Interactions within the Ocean-Ice-Atmosphere Systems of the North Pacific and the North Atlantic

Four regional indices of sea ice variability and thirty years of monthly sea surface temperature (SST) and sea level pressure (SLP) data are used to evaluate the large-scale interactions within the ocean-ice-atmosphere systems of the North Pacific and the North Atlantic. A direct association between...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Walsh,John E, Sater,John E
Other Authors: ARCTIC INST OF NORTH AMERICA ARLINGTON VA
Format: Text
Language:English
Published: 1981
Subjects:
Meteorology
Physical and Dynamic Oceanography
Snow
Ice and Permafrost
*AIR WATER INTERACTIONS
TEMPERATURE
OCEAN SURFACE
STATISTICAL ANALYSIS
BAROMETRIC PRESSURE
NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN
SEA LEVEL
NORTH PACIFIC OCEAN
CROSS CORRELATION
SEA ICE
Arctic
Bering Sea
Greenland
Pacific
East Greenland
Greenland Sea
Ice
North Atlantic
permafrost
Sea ice
Online Access:http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA099681
http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA099681
Description
Summary:Four regional indices of sea ice variability and thirty years of monthly sea surface temperature (SST) and sea level pressure (SLP) data are used to evaluate the large-scale interactions within the ocean-ice-atmosphere systems of the North Pacific and the North Atlantic. A direct association between positive (negative) SST anomalies and light (heavy) ice in the Bering Sea is indicated. The SST/ice coupling in the northern Alaskan waters is also statistically significant. The SST anomalies in both the North Pacific and the North Atlantic appear as persistent responses to atmospheric forcing. The SLP distributions over both oceans correlate significantly with the arctic SLP distribution, although the midlatitude atmospheric circulation shows no systematic tendency to lead to lag the arctic circulation. Sea ice fluctuations correlate most highly with the atmospheric forcing over antecedent periods of approximately 9 months in the northern Alaskan waters, 3-4 months in the Bering Sea, and 5-7 months in the East Greenland Sea. The strength of the 9-month mean onshore air flow component describes over 70% of the northern Alaskan ice variance. (Author) Prepared in cooperation with Illinois Univ., Urbana. Lab. for Atmospheric Research. Revision of report dated Sep 80.

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