The influence of winter and summer atmospheric circulation on the variability of temperature and sea ice around Greenland

• Published in: Tellus A: Dynamic Meteorology and Oceanography
• Main Authors: Masayo Ogi, Søren Rysgaard, David G. Barber
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Stockholm University Press 2016
• Subjects: Greenland; temperature; Arctic; sea ice extent; atmospheric circulation; surface air temperature; interannual variation; trend; summer Arctic Oscillation; Oceanography; GC1-1581; Meteorology. Climatology; QC851-999; Arctic Ocean; Barents Sea; Baffin Bay; Baffin; Davis Strait; Greenland Sea; North Atlantic; Sea ice
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.3402/tellusa.v68.31971; https://doaj.org/article/cff7a96df6c04e18a52146034c1c47bf

Most peripheral seas of the Arctic Ocean have seen a pronounced rise in sea surface temperatures in the past century, and this signature of Arctic amplification in proximity to the land suggests that the observed marine and terrestrial changes might be connected to each other. Using in situ observations of temperature from nine coastal meteorological stations around Greenland (GrSTs) and remotely sensed fields of sea ice extent (SIE), we examine the interannual variations of surface air temperature (T2m) and sea level pressure (SLP) anomalies associated with the GrSTs and SIEs surrounding Greenland, specifically within Baffin Bay, the Greenland Sea and Kara-Barents Seas. During winter, the interannual variation in T2m and SLP of the west and south coasts of GrSTs and the Baffin Bay SIE are different from that of the east coast of GrSTs and the SIEs in the Greenland Sea and Kara-Barents Seas. The GrSTs on the west and south coasts of Greenland and the Baffin Bay SIE are associated with the T2m anomalies over Baffin Bay and Davis Strait. The winter SLP patterns associated with these GrSTs and SIEs show positive anomalies over the Arctic and negative anomalies over the North Atlantic with a large-scale atmospheric circulation such as the winter NAO. On the contrary, the east coast of GrSTs and the SIEs in the Greenland Sea and Kara-Barents Seas are correlated with the T2m anomalies over the Greenland Sea and Barents Sea. The surface wind pattern associated with the SIEs in the Greenland Sea and Kara-Barents Seas has a cyclonic circulation in the Greenland Sea and Barents Sea. At the local scale the cyclonic circulation could induce negative SIE anomalies and contribute to increasing open water in the Greenland Sea and Barents Sea. The effect of the loss of sea ice and the heat from the open ocean warming to the atmosphere may influence the GrSTs in the east coast of Greenland. As a result, the T2m pattern associated with the GrSTs in the east coast of Greenland is similar to the pattern of the SIEs in the Greenland ...