NAO influence on sea ice extent in the Eurasian coastal region

Influence of winter pre-conditioning of Arctic sea ice due to atmospheric forcing associated with the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) on the reduction in summer sea ice extent is studied. It is found that winter sea ice is about 50 cm thinner in high-NAO index years than in low-NAO index years in t...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Geophysical Research Letters
Other Authors: Hu, Aixue (author), Rooth, C. (author), Bleck, R. (author), Deser, Clara (author)
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: American Geophysical Union 2002
Subjects:
Numerical modeling
Arctic and Antarctic oceanography
Ice mechanics
Antarctic
Arctic
Antarc*
ice pack
North Atlantic
North Atlantic oscillation
Sea ice
Online Access:http://nldr.library.ucar.edu/repository/collections/OSGC-000-000-004-489
https://doi.org/10.1029/2001GL014293
Description
Summary:Influence of winter pre-conditioning of Arctic sea ice due to atmospheric forcing associated with the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) on the reduction in summer sea ice extent is studied. It is found that winter sea ice is about 50 cm thinner in high-NAO index years than in low-NAO index years in the Eurasian coastal region mainly due to stronger wind-driven ice export. The thinner wintertime ice combined with strengthened southerlies in spring promotes an earlier break-up of the ice pack in the Eurasian coastal region, resulting in significant sea ice export. The higher ice efflux, in turn, further reduces the ice compactness, thus more solar radiation is absorbed by the oceans which enhances the summer melting process. Thus, winter and spring atmospheric anomalies associated with the positive phase of the NAO may underlie the reduction of summer sea ice extent observed during the 1980s and 1990s.

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