spring, although large discrepancies were found between different reanalysis products. In ERA5, the shift from solid to liquid precipitation phase during the early melt season has directly contributed to a reduction in spring snow depth on sea ice by more than −0.5 cm per decade averaged over the Arctic Ocean since 1980, with the largest contribution (about −2.0 cm per decade) in the Kara–Barents seas and Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Article in Journal/Newspaper albedo Arctic Archipelago Arctic Arctic Ocean Canadian Arctic Archipelago Sea ice The Cryosphere Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Arctic Ocean Canadian Arctic Archipelago Pacific Merra ENVELOPE(12.615,12.615,65.816,65.816) The Cryosphere 15 2 883 895 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 |
spellingShingle |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 T. Dou C. Xiao J. Liu Q. Wang S. Pan J. Su X. Yuan M. Ding F. Zhang K. Xue P. A. Bieniek H. Eicken Trends and spatial variation in rain-on-snow events over the Arctic Ocean during the early melt season |
topic_facet |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 |
description |
Rain-on-snow (ROS) events can accelerate the surface ablation of sea ice, thus greatly influencing the ice–albedo feedback. However, the variability of ROS events over the Arctic Ocean is poorly understood due to limited historical station data in this region. In this study early melt season ROS events were investigated based on four widely used reanalysis products (ERA-Interim, JRA-55, MERRA, and ERA5) in conjunction with available observations at Arctic coastal stations. The performance of the reanalysis products in representing the timing of ROS events and the phase change of precipitation was assessed. Our results show that ERA-Interim better represents the onset date of ROS events in spring, and ERA5 better represents the phase change of precipitation associated with ROS events. All reanalyses indicate that ROS event timing has shifted to earlier dates in recent decades (with maximum trends up to −4 to −6 d per decade in some regions in ERA-Interim) and that sea ice melt onset in the Pacific sector and most of the Eurasian marginal seas is correlated with this shift. There has been a clear transition from solid to liquid precipitation, leading to more ROS events in spring, although large discrepancies were found between different reanalysis products. In ERA5, the shift from solid to liquid precipitation phase during the early melt season has directly contributed to a reduction in spring snow depth on sea ice by more than −0.5 cm per decade averaged over the Arctic Ocean since 1980, with the largest contribution (about −2.0 cm per decade) in the Kara–Barents seas and Canadian Arctic Archipelago. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
T. Dou C. Xiao J. Liu Q. Wang S. Pan J. Su X. Yuan M. Ding F. Zhang K. Xue P. A. Bieniek H. Eicken |
author_facet |
T. Dou C. Xiao J. Liu Q. Wang S. Pan J. Su X. Yuan M. Ding F. Zhang K. Xue P. A. Bieniek H. Eicken |
author_sort |
T. Dou |
title |
Trends and spatial variation in rain-on-snow events over the Arctic Ocean during the early melt season |
title_short |
Trends and spatial variation in rain-on-snow events over the Arctic Ocean during the early melt season |
title_full |
Trends and spatial variation in rain-on-snow events over the Arctic Ocean during the early melt season |
title_fullStr |
Trends and spatial variation in rain-on-snow events over the Arctic Ocean during the early melt season |
title_full_unstemmed |
Trends and spatial variation in rain-on-snow events over the Arctic Ocean during the early melt season |
title_sort |
trends and spatial variation in rain-on-snow events over the arctic ocean during the early melt season |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-883-2021 https://doaj.org/article/b5010163c1f74ad8a5b21d20e46021cd |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(12.615,12.615,65.816,65.816) |
geographic |
Arctic Arctic Ocean Canadian Arctic Archipelago Pacific Merra |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Arctic Ocean Canadian Arctic Archipelago Pacific Merra |
genre |
albedo Arctic Archipelago Arctic Arctic Ocean Canadian Arctic Archipelago Sea ice The Cryosphere |
genre_facet |
albedo Arctic Archipelago Arctic Arctic Ocean Canadian Arctic Archipelago Sea ice The Cryosphere |
op_source |
The Cryosphere, Vol 15, Pp 883-895 (2021) |
op_relation |
https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/15/883/2021/tc-15-883-2021.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0416 https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0424 doi:10.5194/tc-15-883-2021 1994-0416 1994-0424 https://doaj.org/article/b5010163c1f74ad8a5b21d20e46021cd |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-883-2021 |
container_title |
The Cryosphere |
container_volume |
15 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
883 |
op_container_end_page |
895 |
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1766246684807921664 |