Arctic Ocean sea ice response to Northern Annular Mode-like wind forcing

• Published in: Geophysical Research Letters
• Main Authors: Krahmann, Gerd, Visbeck, Martin
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: AGU (American Geophysical Union) 2003
• Subjects: Arctic; Arctic Ocean; Greenland; Greenland Sea; Sea ice
• Online Access: https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/489/; https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/489/1/2003GL017354.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1029/2003GL017354

The response of the Arctic Ocean sea ice system to Northern Annular Mode-like wind forcing has been investigated using an ocean/sea ice general circulation model coupled to an atmospheric boundary layer model. A series of idealized experiments was performed to investigate the Arctic Ocean's response to idealized winter wind anomalies on interannual to multi-decadal time scales. The sea ice response of the model consists of a rapid change of ice movements leading to widespread variation in sea ice thickness and concentration. In most areas the response is largely independent of the forcing frequency with only a slight increase towards longer periods. Only the Greenland Sea exhibited a change in sign of sea ice concentration anomalies at about 20 years period which appears to be caused by slow adjustment of the oceanic circulation.