Variability of the Northern Annular Mode’s signature in winter sea ice concentration

Historical winter sea ice concentration data are used to examine the relation between the Northern Annular Mode (NAM) and the sea ice concentration in the Nordic seas over the past 50 years. The well known basic response pattern of a seesaw between the Labrador Sea and the Greenland, Iceland and Bar...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Polar Research
Main Authors: Krahmann, Gerd, Visbeck, Martin
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Norwegian Polar Institute 2003
Subjects:
Greenland
Iceland
Labrador Sea
Nordic Seas
North Atlantic
North Atlantic oscillation
Polar Research
Sea ice
Online Access:https://polarresearch.net/index.php/polar/article/view/2096
https://doi.org/10.3402/polar.v22i1.6443
Description
Summary:Historical winter sea ice concentration data are used to examine the relation between the Northern Annular Mode (NAM) and the sea ice concentration in the Nordic seas over the past 50 years. The well known basic response pattern of a seesaw between the Labrador Sea and the Greenland, Iceland and Barents seas is being reproduced. However, the response is not robust in the Greenland and Iceland seas. There the observed variability has a more complex relationship with surface temperatures and winds. We divide the sea ice response into three spectral bands: high (P < 5 year), band (5 < P < 15 year), and low pass (P > 15 year) filtered NAM indices. This division is motivated by the expected slow response of the ocean circulation which might play a significant role in the Greenland and Iceland seas. The response to the NAM is also examined separately for the periods before and after 1976 to identify variations due to the relocation of the northern centre of the North Atlantic Oscillation.

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