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

• 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

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.